April 13, 2021.
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Dear Members of Peace Community of Faith, April 13, 2021. Dear Members of Peace Community of Faith, As we are all struggling with the traffic stop of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Park and how it led to his death, I would like to ask us to hold all involved in prayer with the grace of a broken heart. Our hearts break because we are compassionate. It is past time that law enforcement throughout the state\u00a0look deeply at how its training has escalated the potential of violence instead of deescalated it and provide appropriate training that produces \u201cpeacekeepers\u201d rather than \u201cwarriors.\u201d It is also law enforcement’s responsibility to develop ways to heal neighborhoods, especially neighborhoods of color that have been harmed by the current methods, practices, and policies for policing. The killing of another young black person on a routine traffic stop is another example of the tip of the racism iceberg\u00a0that is present in our state and nation, and the need to address the systemic institutional racism found within our state.\u00a0It is hard to truthfully plunge into the depth of the racism iceberg\u00a0we face, let alone find ways to address racism through grace-filled action. An important faith leader in the United States, Jim Wallis, reminds us that racism is America\u2019s Original Sin. That is the title of his book published in 2016, \u201cAmerica\u2019s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America.\u201d It is hard for us to talk about racism as Robin J. DiAngelo reminds us in his book published in 2018, \u201cWhite Fragility: Why It Is So Hard for White People to Talk about Race.\u201d Author Sun Yung Shin reminds us that it is a good time for the truth in a book she edited, \u201cA Good Timer For the Truth: Race In Minnesota\u201d published in 2016. Sun Yung Shin in the Introduction to the book writes, \u201cRace is often invisible to those who benefit, willing or unwillingly. It is entirely visible to those who do not benefit.\u201d Reading is one way God draws me into new understandings and transforms my life. Prayer is another. Each morning I pray, \u201cMake me an instrument of your liberating grace.\u201d I am now praying with a new sense of hope and compassion for a way forward as the spiritual leader of the Peace Community of Faith that is both grace-filled and brings about liberation for all of us who are harmed by racism. Please hold me in your prayers and thoughts as I seek to be transform into a fuller expression of God\u2019s love and justice. I would like to close with the Stewardship Prayer we shared together on Sunday, March 8th. It was the last regular Sunday worship when we were together before we stepped into the dark woods of the pain of the Covid Pandemic and the issue of racism that is continually is breaking into our lives and hearts. May we be the best stewards of God\u2019s love and justice we can be in this hour.\u00a0Stewardship PrayerEver-creating Spirit of Life, we offer who we are and what we do to participate in the mission and message of Jesus Christ. Accept these gifts as we journey toward your new creation and new community where all shall be well. Give us vision to live to bring about your just peace and courage to do what is compassionate and good with what we ourselves have been given. Most of all we ask for Love that we may see ourselves, all people, and the world as beautiful, fragile, and worthy. Loving God, we offer to you the prayers of our hearts and the stewardship of our lives that you may use them to transform us by your love and grace, your justice and peace. We pray in the name of the One who is our companion toward wholeness, Jesus who is the Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peace-newsletter"],"yoast_head":"\n
As we are all struggling with the traffic stop of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Park and how it led to his death, I would like to ask us to hold all involved in prayer with the grace of a broken heart. Our hearts break because we are compassionate.
It is past time that law enforcement throughout the state\u00a0look deeply at how its training has escalated the potential of violence instead of deescalated it and provide appropriate training that produces \u201cpeacekeepers\u201d rather than \u201cwarriors.\u201d It is also law enforcement’s responsibility to develop ways to heal neighborhoods, especially neighborhoods of color that have been harmed by the current methods, practices, and policies for policing. The killing of another young black person on a routine traffic stop is another example of the tip of the racism iceberg\u00a0that is present in our state and nation, and the need to address the systemic institutional racism found within our state.\u00a0It is hard to truthfully plunge into the depth of the racism iceberg\u00a0we face, let alone find ways to address racism through grace-filled action.
An important faith leader in the United States, Jim Wallis, reminds us that racism is America\u2019s Original Sin. That is the title of his book published in 2016, \u201cAmerica\u2019s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America<\/u><\/em>.\u201d It is hard for us to talk about racism as Robin J. DiAngelo reminds us in his book published in 2018, \u201cWhite Fragility: Why It Is So Hard for White People to Talk about Race<\/u><\/em>.\u201d Author Sun Yung Shin reminds us that it is a good time for the truth in a book she edited, \u201cA Good Timer For the Truth: Race In Minnesota<\/u><\/em>\u201d published in 2016. Sun Yung Shin in the Introduction to the book writes, \u201cRace is often invisible to those who benefit, willing or unwillingly. It is entirely visible to those who do not benefit.\u201d
Reading is one way God draws me into new understandings and transforms my life. Prayer is another. Each morning I pray, \u201cMake me an instrument of your liberating grace.\u201d I am now praying with a new sense of hope and compassion for a way forward as the spiritual leader of the Peace Community of Faith that is both grace-filled and brings about liberation for all of us who are harmed by racism. Please hold me in your prayers and thoughts as I seek to be transform into a fuller expression of God\u2019s love and justice.
I would like to close with the Stewardship Prayer we shared together on Sunday, March 8th<\/sup>. It was the last regular Sunday worship when we were together before we stepped into the dark woods of the pain of the Covid Pandemic and the issue of racism that is continually is breaking into our lives and hearts. May we be the best stewards of God\u2019s love and justice we can be in this hour.
\u00a0
Stewardship Prayer<\/strong>
Ever-creating Spirit of Life, we offer who we are and what we do to participate in the mission and message of Jesus Christ. Accept these gifts as we journey toward your new creation and new community where all shall be well. Give us vision to live to bring about your just peace and courage to do what is compassionate and good with what we ourselves have been given. Most of all we ask for Love that we may see ourselves, all people, and the world as beautiful, fragile, and worthy. Loving God, we offer to you the prayers of our hearts and the stewardship of our lives that you may use them to transform us by your love and grace, your justice and peace. We pray in the name of the One who is our companion toward wholeness, Jesus who is the Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"