an anniversary

I’m looking forward to joining with some friends this Friday evening at First Baptist Church in Vienna for their Juneteenth Celebration. I was so pleased to receive an invitation because I very much want to participate in something meaningful on this special holiday. If you don’t know about Juneteenth, here’s a link.

Today marks another anniversary - the evening five years ago when Dylan Roof entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, sat with worshipers for a Bible study, then gunned them down, killing nine precious souls. He did it on purpose to strengthen the cause of white supremacy.

I have a matted print of Mother Emanuel in my office that I purchased at the Charleston Market. I am inspired every time I look at it because of the deep and authentic faith the people of this church have displayed. I am angered every time I look at it because of the senseless and ruthless nature of the crime. I am dismayed every time I look at it that the poisonous belief system of white supremacy beats wildly in the hearts of more people than I want to admit.

This anniversary comes in the middle of a national reckoning, a wrenching and profound debate spilling over and bubbling up and flooding into crevices that previously seemed impenetrable. Sparked by three murders of African Americans that were so clearly unjust, people could no longer look away. Maybe this time change will come. Maybe there will be actual structural shifts that will dismantle systemic racism. Maybe blind eyes will finally see the blatant injustice and radical oppression that has been our normal way of treating people. Maybe.

I’ll be gathering with my people tonight for a Bible study and prayer. I’ve been joining with other pastors and people from different churches in prayer vigils. I look forward to praying with the Juneteenth gathering and listening and learning and gaining inspiration from African American preachers. I’m hopeful for new anniversaries celebrating victories for justice in our future. For now, I pray, I lament, I believe.