Soldier flower
LOS ANGELES, Calif., JUNE 03: A protester hands a flower to a National Guard soldier during a peaceful demonstration over George Floyd’s death in Hollywood on June 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Nonviolent actions such as this are key to "dethroning evil" represented by military presence at peaceful demonstrations, writes the Rev. Dr. Steve Harper. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
I do not know exactly what lies ahead; how far we will have to travel on the road of unrest.
I cannot foretell the number of bombs that will have to explode or the lives that will have to be lost before...
Before we understand that we cannot kill each other into the future we think we have imagined.
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling
You cannot hate enough to make yourself happy.
You cannot destroy enough to make yourself feel secure.
You cannot oppress enough to make yourself feel superior.
You cannot commit enough evil to make yourself feel holy.
I do not know exactly what lies ahead; how far we will have to travel on the road of unrest.
I cannot foretell how many rights will have to be taken away, or how much progress will have to be reversed before...
Before we understand that we cannot persecute each other into the future we think we have imagined.
We cannot neglect each other enough to feel worthy.
We cannot starve each other enough to feel full.
We cannot silence one another enough to feel heard.
We cannot fragment each other enough to feel whole.
I do not know exactly what lies ahead; how far we will to travel on the road of unrest.
I cannot foretell how many babies’ bodies will have to float on the sea of greed and vainglory before...
Before we understand that we cannot bully our way into the future we think we have imagined.
We cannot bury each other deep enough to feel alive.
We cannot rape each other enough to feel loved.
We cannot infect each other enough to feel well.
We cannot enslave one another enough to feel free.
Before it is too late may we understand that the call is coming from inside the house.
Before it is too late may we comprehend that the
Stench
Rot
Brokenness
Emptiness
Insecurity
Woundedness
Disease
is from within and not without.
Erasing you will not heal me.
May we understand before it is too late.
God, help us to understand before it is too late. Amen.
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling serves as the resident episcopal leader of the Baltimore-Washington (DC) Area of The United Methodist Church. This post is republished with permission from the bishop's Facebook page.