This week we will be sharing our own reflections on how the events over the last week have affected us and our acknowledgment of our need to confess and learn together. I am thankful for the writers’ willingness to be vulnerable and share their thoughts. We are not experts when it comes to talking about race and anti-racism, we are learners on this journey with you. I hope that you read our articles with grace and see them as an invitation to a conversation with me or any of us.
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, you stir up the winds of change around us and lift up the voices of all people. We hear the cries of your people today, especially people of color who cry out about injustice. Help us to listen with curious ears and give us curious hearts so that we might learn and be transformed together. We pray this in the name of your Holy Spirit, who is guiding us forward. Amen
Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
The last two weeks have been very long and difficult for my family. My husband has been on duty for 12 of the last 14 days working 12 to 16 hours a day. He came home on day 11 and said “I’m tired. I’m tired of having things thrown at me. I’m tired of being screamed at. I’m tired of being judged because I wear a uniform. I’m tired of being made out to be a racist by the media and protestors. I’m tired of people not being able to see that most police officers are caring, compassionate, trustworthy, and only want the best for those we protect. I’m tired of everyone wanting to change, which we need to do, and no one having any sort of plan. I’m just tired.” His statements brought tears to my eyes. I did not know what say or how to fix things for him. It is all out of my control. So, I have been reflecting, researching, and praying about everything he said.
I have had a few discussions with people who have reached out to me. Some have thanked me for the previous article in Grace At A Glance, and/or to discuss with me their own worries about loving and caring for police officers in their lives. There have been up-lifting, tear jerking, upsetting and inquisitive discussions. It has helped me and others to feel that we are not alone in worrying and loving someone who wears a badge.
A few days ago, I came across an article from NPR.org, called How Much Do We Need the Police? by Leah Donnella. In the article, she states that in the last forty years there has been an era of massive expansion in the scope of policing. We keep asking police to be community outreach, social workers, and mental health professionals, instead of correcting the fundamental problems. A part of the article seems to me to make a very good statement about the role of police officers today is; “…while we’re not using police to manage slavery or colonialism today, we are using police to manage the problems that our very unequal system has produced. We’re invested in this kind of austerity politics that says the government can’t afford to really do anything to lift people up. We must put all our resources into subsidizing the already most successful parts of the economy. But those parts of the economy are producing this huge group of people who are homeless, unemployed, have untreated mental health and substance abuse problems. And then we ask the police to put a lid on those problems and to manage them, so they don’t interfere with the “order” that we are all supposedly all benefiting from.” There is a systematic problem within our society that stems back to the birth of our nation. Change is not going to be easy or painless.
For our family, this has been a time of worry, introspection, learning and taking it one moment at a time. I pray for understanding, for peace, for justice, for love, for patience, and for reforms. Lastly, I pray for the friends and families of those who have been victims of hate.
