George Floyd
KNOW HIS NAME!
KNOW HIS FACE!
And then, let yourself get very, very mad, sad, and irate. Why would I, a Religious Science Minister, tell you to do this instead of saying – pray, meditate, and forgive?
Because sometimes you just gotta get mad first. Anger has a purpose when effectively used. It is a stop gap, a game changer, a launch pad for a new possibility.
Who am I speaking to? My white friends, white congregants, white family, white people at large. If you are not mad you have not been educating yourself in the inequity of this country. If you are not mad, you probably have not been touched by the pain of this sanctioned response, which is too familiar, too common, and too excused. Oh yes, those involved got fired, but they are ALIVE. Yes, I know good cops, I have known many, please do not use this to deflect the issue. Anyone who has ever called the police for help, you know that good cops exist – this is not about claiming that all cops are bad.
A charge to my congregation – WE MUST HEAL. Before you can transform the issue, you must be willing to begin to FEEL the pain and the anguish.
We must heal and have tough conversations and be willing to have tough conversations with people we do not know. I am not saying that you specifically are the problem, I am referring to where we – the collective – are the problem. I am asking you to raise your Awareness, your Voices, and your Willingness to educate yourself. If we go silent, we are not supporting our African American brothers and sisters. What if it was someone in OUR community?
What’s next?
Forgive, forgive, forgive. Remember that you are the place where love resides.
I am the place where love resides, and I will speak truth. I will not make excuses anymore. I will not go dumb at moments like this. Can you be part of the transformation – YES? But to do so, do not go numb or practice spiritual bypass. You know more then that. Take a stand for LOVE!
