The vacation continues. In recent weeks, we have traveled several thousand miles to Missouri and back--back to the heartland, to a place that was long our home. We visited with family, celebrated birthdays, and caught up with good friends. It was good for the soul.
But while we were traveling in Missouri, on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, the news of a horrible shooting in Ferguson, Missouri began to break. The death of Michael Brown, Jr. has caused me to ask: Did it have to be this way? Did an unarmed black teenager have to be killed by a police officer in that St. Louis suburb? Was this the only way it could go? Did it have to be this way?
In the week following the shooting, while traveling home, I have listened to a lot of CNN reports from Missouri. I have heard the Governor and Ferguson's Police Chief and other white leaders stumbling and stammering. They don't know how to respond. They are standing in a foreign place. My heart breaks as I hear of violence provoked and perpetuated by the firing of rubber bullets and tear gas at grieving and angry protesters. Did it have to be this way, really?
I have also seen a panic perpetuated by a kind of mob mentality, pulsing through the Ferguson community. Rioting, looting, and burning of a neighborhood convenience store are familiar scenes in the night. Desperate, fearful, and oppressed people do desperate things. This is not to condone violence for violence, but I do not know how I might respond were I not privileged by virtue of my race and ancestry. Again, I ask, did it have to be this way?
Well, it is this way--at least for now. So, what can I do? I cannot be there. I cannot physically stand there in the middle of the troubles, in the middle of the sorrow on the streets and in the homes of Ferguson, Missouri. What good would it do if I could?
I am much impressed with Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ronald Johnson. I realize he has been authorized to stand in the midst of the trouble by an establishment that is tongue-tied and unable to relate for itself. I think Johnson is a hero because he walks beside his protesting people and communicates in the midst of their fear and grief. I know he wears his uniform and weapon, but he is not defined by or protected by those. They do not separate him from the people. He is out there on the streets, sharing the deep feelings of a community in its anger and grief. He is part of that community. Johnson is not a savior, but a servant. Sadly, we see that he hasn't even been given authority to take command of the situation; but he is there in the midst of it all. This is the kind of minister that I aspire to become.
The vacation continues and so does my prayer for clarity, for justice, and for peace.
O God, you know . . . it did not have to be this way! This was not ordained by you, but shows the sinfulness that mars and scars our souls and our society. Be with the family and the community that mourns the loss of this young man, Michael Brown. Be with the family and those who attend to police offer Darren Wilson. Lives are lost here, O God. Lives are lost. It doesn't have to be this way. Show us another way, even the way of Jesus, who knows and walks with us in every place of trouble and leads us forward to a new day, a new way, a new life. In his name. Amen.
But while we were traveling in Missouri, on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, the news of a horrible shooting in Ferguson, Missouri began to break. The death of Michael Brown, Jr. has caused me to ask: Did it have to be this way? Did an unarmed black teenager have to be killed by a police officer in that St. Louis suburb? Was this the only way it could go? Did it have to be this way?
In the week following the shooting, while traveling home, I have listened to a lot of CNN reports from Missouri. I have heard the Governor and Ferguson's Police Chief and other white leaders stumbling and stammering. They don't know how to respond. They are standing in a foreign place. My heart breaks as I hear of violence provoked and perpetuated by the firing of rubber bullets and tear gas at grieving and angry protesters. Did it have to be this way, really?
I have also seen a panic perpetuated by a kind of mob mentality, pulsing through the Ferguson community. Rioting, looting, and burning of a neighborhood convenience store are familiar scenes in the night. Desperate, fearful, and oppressed people do desperate things. This is not to condone violence for violence, but I do not know how I might respond were I not privileged by virtue of my race and ancestry. Again, I ask, did it have to be this way?
Well, it is this way--at least for now. So, what can I do? I cannot be there. I cannot physically stand there in the middle of the troubles, in the middle of the sorrow on the streets and in the homes of Ferguson, Missouri. What good would it do if I could?
I am much impressed with Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ronald Johnson. I realize he has been authorized to stand in the midst of the trouble by an establishment that is tongue-tied and unable to relate for itself. I think Johnson is a hero because he walks beside his protesting people and communicates in the midst of their fear and grief. I know he wears his uniform and weapon, but he is not defined by or protected by those. They do not separate him from the people. He is out there on the streets, sharing the deep feelings of a community in its anger and grief. He is part of that community. Johnson is not a savior, but a servant. Sadly, we see that he hasn't even been given authority to take command of the situation; but he is there in the midst of it all. This is the kind of minister that I aspire to become.
The vacation continues and so does my prayer for clarity, for justice, and for peace.
O God, you know . . . it did not have to be this way! This was not ordained by you, but shows the sinfulness that mars and scars our souls and our society. Be with the family and the community that mourns the loss of this young man, Michael Brown. Be with the family and those who attend to police offer Darren Wilson. Lives are lost here, O God. Lives are lost. It doesn't have to be this way. Show us another way, even the way of Jesus, who knows and walks with us in every place of trouble and leads us forward to a new day, a new way, a new life. In his name. Amen.
