“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” –Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“DOMA’s been struck down!” My friend Lisa shouted out the text she received on her smart phone just as we were boarding our airplane from Miami to Costa Rica. No more details–just a news flash to start our vacation. We left the Miami Airport marveling at how dramatically things can change in a relatively short time. There’s a lot more work to be done, of course, but I began my vacation with a burst of confidence that meaningful change can and does happen. We have moved, I thought, just a little closer to that dream–a nation where we are judged not by external factors like race or sexual orientation, but by the content of our characters and the quality of our love.
On our way back home, we spent several hours in that same Miami Airport–time to re-engage with US news. CNN was on, covering the George Zimmerman trial. We caught glimpses of the final witnesses testifying. We were still settling back home a few days later when the verdict came down–”not guilty.”
My vacation began with news that assures me change is possible. I returned home to news that reminds me of how much work we still need to do–how far we still are from Dr. King’s dream.
I don’t pretend to know what really happened that awful night in Sanford, Florida, or what happened in the jury deliberations last week. I do know that the death of this young African-American man, and everything that has happened since, points to deep wounds in our nation–wound of persistent racism, a culture of distrust and violence. My heart breaks as I read stories of African-American parents struggling to explain this to their children.
A lot has been written about the Zimmerman verdict in the last week. There has been much anger, and many calls for peaceful protest. There has been analysis on many levels. The most powerful piece I have read this week takes the emotion and analysis and deepens them into prayer. It was written by a friend and colleague in ministry–Rev. Greg Morisse from Plymouth Church. His words draw upon the prayer of St. Francis:
Savior, make me an instrument of your instigation.
Where there is injustice, let me inspire outrage;
Where there is atrocity, recognition;
Where there is apathy, engagement;
Where there is disinterest, conviction;
Where there is ignorance, discovery;
Where there is anger, possibility,
O Sacred Presence,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be protected, as to protect;
to be powerful, as to empower;
to be right, as to be right there with you.
For it is in listening that we learn.
It is in transformation that we are transformed,
and it is in solidarity that we are woven into a beloved community.
Amen.
I am grateful to Greg for this reminder to turn to God, to start by changing ourselves, to keep working toward a vision of a world where each person is honored as a gift from God.