Oh Lord, we're stunned.
We're angry.
We're disillusioned.
We're afraid.
Even several days later, we still wonder how in America could verdicts like "not guilty" come down when a life was clearly taken.
We wonder how a mother, a father, an entire family can go on after all they've lived through.
We wonder how boys of color can walk on streets of our cities and mothers who wait for them without being overcome by fear.
We wonder how long, O Lord, will we hear talk about race in conversations with words of "us" and "them" because many do not know each other in any other way.
We wonder how long will people of faith will cower to the conversation table. As wrong as color= privilege in our world, and we can only move to change when we start with the truth.
We wonder how long will we lie to each other: "No, our nation does not have a race problem."
We wonder how long those with prophetic pulpits will ignore their greatest opportunity on Sunday morning to begin such a dialogue.
We wonder how long O Lord, will all of us suffer simply because injustice happens and happens again and truth is not simply brought to the light? For the great preacher, Martin Luther King once said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And it is true.
So, we wonder.
And we wait.
We wait for what you alone can bring to our nation.
Justice. Hope. Mercy. Understanding. Longsuffering. Peace.
Help us know how to wait together. Help us have swift feet to move toward righteousness together. Help our swift feet know what direction to move in together.
AMEN
