No room for hate
21/06/15 05:19
Just a quick note to regular readers of my blog. After a long week, Susan and I will be slipping away for a day and a half to camp, row, walk and recover. We are going to a placer where there is no regular Internet service and the cell phone service is not the best. I’ll be writing my blog on Monday and Tuesday, but they may not get posted to the Internet until sometime Tuesday afternoon. Never fear, I’m all right, I just need a little break from the usual. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
I met Waltrina Middleton a decade or so ago when she came to work in the national setting of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland. She was initially brought in to work full time on the organization of a national youth event and remained as the Minister for Youth Advocacy and Leadership Formation. For a few years I served on the Board of Directors of Local Church Ministries, the agency that employs her. Mostly, I know her as a colleague in youth ministry. In the years that I was an educational consultant for our church, the consultants team met annually with the national staff developing resources and programs for the church.
How much do you really know a colleague, really, however? We have shared meals at the same table. We have talked about our families. We have shared our concern for the church and its ministries. We have commiserated over some of the challenges of working with the institution. But to say that I really know Waltrina is a bit of a stretch.
I do, however, recognize her, and it didn't take me more than a few seconds to know that the person in the BBC video interview on my computer this morning was the same person with whom I’m working in the church. She is in the spotlight of the lead story on BBC USA this morning because her cousin was one of the victims in the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. Waltrina grew up in a close family in Charleston and she knew her cousin well. As soon as she heard that the shootings took place during a bible study, she got a sick feeling in her stomach because she knew that her cousin would be at the bible study. Her fears were confirmed shortly afterward.
Last night Waltrina was with members of Emmanuel AME as they gathered in the same room where the shootings had occurred for bible study to prepare for this morning’s worship when, once again, the doors of the church will be open to all. “It’s a church of the Lord - you don’t turn nobody down.”
Dylann Roof, accused of the shootings that killed nine people including the church’s pastor, spent nearly an hour participating in the bible study before he opened fire and started to kill his victims. He had been welcomed to participate in the church.
This morning the church will once again be open to all who come to worship. There won’t be any special security detail from the church, though law enforcement will be present outside of the building. It is hard to predict the emotions of the people who will attend worship, but I suspect that grief and sadness will be more evident than fear.
I grew up a long way from South Carolina and I have never lived in the south. Charleston has a long history of slavery and discrimination. Still, it has a large African-American population. It has been home to generations of people who have learned to live and make their way through life in that place. Emmanuel AME was often called “Mother Emmanuel” because of its prominent position in the community. It was a congregation that produced a lot of ministers who serve all across the church.
Rev. Waltrina Middleton is just one of those pastors. Her cousin Depayne was also a minister. Four of the nine victims of the shootings were ordained ministers. These people are my colleagues. All of the victims are brothers and sisters in Christ. Waltrina’s grief over the death of her cousin reminds me that we are all family and we are all victims of this violence.
I am struck by the simple fact that the word “terrorism” has been conspicuously absent from the media reports that I have seen. Had the race of the shooter been different, I think it is likely that the event would have been labeled an act of terrorism. I know nothing of the motives of the shooter, but if his intent was terror, he picked the wrong target. African Americans have experienced generations of racial violence. There have been lynchings and shootings and bombings and many, many innocent victims. One thing that isn’t going to happen at Emmanuel AME is terror. These are courageous people. They will worship this morning with deep faith and great spirit.
In a remarkable bit of courtroom drama on Friday as the charges were leveled against Dylan Roof, members of the families of the victims were allowed to make brief statements. Nadine Collier, daughter of Ethel Lance, one of the victims said directly to the accused shooter: “I just want everybody to know, to you, I forgive you. You took something very precious away from me. I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again but I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul. You hurt me, you hurt a lot of people, but God forgive you, and I forgive you.”
Alana Simmons, granddaughter of Rev. Daniel Simmons, pastor of the church, said, “Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof, everyone’s plea for your soul is proof that they lived and loved and their legacies will live in love. So hate won’t win and I just want to thank the courts for making sure that hate doesn’t win.”
It is hard not to give in to hate, but these are remarkable people and I am confident that their faith and courage will see them through this crisis. Waltrina’s cousin Bethane, sister to Depayne who died, said, in part, “I acknowledge that I am very angry but one thing Depayne . . . taught me [is that] we are the family that love built. We have no room for hate so we have to forgive.”
I know that there is something to be learned from every tragedy. I know that each human death is a lesson for those of us who, for a little while, remain living. May we be open to the lessons of this tragedy.
I met Waltrina Middleton a decade or so ago when she came to work in the national setting of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland. She was initially brought in to work full time on the organization of a national youth event and remained as the Minister for Youth Advocacy and Leadership Formation. For a few years I served on the Board of Directors of Local Church Ministries, the agency that employs her. Mostly, I know her as a colleague in youth ministry. In the years that I was an educational consultant for our church, the consultants team met annually with the national staff developing resources and programs for the church.
How much do you really know a colleague, really, however? We have shared meals at the same table. We have talked about our families. We have shared our concern for the church and its ministries. We have commiserated over some of the challenges of working with the institution. But to say that I really know Waltrina is a bit of a stretch.
I do, however, recognize her, and it didn't take me more than a few seconds to know that the person in the BBC video interview on my computer this morning was the same person with whom I’m working in the church. She is in the spotlight of the lead story on BBC USA this morning because her cousin was one of the victims in the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. Waltrina grew up in a close family in Charleston and she knew her cousin well. As soon as she heard that the shootings took place during a bible study, she got a sick feeling in her stomach because she knew that her cousin would be at the bible study. Her fears were confirmed shortly afterward.
Last night Waltrina was with members of Emmanuel AME as they gathered in the same room where the shootings had occurred for bible study to prepare for this morning’s worship when, once again, the doors of the church will be open to all. “It’s a church of the Lord - you don’t turn nobody down.”
Dylann Roof, accused of the shootings that killed nine people including the church’s pastor, spent nearly an hour participating in the bible study before he opened fire and started to kill his victims. He had been welcomed to participate in the church.
This morning the church will once again be open to all who come to worship. There won’t be any special security detail from the church, though law enforcement will be present outside of the building. It is hard to predict the emotions of the people who will attend worship, but I suspect that grief and sadness will be more evident than fear.
I grew up a long way from South Carolina and I have never lived in the south. Charleston has a long history of slavery and discrimination. Still, it has a large African-American population. It has been home to generations of people who have learned to live and make their way through life in that place. Emmanuel AME was often called “Mother Emmanuel” because of its prominent position in the community. It was a congregation that produced a lot of ministers who serve all across the church.
Rev. Waltrina Middleton is just one of those pastors. Her cousin Depayne was also a minister. Four of the nine victims of the shootings were ordained ministers. These people are my colleagues. All of the victims are brothers and sisters in Christ. Waltrina’s grief over the death of her cousin reminds me that we are all family and we are all victims of this violence.
I am struck by the simple fact that the word “terrorism” has been conspicuously absent from the media reports that I have seen. Had the race of the shooter been different, I think it is likely that the event would have been labeled an act of terrorism. I know nothing of the motives of the shooter, but if his intent was terror, he picked the wrong target. African Americans have experienced generations of racial violence. There have been lynchings and shootings and bombings and many, many innocent victims. One thing that isn’t going to happen at Emmanuel AME is terror. These are courageous people. They will worship this morning with deep faith and great spirit.
In a remarkable bit of courtroom drama on Friday as the charges were leveled against Dylan Roof, members of the families of the victims were allowed to make brief statements. Nadine Collier, daughter of Ethel Lance, one of the victims said directly to the accused shooter: “I just want everybody to know, to you, I forgive you. You took something very precious away from me. I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again but I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul. You hurt me, you hurt a lot of people, but God forgive you, and I forgive you.”
Alana Simmons, granddaughter of Rev. Daniel Simmons, pastor of the church, said, “Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof, everyone’s plea for your soul is proof that they lived and loved and their legacies will live in love. So hate won’t win and I just want to thank the courts for making sure that hate doesn’t win.”
It is hard not to give in to hate, but these are remarkable people and I am confident that their faith and courage will see them through this crisis. Waltrina’s cousin Bethane, sister to Depayne who died, said, in part, “I acknowledge that I am very angry but one thing Depayne . . . taught me [is that] we are the family that love built. We have no room for hate so we have to forgive.”
I know that there is something to be learned from every tragedy. I know that each human death is a lesson for those of us who, for a little while, remain living. May we be open to the lessons of this tragedy.