“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
- Ephesians 4:2
This verse has been a good guide for me through this current moment we are facing. There has been so much brokenness, and there still is so much brokenness in regards to the racism in our country. Things feel divided and not united, but I am learning how to get quiet and listen… humbly and gently… learning about so much pain and suffering and disregard and dismissing that our black and brown brothers and sisters have faced in this country. It has been hard to swallow and almost unfathomable to imagine the wounds the BIPOC community has endured over centuries, and I’m realizing that I have not been “bearing with” them in love. I’m so sorry, and I’m grieving the way I have somehow missed the fact that an entire group of people has felt unseen and unheard for so long.
I missed it because my experience in this country is so different because of the color of my skin. I’m learning that white privilege is real. I’m learning that it doesn’t mean white people don’t face hardship or struggle, but we have a leg up because we enjoy so many privileges that people of color do not. God has been kind to open my eyes and to point me to His love, to the story of the cross, where He meets us in all of the ugly mess of our brokenness, and grounds hope in an empty grave. I’m so grateful for this hope. I’m so grateful He is the ultimate bridge builder, and I’m grateful for the patience and humility He is teaching me to have as I learn to be a bridge builder toward racial reconciliation. It is hard work, but it is good and necessary work, and I’m so grateful for grace in the midst of it, especially while I feel like a tiny baby as I take my first intentional steps in the direction I see Jesus walking in scripture time and time again... moving towards those who are outcasts, pushed toward the edges of society, disgraced, judged, poor, and hurting.
I’m also so grateful for the humility, patience, and bravery of so many black and brown leaders who have been teaching me and helping me to understand the brokenness of the racism here in our country. I’m grateful for the way they have been bearing with me as I come to the table to listen, learn, and leverage my voice and my time and my heart to be a bridge builder. I see Jesus in them, and I’m so grateful they are bearing with me in love. I want to be like that. Lord, help us bear with one another.
