What
can we say in the midst of injustice? Do we assume that we are on the
side of justice? Yesterday my older son Andrew said that he thinks both
sides have it wrong on the Zimmerman/Martin case. Why would I think that
he has any authority to speak a word on this matter? As a young man of
mixed race, who is identified by most people as black, though raised in a
home most would identify as white, he faces the same instantaneous
judgments so quickly made by strangers.
In response to Andrew’s comment, I read him a blog post by Steve Garnaas-Holmes at Unfolding Light [scroll down to the entry titled “Neighborhood Watch]. He agreed that this was the best he has read about the issue.
We
have to begin seeing others as neighbors. We have to pause to consider
our own assumptions. We have to question where our thoughts and actions
will lead. I know that this is not the way of the world, but this is the
way of the Kingdom, or as some call it the Kindom of God. We are all
kin because we are all children of our God who loves each one with the
fullness of all love possible. This love is not limited by where or whom
we are raised, to whom we are born, by what faith or non-faith we
claim, or any other of a myriad of criteria set by humans. This love is
not limited because it comes out of the limitless heart of the God we
know most fully as Trinity--a community of love so powerful that all
creation was set in motion by it.
With
this said, it does not mean that we are not responsible and accountable
for seeking justice in this world. While all human institutions have
flaws, the United Methodist Church has stood on the side of justice in
many ways. We need to keep challenging and being challenged in our
efforts.
We
also need to challenge our vision and our hearts to see and receive
others as children of God, as sisters and brothers. This past Sunday
during our hymn sing, we sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” We pray
that peace begins with us, with me. Am I living in such a way that the
way I treat others leads to peace or not?
Micah 6:8b
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
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