The virus of COVID19 has hit the world with such a force, we are still reeling in response. Fear, anxiety, having to live in ways determined by others, even death, are the results of this virus. Unemployment and poverty have also resulted, as we see lengthening queues at foodbanks and increasing job losses. In response we are learning to do things differently. We are learning to care for those around us and to check in on people. We have chosen to change in order to be alongside the most vulnerable. We are exploring ways to support those who have lost most through this virus. It is huge.
But there is another virus, which has also been at work. A virus that too many of us are fortunate enough to have the choice to ignore. It too brings fear, anxiety, unemployment, poverty, having to live in ways determined by others, and even death. Amongst many deaths, the death of George Floyd has come to the fore in this moment. His awful death has become a kind of tipping point for action. A call to respond to this virus of racism. Again, we have a choice to change our ways to ensure that the vulnerable are not hurt more. So the vulnerable gain the advantage they deserved all along. The advantage I already have.
Black lives matter. There is no room for adding to that sentence. It is black lives that are vulnerable, and we need to be clear that we must do all we can to change the systems that let this virus flourish. What is happening in America is awful. But as we watch in horror, we need to also check our own hearts and behaviours. It is always easier to see the wrong “out there” than the wrong within. Matthew says (in Ch 7: 3-5, The Message) “It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbour’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own”.
In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr wrote, “There was a time when the church was very powerful - in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.” In our everyday acts and conversations our responsibility is to be thermostats, changing the temperature in the room. To speak to the racism we might otherwise let pass.
