In the past two weeks of vacation Amy and I have driven 3,600 miles. When possible we ventured from the interstate with the top down, enjoying the open road... the hills of upstate South Carolina and the majestic Shenandoah Valley, the lush farmland of the Delmarva Peninsula and endless corn fields in Indiana, the spectacular scenery of Niagara Falls. Ours is a beautiful country – and it is being ripped apart by willful and ignorant misunderstandings… by partisan ideologies… and by old-fashioned hate.
We spent a good bit of time listening to podcasts or news report. We did not listen to a single word from MSNBC… but after 45 minutes of Shawn Hannity, I felt like it was my patriotic duty to pull the car over and just murder the first Democrat I could find! I kid you not… I have never heard such venom, from the host and every guest. I’m sure it’s as bad on MSNBC. By the popularity of these kinds of shows, there is obviously an insatiable appetite for hating the other side. It’s a wonder there isn’t more domestic terrorism – as much hatred as is stoked in these endless hours of rant. As I have been telling you for years, I will say again: turn off talk radio and the talking heads that represent our political extremes. It is impossible to listen to this kind of vitriol and not be infected at a soul deep level. The tone alone is poisonous. There is no dialogue – just endless, angry diatribe.
Our son, Bennett, was away for the summer, and last Saturday we found ourselves with 24 hours to get him home from the Colts’ beautiful indoor stadium in Indianapolis, get his suitcase unloaded, pack for college (spend a little time with Sarah!), and deposit him at Furman University on Sunday at 1:00pm. As we passed by Charlottesville, VA, Amy read reports of the largest gathering in recent memory of white supremacists and neo-Nazis and white nationalists and fascist organizations known by dozens of different, shameful names. You know the story… one crazed man drove his car into the crowd, wounding many and killing a 32 year-old counter protester. And you know all the political fallout.
Former Republican Governor and candidate for President, Mitt Romney, began a long, blistering critique of the president with these words: “I will dispense for now from discussion of the moral character of the president's Charlottesville statements. Whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn. His apologists strain to explain that he didn't mean what we heard. But what we heard is now the reality, and unless it is addressed by the president as such, with unprecedented candor and strength, there may commence an unraveling of our national fabric.”
A few days later we stood at Mount Vernon, re-living the life of George Washington. The words of Presidential historian, David McCullough, offered at the final exhibit will stay with me: “Teaching the world to be truly great, one must be truly good.” Neo-nazis are parading the streets of our nation today, and their leaders have publicly thanked the President for his support. Our African-American brothers and sisters who have endured more than enough are angry and afraid. Every Jewish house of worship in Charlotte, has been desecrated this week by graffiti and Confederate flags, a reviled symbol whose supporters have no-doubt been emboldened by the President’s support of our sad, confederate history.
We are in uncharted territory – but I do not believe prayer is a useless, trivial gesture in moments such as these. I believe the answer to the confusion and chaos we are experiencing begins in finding an internal peace and then in summoning an internal courage to stand up, to speak out. And we must.
Much more than politics is at stake in this moment.
I will offer several petitions of prayer, ending each with the phrase, “Lord, in your mercy…” and I invite you to reply, “Hear our prayer.” Let us pray…
In these moments of frustration and conflict, God of great peace, we need you.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
We pray for brothers and sisters whose minds are so twisted by sad, old ideas that their eyes are unable to see themselves in neighbors who look different on the outside… We pray for brothers and sisters whose hearts are inflamed with hatred.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
We pray for sisters and brothers whose passion for peace and justice leads them down the sad path of violence, whose love of that which is right causes them to do that which is wrong, believing violence can be redemptive. May the example of Jesus teach us all that violence can and always only leads to more violence.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
We pray for leaders, at every level, those who are called upon in moments of distress to speak with clarity, to lead with moral courage, to dispense with old dreams and share new visions, to offer comfort through compassionate strength, and to lead by example. For President Trump and all our nation’s leaders…
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
We pray for a nation at war, not with guns and bombs, but with angry words, angry ideologies, angry labels. Teach us the value of words, the power of words, the use of words – that we might listen and learn from one another.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
We pray for our black sisters and brothers who cannot escape the chains of slavery, which even now still bind the hearts and minds of white people. And we pray for our brothers and sisters at Shalom Park, who are dismayed and dispirited that the dark shadow of Nazi hatred is looming across this land, even this very day.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
We pray for ourselves. We pray that peace might begin with me… that from each calm heart, might resonate a conviction and a courage that embraces the other and that moves our world along that long, bending arc of justice.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
Lord, in your mercy… Hear our prayer.
Amen.