Dear Faith Family,
Just under two months ago, an already unsettled world began to be turned upside down, at least for me. While the evil that took George Floyd's life has been a constant force operating within our country's history (and the history of the world), and while the outpouring of pain and anger and call for justice has been just as constant, there was something different this time. Something was compelling me to listen.
Perhaps the lack of news due to the pandemic lockdown made the sadness, hurt, and injustice an inescapable reality. Maybe the free time kept the wounded and the wanting on the streets giving voice to what has been avoided by many of us. Both are undoubtedly true. Yet, what made this time different for me was the invitation from friends to consider the moment with them.
The first, a request from three friends in our faith family to listen to their hearts. In the semi-cool shade of my front yard (really it was not cool at all!), these three women shared what our Father has been speaking to them regarding His heart for racial justice. Together we considered how He might be guiding and working in others--including myself--at that moment, and what we could do in response. They invited me to listen. To listen to the Lord in and through them, and to listen for myself to our Father revealing His heart and my responsibility.
The second, a bid from a friend, who is a black pastor, to listen to his hurt and let him listen to my heart. At a slightly sheltered picnic table soon to be drenched in sweat, this man shared with me the full range of emotions that he had been speaking to our Father. He also asked me how I was feeling and what I was thinking about this moment. Together we considered how our Father might be guiding and working in us and what we could do in response. He invited me to listen. To listen to the Lord through his pain and to listen to our Father in my thoughts and feelings. My friend also asked me to listen to the Spirit by learning with him the history of his anguish and my responsibility.
The months since these invitations have been a lot of listening and learning, at least for me. Listening to friends and historians, pastors and protestors, theologians and sociologists, the hurt and the healing, and the Hurting Healer. While I have much left to hear, what I have heard so far is already changing me. Things and people look, sound, and feel different.
This time is different because I was invited by friends to consider the moment with them. To listen to their hearts. To listen to my own. And, to listen with them to the Spirit who "will convict the world," including me, "concerning sin and righteousness and judgment" (Jn. 16:8). And so I want to invite you too to consider the moment and to listen as well.
Specifically, I am inviting you to listen:
WITH US | Join with those in your faith family who are considering our Father's heart and our responsibility at this moment. All you need to do is click here to join the conversation.
TO DR. KING | In April of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. penned the letter linked here from the Birmingham jail in response to public words from faith leaders. So I listen to men who, like me, possessed both empathy and ignorance. And, like me, were functionally blind and hard of hearing. And I listen to Dr. King's words which are concise and clear. Words written with unwavering conviction and Christ-like concern that something would be different this time.
May our considering this moment, and our past, give us "an ear," to "hear what the Spirit says to," our faith family.