A couple of years ago we spent time as a congregation learning more about the Psalms. One of the major insights of our study was that the majority of Psalms are lament psalms, vehicles through which people cried out to God in pain. Many of them say things like, "Why, O Lord?" or "How long will it take for your vision of life to come to fruition?" or "Why do the wicked always seem to prosper."

Lament is so important. It is not something talked about or often practiced in American society, but it is a deeply spiritual, helpful, and healthy way to face our grief, losses, and disappointments. It is important for us to make time to lament the things that break our hearts - the racism in our society, the death of so many black men and boys, the death of police officers just trying to do their job, the hatred, tribalism, and small-mindedness being stirred up by politicians. We want our country to be bigger and better than all of this, but it seems like things just keep unraveling.

This past Sunday and during many different gatherings this week, members of our faith community had time to lament together. I was so encouraged by the fact that faith community members who are African-American, and originally from Africa and the Caribbean felt safe sharing their true feelings and grief with us. Many of them routinely travel down the same street as Philando Castile, and they knew that they could so easily have been the person shot.

The situation is complex. No one I have spoken with this week is anti-law enforcement, and some members of our community have policemen in their families. As followers of the Way of Jesus we mourn for Philando Castille and his family, as well as for the man who shot him and his family. We mourn for the police officers and their families as well as for the man who shot them and his family. We know that no one is unloved by or a pariah to God. No one is outside God's embrace. We mourn for everyone caught up in this web of violence, misunderstanding, and hate.

A lot of wisdom came out of our time of prayer and conversation Sunday as well as other conversations throughout the week. There was an acknowledgement that we each need to start with ourselves. If we are white, we need to continue to learn more about how white privilege helps us and harms our brothers and sisters who were born with brown or black skin. We need to speak up when we hear racist and misguided statements from family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We need to do everything we can to make sure that qualified adults of color have the same educational, job and promotion opportunities we do.

We need to listen to the stories and pain of brothers and sisters in Christ of color and learn more about what they face each day because they are black. And we need to both partner with people in our congregation working with African-American students like Valerie Matthews and Tina Maynor, and organizations like the Northside Achievement Zone the Promise Neighborhood, Interfaith Action, and YouthLink to make sure that every child and young adult, no matter what their skin color, has every opportunity for a good education, stable housing, regular meals, and a hopeful future. This August we will have up to 24 children and adults, many of them African-American in our church each evening, a wonderful opportunity to listen to and learn from them. And at the Blue House boutique this coming December we will have the opportunity to meet and deepen friendships with men, women, and children from many parts of Africa. Last year I had the pleasure of having lunch at the Boutique with two African-American leader/educators as well as a Holy Trinity parishioner from Ghana. During the course of our meal, I learned more about their lives, faith, and ministries in the community.

This coming Sunday night at 6:30 pm at Redeemer Lutheran Church located at 285 Dale Street North, we all have the chance to participate in an interfaith service against gun violence hosted by Protect Minnesota. Friend of St. Matthew's Don Samuels will preach at this service.  This is an important opportunity for us to stand together and protest the gun violence that is exacerbating the hatred and racism in our society.  Please make time to join me, Dan Anderson, Bob Hardman, James Wilson, and the people of Holy Trinity for this service.
Faithfully,
Blair