May 17, 2022 Weekly Update
Like me, you have probably read the news about the Buffalo, NY supermarket shooting. This racially motivated act of domestic terrorism took the lives of ten people, and harmed three others. A predominantly African American supermarket and neighborhood were targeted on purpose. This is a tragedy.
You may not have heard about the church shooting on the other side of the country, in Orange County, CA. A shooter purposefully targeted a Taiwanese Presbyterian church and killed one person while harming five others. This attack was motivated by hate and ethnicity.
We have been praying for the innocent people of Ukraine for months – praying for their peace, safety, and future. But this weekend we were reminded that violence continues to harm the innocent in our own country. The number of acts of violence that are racially motivated and aligned with white supremacist conspiracy theories and ideologies is appalling. As people of God, we know that God makes no distinctions between those whom God loves. We read that in our scripture in Acts 11 last Sunday, and we find it again in Galatians:
“26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Our bishop, Bishop Karen Oliveto, wrote this to our conference over the weekend. I felt it important that you read her comments and reflections. I’m grateful for our Bishop’s words and I echo her call.
“It is not only the people of Buffalo who are now recovering from this heinous act. African Americans across our nation are again retraumatized as old messages, wounds, and violence resurface in the face of the shooting.
We have been praying for an end for a war a half a world away, seeing the impact of bloody violence on the lives of everyday people in the Ukraine. But we have failed to see, acknowledge, and deal with a war within our own borders that has been going on for hundreds of years. The war that has been waged through the teaching and support systems of white supremacy has left untold casualties in communities of color.
It is time for we who follow Jesus to wage peace against this bloody war. It is time for us to live into our baptismal covenant, to “resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves”. It is time for us to learn our nation’s history fully—the good as well as the parts that are hard to study. It is time for us to speak out, stand up, and challenge racist speech, policy, and actions. It is time for us to dismantle racism.
The stench, stain and sin of racism is all around us. Disciples of Jesus, may we not fall into a slumber that denies this reality. May we rise with Love’s power and do all we can so that no one need to walk in fear because of the color of their skin.”
Blessings,
Pastor Jared