The shooting death of Ferguson, Missouri teenager Michael
Brown has stirred such a mix of reactions and feelings, most all of which have
been deep-seated and strong. I posted someone's blog about this on my Facebook
page, because I believed that he had some points worth pondering. I didn't get many reactions to that posting, but
the ones I did get were long and passionate... and far from complimentary!
Events like this spark such powerful reactions because they
tap into long standing and deeply rooted issues that have divided our nation
for generations. They are issues of
race... of privilege... of the use and/or abuse of power... of violence... of public
protests... of fear and bigotry. And in
this particular situation in that suburb of St. Louis, there is more than
enough bigotry to go around: bigotry against
blacks, especially young, black men, and bigotry against police officers who
use deadly force, especially young, white officers who shoot young, black men. This
is an event that tears at our society, and that also tears at my heart. I'm not about to rush to judgment about
anything in this situation, because so many facts still are not known. I am appalled at what seems to be an
overreaction on the part of the police officer.
I am saddened at the situations in which law enforcement officers often
find themselves and at the snap decisions that they often are called to
make. And I'm angry that yet another
young African-American male has fallen victim to a violent death.
Yet right now what tears at my heart the most is what two
families are going through. Michael Brown's family buried their son earlier
today. I've lost both my parents, all of
my grandparents, all of my aunts and uncles, some of my cousins, and my first grandchild. Plus I've walked with families for almost
four decades as I've been the pastor of people who are going "through the
valley of the shadow of death." I
am no stranger to death and grief.
Still, I can't imagine losing one of my sons, AND having that death be
in the crosshairs of an entire nation!
Darren Wilson is 28 years old.
His parents divorced when he was 3; his mom died when he was in high
school. He was a member of the police
department in the small town of Jennings, MO where things were so bad between
white officers and black residents that the entire police department was
disbanded. No matter the reasons behind
his decision to shoot Michael Brown, I can't imagine what Darren Wilson must be
feeling, living with the knowledge of what he did, and realizing that the
nation and the world knows that he shot and killed a teenage boy; it will
follow him the rest of his life.
There are serious, systemic, and deep issues about race and
poverty and justice that are being raised, and we who are followers of Jesus
Christ must not shrink away from asking difficult questions and having
difficult conversations about these matters.
Yet let us not lose sight that these questions and conversations are not
just about abstract principles or philosophical constructs. Real people are in pain this day. Grief and regrets are tearing at the hearts
of some of God's beloved children this day.
Peace and justice often seem to be at odds with each other,
and yet we Christians are called to stand for both and to be lights to a dark,
pain-filled, fearful, divided world. Let
us walk and speak and act carefully and prayerfully, compassionately and
intentionally as we journey through our world.
The closing prayer in today's service of Morning Prayer from
our Book of Common Worship offers words that are helpful as I walk this road:
"As you cause the sun to rise,
O God,
bring the light of Christ to dawn
in our souls
and dispel all darkness.
Give us grace to reflect Christ's
glory;
and let his love show in our deeds,
his peace shine in our words,
and his healing in our touch,
that all may give him praise, now
and forever."
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