In case you missed it and have not heard, on Thursday, March 5, the popular television show “Scandal” ran an episode that was inspired by the events that happened in Ferguson, Mo., when an unarmed Michael Brown was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a police officer. As a nation, we have been overwhelmed in recent years by similar incidents of unarmed African Americans being murdered by police officers and ordinary citizens, presumably because of the way they looked and the fear those looks created in the eyes of the beholder of the weapons that would end their lives. In most cases, there has been no justice, no accounting for this loss of life. In a few incidents, like with Jordan Davis, the perpetrators have gone to jail for something other than murder. In all cases, we have been left with a sick feeling of déjà vu. A feeling that just like during the times of slavery and segregation, the lives of African Americans are worth less than the lives of others. We know that this is not true, that this is a lie perpetrated by people who were intent on justifying their own greed. But, these incidents have opened wounds that have never healed and reminded us that we have a long way to go for true equality and justice to reign in this land of the free and home of the brave.
The truth is that we have not often been brave in addressing issues of race and racism and
the impact it has had on the soul and psyche of America. However, in an episode titled, “Lawn Chair,” Shonda Rhimes and the cast of Scandal tackled with courage this difficult and heart-wrenching topic.
But, it was really hard to watch. As soon as I realized what the episode was about, I immediately sent my sister a text and then posted on Facebook that it was too soon for me to watch a fictional account of this ripped-from-the-headlines story. I didn’t think I could make it until the end. I was overwhelmed with emotion and as much as is possible for someone who did not personally know Michael Brown or Renisha McBride or Eric Garner or Tamir Rice or Trayvon Martin or Jordan Davis, I was re-living a traumatic loss of loved ones and feeling hopeless because there was nothing I could do to change the outcomes for them. Continue reading
I recently flew to Houston for the homegoing celebration of the life of a friend. His wife and I were prayer partners throughout divinity school and they were my family when I lived in North Carolina so in spite of what felt like the flu, there was no way I was going to miss it. On my flight there, the pilot came on the intercom before takeoff to let us know that there was a lot of turbulence expected during the trip. As we waited to leave the airport, the flight was delayed because the pilot was waiting for instructions on an alternate route we could take to avoid most of the turbulence that was predicted. Not only would we take an alternate route but the pilot let us know that we would not be flying at the usual altitude in order to manage the expected turbulence. I was grateful for these adjustments because I’m not a big fan of flying and the thought of having a topsy-turvy ride on my way to say goodbye to my friend, was the last thing I wanted to do. Well, as God would have it, the turbulence on the way there was not so bad. It’s not that we didn’t experience turbulence but it just wasn’t at all as bad as we were warned it would be. Perhaps I had adequately braced myself for the worst. Perhaps, the cold I was fighting made the turbulence less formidable to me. Or, it could have been the prayers that went up and God’s hand of mercy that made the trip there more bearable. You see, I had time during our delay to text some friends and family members and ask them to pray for
circumstances; no matter what turns, detours and stops we have on our journey; joy comes. I’ve found joy in the strangest places. I’m not sure I have the answers to when, where or how it comes. But of this one thing am I confident: Joy comes! And, it’s been walking alongside me helping me to move forward when I wanted to give up; to love when I wanted to hate; to dance and shout and give, when I wanted to hide myself in a corner or fade into the background. Joy is a promise from God and it’s on the way…
meetings, the potter worked with lumps of clay and transformed them, before our very eyes, into masterpieces. The Late Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, who was installed at that meeting as the NCC President, made this observation (and I am paraphrasing): as the clay was on the wheel, the potter sometimes had to stretch her hand on the inside and dig deep down into the clay to get out the impurities and imperfections, sometimes putting big lumps of clay to the side that had no usefulness.
mondaysatthealtar 