Late last
week, as the country was waiting for and wondering about the Grand Jury decision
that was going to be coming from Ferguson, Missouri, I was contacted by a
coalition within the Duluth community who were working on some responses to
whatever the decision might be. Would
officer Wilson be charged with a crime in the shooting death of Michael Brown,
an unarmed African-American teenager, our would Wilson’s narrative of the events,
wherein he felt threatened by Michael, and thus used appropriate force, lead to
end to the legal process?
In Duluth,
community responses began to be organized before we knew what the Grand Jury
would decide. The church I pastor, First
United Methodist Church would be a place for prayer, counsel and
reflection. The verdict came
Monday. My church was offered for prayer
from noon to four p.m. on Wednesday.
Not many
came that afternoon. Perhaps other
events had provided sufficient opportunity for their reflection. In any event,
I had determined that I wanted to do something during that afternoon. Once an hour, beginning at noon, I went
either into the chapel or the sanctuary and rang my prayer bowl. Earlier in the day, I had also decided that I
would offer a brief prayer service at 4 p.m. if anyone was present.
Four p.m. came and no one was
there. I offered the prayer service
anyway. I rang the bowl. I used the United Methodist morning prayer,
slightly revised. New every day is your love great God of light great God of light, and
all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live
peacefully with our neighbors and to devote each day to your work in the world –
the work of justice, peace, compassion, beauty, reconciliation, creating the
beloved community, and love. I read
“The Magnificat” from Luke 1, Mary’s powerful words about the horizon of hope
in which we live, about a God who works for justice. I prayed a body prayer. Then I sang.
I was a little self-conscious about this, but I did it. I sang “We Shall Overcome” and the last first
of “We Are Called” – Sing, sing a new
song. Sing of that great day when all
will be one. God will reign, and we’ll
walk with each other and sisters and brothers united in love. We are called to act with justice. We are called to love tenderly. We are called to serve one another, to walk
humbly with God.
It was, for me, an act of hope.
With Faith and With Feathers,
David
