Dear Friends,
Unless you have been away from the newspaper, TV and Internet the past few weeks, you are likely aware of the deeply troubling news of a young man’s death and a community’s outrage. The shooting death of 18-year Michael Brown, an unarmed African American man, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, has brought pain, anger and violence to the small Missouri town of Ferguson and feelings of anger and despair to countless others elsewhere.
Reading about the unfolding events from my computer – the peaceful protests by many, the violent protests by a few, and the presence of local and state law enforcement officials, as well as the National Guard – I can’t help recall other times in our nation’s post-Civil Rights era history when racial tensions broke wide open like this. It makes me wonder how long it will be before we can come together for healing and justice and what I can do about it.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper.” Whatever actions I decide to take in the days ahead to express my frustrations and my hope, I know that I can’t afford to be too quiet or polite about it. I’ll need to make some noise. If there is a peaceful demonstration, I will need to be there. If there there’s a message to deliver, I will need to deliver it. I will admit that while I feel strongly about social justice issues, I haven’t always felt courageous about acting or speaking out publicly about them.
Once again, my Unitarian Universalist faith calls on me to examine it all – my passions, my sense of injustice . . . and my fears. I’ll need to walk straight into my own storm if I am going to live an authentic life and if I have any hope of experiencing the kind of beloved community I dream about. I mustn’t wait for brave others to do the work that I can do.
The good news is that I don’t have to do this alone. From experience, I imagine many of you will join me. Together, I trust we will encourage one another to live our faith and live up to its commitment to bring our best to this hurting world.
With gratitude,
Terry
Rev. Terry Davis
