I am going to say
some things here that I need to say. It
may cost me some friends but that is not my goal. I do not seek to cause any division but
rather to recall the things that should unite us. I am weary of the things that we use to hate
each other. I am dome with the things
that hinder love and peace.
My Grandfather was a
police officer for the Atlanta Police Department after World War II until he
retired in the early 1960s. He was a
good man who lived a good life. When he
would arrest someone after dinner time at the jail, he would bring the person to
his home for dinner before taking him to jail.
It did not matter what the crime was or the race of the arrestee. He would not let someone go to jail
hungry. You can read about this in Sheetrock on the Road. He hated prejudice and took the unpopular stand
for Civil Rights in the Atlanta of the sixties.
From him, I learned
that I needed to see beyond a person’s color without ignoring the needs and
challenges inherent in growing up as a person of color in the South. He made me understand as a young boy how
vital it was to work to understand how I could love others intelligently. It wearies me that for all the things we have
accomplished, we have not destroyed racism.
My Grandfather
taught me and reminded me often that my obligation to love others had nothing
to do with race but with faith. As the
story of George Floyd broke over the last week, I recalled my Grandfather
inviting an elderly black man to sit in our box seats with us at a Braves’ game
in 1967. The men sitting behind us joked
at my Grandfather’s kindness to each other.
In a moment that marked me forever, he said to them, “You may disrespect
me all you wish. Should you disrespect
my guest again, I will have you removed from the stadium. If you doubt that this will happen, look
around you at the police officers here.
They are all my friends. I
trained some of them. Some owe me their
lives. They will do as I ask without
question.”
Our elderly guest
was weeping. You see, he had no idea
that a white man would stand against another white man for him. The three of us enjoyed the game. On the way home my Grandfather instructed me
further. “You need to pray for those
men. They need the love of the Lord to
get the hatred out of their hearts. You
also need to thank the Lord that we had extras seats to share with someone
poorer than us. The most important thing
to pray is that you never lose the understanding that we are all in deep need
of God’s love and mercy every moment.
Anyone can become like them if he does not remain on guard.”
You see, Dear
Reader, the shameful violence that Derek Chauvin committed against George Floyd
it outrageous. The deeper outrage is
that we have all allowed a society to exist where Chauvin believed it was allowable
to behave the way he did. We have
allowed a culture where his fellow officers did not stop him. We have allowed a world where every life is
not respected, cherished, and precious to us.
We all know peaceful
civil disobedience works. We all need to
demand prejudice and power no longer have a lease in our society. If the black community feels that they are
being treated wrongly, that is enough reason to make sure that we treat them
well. We need to reject the idea that
anyone can be treated badly and that society is whole.
We can demand that
our civil servants be what they are supposed to be; men of the city (polis
men). We can make it clear that we will
not tolerate the kind of brotherhood that looks the other way regarding any
crime and that we will fully support a brotherhood that does whatever it takes
to protect and serve every living human.
I have spent time in
prayer for George Floyd’s family. I have
wept over this event and the hatred that caused it. I have prayed for Derek Chauvin as well. I want him to see his need for the love of Christ
in a life that would kneel on a man’s neck for eight minutes for any reason. I know who is guilty of the blood of George
Floyd. It is every human who has allowed
prejudice to live in our society whether passively or actively.
Jon Donn made it
clear to us that every man’s death diminishes us. When they call us to a moment of silence out
of respect for George Floyd, let us remember that unless we stand strong
forever regarding every moment of prejudice, we dishonor this man’s blood. I will not meet him in this part of the
journey. I will, however, carry him with
me as a reminder that every human soul is worthy of my respect, my love, and my
kindness. I may not understand their circumstances,
but loving others where are they leads to understanding. That is what I am supposed to do anyway.
Wishing you joy in
the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus
said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of
Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new
and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Every human story is part of the great story that leads
to the Father getting everything back to Good.
Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
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