Jesus weeps

I wonder if Jesus looks at Charlotte NC and other US cities as He did Jerusalem when He said, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ... how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.  Look, your house is left to you desolate."  (Matthew 23:37-38)

In the quarter century since Rodney King was beaten by Los Angeles policemen, we are still asking his plaintive question, "Can we all get along?"  It is deplorable -- yes, I used that word deliberately -- that we are once again facing off with one another over the subject of race.

I am tired of the political posturing and readiness to lay blame.  I know it is a highly charged presidential campaign and every event is viewed through the lens of its political impact.  But with news media giving air time to every point of view, no matter the credibility of the speaker, it seems that we are being driven to take sides.  One is either a supporter of Black Lives Matter or of the police.

Balderdash!  Although I acknowledge that BLM is prone to excess and confrontation, we should not be deafened to the legitimate fears and concerns of African-Americans because we find their most vocal movements objectionable.  Similarly, recognizing the immense dangers faced by police officers should not blind us to the reality that snap judgments made in stressful situations are heavily influenced by a variety of factors, including perceptions based on prejudice and experience.  (No, I do not mean 'racism.')

In the current climate, the same statistics are used by opposing sides of the argument to prove that a) black men are killed by police disproportionately to their percentage of the population or b) black men are killed proportionately to the rate at which they commit violent crime.  Both a) and b) are factually true.  So what?  How can we find a point of agreement that leads us to healing and solution rather than further divide?

As a follower of Jesus, how should I respond?  I would love to hear from the clergy in Charlotte NC who have been on the front lines to intercede between the police and irate protesters.  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9)

Jesus' crucifixion was pursued by the political leaders of His day; the Sanhedrin's political power was threatened by Jesus' popularity.  I am fearful that the racial conflict we are seeing, embedded in a nasty political climate, will result in people of faith finding themselves on opposite sides rather than joining hands in a community of healing.

For most of my adult life, I have worked and lived in places that were predominantly white.  When I have been in more racially diverse environments, I have been enriched by reminders of lessons learned as a child when the neighborhood I lived in changed from all white to all black, except for the Hostetlers and the Levinsons ... of lessons learned riding a bus to school with kids just like me except for the color of their skin ... of lessons learned riding through neighborhoods ravaged by riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on my way to college classes.  But in the final analysis, those are lessons learned cerebrally rather than viscerally.

I have never been stopped for 'driving while black.'  I have never had a white woman clutch her purse in fear as I walked by.  I have never been assumed to be a gang member or a drug user simply because of the clothes I wear. [My children would howl in laughter at the thought.  I probably embarrass them by dressing to the other extreme.]  These are lessons learned viscerally by countless African-American males.

Is there a point to my meandering musing?  I guess it would be to wonder if God is calling me to some specific action to "put my money where my faith is."  I want to part of the answer, not part of the problem, but I don't know how.

I shall continue to pray for those acting redemptively in Charlotte.  I shall continue to pray for healing for our nation and for this Presidential election to have positive results for our nation.  And I shall look for ways to speak and act as Christ would have me do.