Posts Tagged ‘Racism’

Genesis 4:1-16
Matthew 22:34-40

We begin to celebrate Trinity Sunday this evening, just shy of two weeks since the senseless death of George Floyd at the hands (and under the knee) of members of the Minneapolis police department.  This murder (the latest in a string of fatalities of black men and women) has sparked anger and outrage, as well as suspicion of uniformed officers of the law, who have sworn to faithfully uphold their communities.[i]  We have watched (and some have witnessed first-hand) the daily protests that have taken place across the country, some peaceful, and others turning violent, unable to contain the frustration of not being heard; all of this against the backdrop of a pandemic that has us reeling in isolation.

The civic unrest that we are experiencing in our country is not only the result of a Constitutional crisis symptomatic of racism, but even more so because the attempt to subdue, divide, or destroy community, which springs from the common good, goes against the very nature of the God whose image we bear.  The founder of our Society Richard Meux Benson wrote: “By the communication of the Holy Spirit, the personal God is found dwelling in all the faithful, not as a Sovereign to overpower their individuality, but as a Giver of life and fullness, that our fallen emptiness may rise into true correspondence of Love with Him from whom it came.”[ii]  The word community comes from the Latin communitas, which literally means “with oneness.”  Community and communion are related to each other.  The anger being expressed in our country over the death of George Floyd and countless other of our black sisters and brothers is a righteous anger.  It is the blood of Abel crying out from the ground of our very being which is a creation of God.  We should not be outraged at the anger of those who have taken to our streets in protest, but conversely, at the source of that anger.  We should deeply mourn the sin of all who seek to destroy the very dwelling place of God in our midst.  The inability or unwillingness to speak the truth of love to power is to be guilty of complacency.  Silence in this case is not holy, but rather synonymous with death.[iii] Read More