From the Sunday Washington Post, an 0p-ed by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry:
Headline: As a black man, I understand the anger in our streets. But we must still choose love.
(extracts follow)
I am an African American man, blessed to serve as the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. In my 67 years, I have seen our country change a great deal. But what happened to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sandra Bland, Paul Castaway, Melissa Ventura, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and countless others has been a sad constant.
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Our nation’s heart breaks right now because we have strayed far from the path of love. Because love does not look like one man’s knee on another man’s neck, crushing the God-given life out of him. This is callous disregard for the life of another human being, shown in the willingness to snuff it out brutally as the unarmed victim pleads for mercy.
Love does not look like the harm being caused by some police or some protesters in our cities. Violence against any person is violence against a child of God, created in God’s image. And that ultimately is violence against God, which is blasphemy — the denial of the God whose love is the root of genuine justice and true human dignity and equality.
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What America has seen in the past several days may leave us wondering what we can possibly do in this moment to be good Samaritans — to help heal our country, even the parts we don’t know or like. But we have the answer. Now is the time for a national renewal of the ideals of human equality, liberty, and justice for all. Now is the time to commit to cherishing and respecting all lives, and to honoring the dignity and infinite worth of every child of God. Now is the time for all of us to show — in our words, our actions, and our lives — what love really looks like.
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Thank you, Bishop Michael Curry, for consistently saying what needs to be said in the name of Christ Jesus and in line with his gospel message of selfless love for one and all -- no exceptions. God bless your ministry.
No need for additional comment other than, “AMEN”!!
I am a mother and grandmother and I want to say to the black and any minority community
I Hear You and I care what is happening to you. I promise to teach my children and grandchildren and neighbor children that all lives matter and especially black lives matter in my neighborhood, my church, our schools and workplaces. My heart is broken by all the losses of black and minority lives in our country. Do not give up hope. Hope is breaking open and our nation is breaking open. Look, the Holy Spirit is all around us in nature and in many many fellow citizens. We can get the things that need to get done and begin a new a life that is meant to be free. Hang on, the Holy Spirit within Gods people is rising.
I wrote a poem after the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, addressing the question of “when will these tragic deaths and rampant racism ever end”? Little did I know that the murder of George Floyd would quickly follow, and would be followed by outrage across not only America but around the world. So for the first time I began to feel a tiny bit of hope. George Floyd is a martyr, as are all the previous victims of racism since the founding of this country. But perhaps the country has reached a point at which we as a people will no longer tolerate this injustice against all non-white people, will acknowledge the shame and guilt of 400 years of this injustice, and begin to demand the changes that have needed to happen for so long. Please God, make it so.