The news from Baltimore has touched all of us in one way or another. It may be the injury and death of Freddie Gray, or the grief of his family and community, or the anger of many, or the peaceful marches, or the violent protests, or the looting and destruction of property, or the history of mistrust, inequality and injustice that gets your attention and exercises your emotions. But we are all watching, and some of us are experiencing directly the pain, dislocation, bewilderment and fear that have come to the streets of Baltimore.
Each of us brings to these events our own experiences and concerns, and so our feelings about what is worst, what is most shocking, who is to blame, will all be different. As the parent and grandparent of African-American children, I cannot help but project my family into the stories not just of Freddie Gray, but of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown and Eric Garner and many others, and wonder how to keep those I love safe from violence.
Some of you, because of your own experiences, will connect most to the law enforcement officers, or to the shopkeepers or to the mothers, or to the marchers. And if we can recognize in one another the different ways of engaging the story, and listen to each other’s fears and and hopes and grief on behalf of those directly involved, maybe that will help us to then be empathetic to those whose tragedy this really is.
Fear, hatred, suspicion and inequality in wealth, power and opportunity have done terrible things to our communities. Racism is only one of the ways that those things manifest, but it is one of the most terrible. But when we see people respond to the violence that has been done to them and their communities with violence of their own, we often have a very hard time seeing anything but the violence of the moment.
VIolence is, to be sure, contrary to the teachings of our faith. But so are fear, hatred, suspicion, inequality and injustice. Let us pray for a swift end to the violence of our day, but let us also pray that when the violence has ended, we are inspired by the Holy Spirit with the will, and gifted by God with the means, to fight the injustices that give energy to the violence. Let us listen to one another with open ears and hearts, and let us join with one another with open minds and arms, so that together we can make the world resemble the kingdom of heaven. A world where all are welcomed and loved, and no one is in want.
There are others who know far more than I do about how to accomplish the transformation of our communities, the reformation of our justice system, and the breaking of the tyranny of fear and mistrust that keeps us at odds with our neighbors. Seek them out. Listen to their words. Do what they say.
You might start by reading Bishop Sutton’s statement here. And as you do that, pray as hard as you can for the victims of injustice, for our broken communities, and for ourselves and those we love.Prayer will not, by itself, heal the world, but without prayer the world will never be made whole.
Blessings,
Bill+