Pandemics Day Two
I watched in amazement and gratitude as thousands in peaceful protest against racism in America walked three miles in Boston following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. As the protest ended and night fell, riots began. I watched in sadness and listened in dismay as the media commentators I listen to every night were calling the looting, burning, and destruction of property, the protests. Almost seamlessly seeing the events of the night as one with the events of the day.
Maybe some of the same people were involved. Maybe there were outside agitators. Time will tell. But it differed in intent and purpose from the march of thousands.
Most surely, the goods in some of the stores being looted are not normally available to people on the financial margins. Economic deprivations have been made worse by the loss of work during the Covid pandemic. And increasingly with the current administration in the White House, national divisions have been encouraged and magnified. The rioters could have been from the extreme right or left.
When I posted my blog yesterday, protests across the country were followed by disturbances in their aftermath, violence against property. Yesterday I wrote that I saw hope in the protests, in people coming together to express outrage and call for change.
This morning, commentators in the media, while recognizing the violence in Boston last night, were also seeing signs of hope. Police officers joining in the protest, police officers kneeling with the crowd, women joining arms to separate the police from the protestors, Black men surrounding and protecting a white police officer who had been separated from his unit. One Black commentator noting that we are mostly good people.
A segment on how to talk to our children about what is happening, children whose lives have already been turned around by the Corona virus, was helpful and telling. We are all affected.
How we think about these things and how we talk to one another across all divisions matters. I want to face the reality of racism and our need as Americans to address its injustice. I don’t want mothers to fear for the lives of their Black sons every time they go out the door. I want to thank all those who walked in peaceful protest to call for an end to racial injustice and police brutality. I appreciate all who support the protestors in their hearts.
Yesterday was Pentecost in the Christian tradition. That is the day that the Spirit descended upon the early Christians, Jews and Gentiles alike, to empower them to carry on Jesus’ ministry of moving us toward a New Creation based on love of God, neighbor and self.
I saw the Spirit moving down the streets of Boston yesterday afternoon. I didn’t see the Spirit in the violence of the night. But it may turn out that as we learn more about what was really happening and who was behind it and why, the Spirit may use even those events to bring us to our senses and give us new Wisdom.
I don’t see the Spirit in the violence of the Corona virus either. But, out of pandemics can come a new awareness that we need to stand together to heal and contain evils that invade our world.
It is time for the Spirit’s goodness to empower us with the breath of life for our time. Today, I still have hope.