12 O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
I spent several hours yesterday morning “at” the virtual Mass Assembly of the Poor People’s Campaign, transmitted live on the internet from all over the country. Also yesterday morning perhaps a dozen members of First Christian Church participated in the Unity March through downtown Selma. There are some videos on Facebook of the march and parts of the speeches. I don’t know who all spoke, but the Mayor and the Police Chief were among the speakers. I am so proud of them, and so frustrated that I couldn’t be there marching with them. But, according to the CDC, the California Department of Health and the Fresno County Department of Health, people in the at risk group are still supposed to stay at home. *sigh*.
Later in the day, when people started posting the photos and videos from the Unity March, some were attacked for taking part. They were told they were being taken in by a hate group who were of the devil, and that their souls were in jeopardy - that by being part of this they were not following God.
I am pretty sure that most if not all of the participants were church folk who truly believe they are following God. Just sayin'.
The members of my church family who marched yesterday are all dedicated to the belief that in Christ, all persons are welcome, and that all means ALL. So if any person or group is rejected or put down or oppressed or unwelcome in any way, it is our responsibility to stand alongside them and work to make sure that they, too, are made welcome - just as welcome as any other human. It is our job, as disciples of Christ, to insist that Black Lives Matter. That Black lives and Brown lives and White lives are all equally important in God’s heart, and as long as they are treated differently in courts, in educational opportunity, in upward mobility, and in pretty much every other way we cannot stop marching. We can not stop speaking. We cannot stop loving. We cannot stop carrying the Good News of God’s love to all the world.
Lord, you test the righteous. All who attack us when we are working to end oppression will do whatever they can to drag us down, or change our minds, or get us to agree with them, but we are committed to your cause. Stand with us when we go out in your name to free the oppressed and the oppressor from all that separate them from each other and from you. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment