Come Holy Spirit and Renew the Face of the Earth!
To the People of God in the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina
Dear Friends in Christ,
On this Day of Pentecost, I find myself filled with a huge range of emotions. Yesterday, in communities across eastern North Carolina there were peaceful gatherings to protest the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. His death was only the latest of too many deaths of people of color at the hands of police. In Fayetteville, at least, peaceful protests became violent and destructive, mirroring similar behavior in cities across our nation.
Here are some of my observations, thoughts and questions.
-As much as I can, as an older white man, I sense the depth of anger and pain that has once again come to the surface across this nation, this time following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier this week. One more black life taken. One more injustice upon members of a community that has known too little justice over past generations.
-I weep with parents of color who have been reminded yet again of the horrendous challenges they face in preparing their children to survive injustices not similarly experienced by white children. How can children of color grow to adulthood without being poisoned by fear?
-How can people raise their voices in peaceful protest while being on the watch for those who will co-opt their gatherings in order to initiate violence, looting and other destruction of property? We risk missing the voices and the pain of those who protest because of the noise of those who steal the spotlight.
-I worry for the safety and well-being of the countless police officers in our communities who are caring, compassionate and honest. They struggle to keep the peace, protect human life and work for justice while colleagues commit criminal acts against people of color. How can we support those officers who are good, while transforming systems that may be broken and in need of transformation.
-And what about our leaders, under suspicion and attack from every side. How do we support them while also holding them accountable? How do we ensure that they are genuinely seeking the common good of those whom they serve, and not only their own self-interest? How do we work together to overcome the political polarization that poisons too many of our communities?
I am certain that others of you will have had observations, thoughts and questions that are different than my own. We each have our own history and our own perspective. As we make our way forward, let us listen deeply to one another, sharing our hopes and dreams about the sort of community we believe that God is calling us to build. Let us pray for and expect that God’s Holy Spirit will equip us with everything we need for the work of healing and reconciliation and for the building of human communities that richly model God’s love for all people, in this age and the next. May the congregations of our diocese be communities where we taste this possibility, and from which we work together with others in renewing the face of the earth!
In the days ahead, I call on members of our diocese to partner with others in their community to restore peace and safety, while we also commit to working for peace and justice for all people across eastern North Carolina and our nation. Please call on me or others across the diocese to be of support to you in practical ways, as such possibilities arise.
Yours in Christ,
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Note: Here’s a link to the video meditation I recorded on Friday afternoon for use on this Day of Pentecost. If you haven’t watched yet, I pray that you will.
Meditation for the Day of Pentecost
Prayer in the Face of the Storm
A letter to members of The Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina, in advance of Hurricane Dorian.
Beloved in Christ,
Although we don’t yet know the impact it will have on our lives, it seems increasingly clear that Hurricane Dorian will pass along the shores of eastern North Carolina, perhaps even making landfall. Forecasters warn us of the possibility of life-threatening floods. Some voices have encouraged us to hope for the best but plan for the worst. By now, many in Dorian’s path will already have evacuated their homes or will at least have prepared their homes to sustain the pounding of wind and water. For most of us, this is not our first hurricane. Many in eastern North Carolina have yet to fully recover from Hurricanes Florence and/or Matthew.
And so I write to call you to prayer, and to assure you of my own prayers and of my promise for the active response that will proceed from those prayers. In the face of a hurricane like Dorian, it is a natural inclination to pray that God might turn the storm away from our shores. For some people of faith, such language comes naturally. For others of us, such language is difficult, even offensive. Do we really think that, by the power of our prayers, we can change the path of a storm? Do we really think that God is waiting until enough of us pray the proper words before turning the storm aside?
Let me suggest another way to pray. Beginning in the early thirties, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was credited with including in his preaching variations of this prayer:
“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”
In the pattern of this prayer, popularized through twelve step movements like Alcoholics Anonymous, the focus rests in being open to the possibility of change in one’s own being rather than relying only in the possibility of change in those things beyond our own control.
The hours and days ahead will reveal to us the full impact of this coming storm. There will be a great need for courage in our response to neighbors in need. Whether it will be in support of Bahamian neighbors or of those who live right across the street from us, there will be many opportunities for us to actively engage in the work of rescue, relief and recovery. Perhaps we will even need courage to face the impact of the storm on our own lives. We will need wisdom, or at least clarity, in order to distinguish between those things we can and cannot change, and we will most certainly need an abundance of serenity, or peace, as we are confronted by realities beyond our control. Anxiety, fear and stress, natural responses in these circumstances, will only make worse the very real and practical challenges that we may face.
So pray that God might protect us from the storm, certainly. But also pray for the serenity, courage and wisdom that you will need in order to face that which waits for us in the days and years ahead.
Yours in the courage, wisdom and peace of Christ,
P.S. For practical resources to assist with hurricane preparedness and response, please visit East Carolina’s “Hurricane Hub” at https://www.ecdio.org/hurricane-hub.html
On Independence Day
“As we celebrate Independence Day this year, waving flags and watching fireworks, let us neither take for granted the rights we have been given as citizens of this nation nor the responsibilities we bear as citizens of the kingdom of God.”
Click here to read my note to the people of the Diocese of East Carolina on the day before Independence Day.
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