Weekend 3 for 3: the Movement , not a Moment edition
A curated list of what I've been up to lately plus work from other creators and cultivators who are helping us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty.
First, a few photos from the past few weeks
Memorial for George Floyd in our neighborhood park - May 2020.
We’re new to our neighborhood and, from what we’ve heard, Black Rock can try to avoid its Bridgeport identity in some white-centric ways so we weren’t sure what to expect at the #BlackRockTakesAKneeForGeorgeFloyd event Ellsworth Park.
We were grateful for a broad representation of speakers and for the work they described on behalf of Black Lives all over Connecticut. But more than anything else It was the kneeling for 8 minutes and 46 seconds that got me. It took a lot of determination to stay in position for that long and I cannot imagine the focus it required to hold George Floyd’s neck underneath.
May God restore the bended knee to its rightful place as a posture of peace and prayer and may God send racism in all its forms to hell where it belongs. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done in Bridgeport as it is in heaven.
I keep thinking about the discomfort of those 8 minutes and 46 seconds of kneeling at our neighborhood memorial protest for George Floyd as the posture I want to carry with me for the rest of my life. What’s been stirred up again in the hearts of white folks like me has never gone away for our black neighbors. The cost of reaching our collective consciousness is the death of more black bodies. I hope and pray that something about this time is different - that the moment is sustained into a lasting movement for peace and justice. I suspect you’ve felt the same way too.
I’ve heard from some black voices that there’s reason to hope that something about this moment is different and that makes me glad. It’s also clear that there’s a lifetime of work and prayer and restoration still to be done. This will require a lifetime of movement toward peace and justice, the shalom of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Let's restore the posture of kneeling to its rightful place of humility, confession, and prayer. Kneel with me?
Now for some of what I’ve been working on the past few weeks.
On Patreon:
Spiritual practices for Living as an Antiracist Person: A Summer Contemplative Retreat Series
Many of you have shared with me that you are more aware than ever before God's invitation to stand with Jesus for the oppressed, to walk humbly, love mercy, and do justice. You've told me that you're listening, lamenting, and wanting to live differently but also feeling uncertain about what that means in your everyday life. In the past you might have given into the temptation to put your head in the sand, but the unrelenting injustice of white supremacy in our nation has captured your attention and you want to live differently.
Does this sound like you?
Could you use some help sorting through all the voices, resources, headlines, and debates for clarity and simple spiritual, relational, and creative direction?
With the influence and generous companionship of my friend and Spiritual Direction colleague Vernée Wilkinson, I've crafted a summer contemplative (online) retreat series to help us find the next steps we each need to take to stay open to the world around us: Spiritual Practices for Living as an Antiracist Person.
I invite you to join me and the Sacramental Life community on Patreon for 3 mini-retreats between now and the end of August.
My hope is to facilitate times together that combine contemplation, conversation, and a greater sense of the callings we've each been given. We'll seek to grow in our capacity to marry the practices of contemplation (listening, lamenting, praying) with the practices of living a more true and just life (confession, repentance, justice)?
Patrons, you can also watch a video introduction I recorded here
Two steps to register for the series:
(If you're already a patron, skip straight to Step 2!)
1. Become a patron at the Daybook or Stories level before June 30.
2. Register for the summer series by emailing me: tamara@tamarahillmurphy.com I'll answer your questions and share a Paypal link for your donation.
Some of the online truth, goodness, and beauty, I’ve enjoyed the past few weeks.
A Nation on Fire Needs the Flames of the Spirit by Esau McCaulley via CT
As racism tears the country apart, the message of Pentecost can help the church find its voice. Brian and I are so thankful for the dogged, thoughtful work of this Anglican theologian. Read everything he writes.
Bible Project videos: Justice and Shalom - “Peace”
Watch often.
White Blessing and the Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper via IG
Listen to Lisa Sharon Harper and listen to the words of my friend, “White Jesus is a lie.” It’s not a mistake that the Atlanta mega-church pastor used the words he did. It’s the narrative of a false gospel we’ve absorbed into our white churches and theological spaces (looking at you, seminaries!).
Taking a Stand for Justice via Mockingbird History Lessons for Adults
Juliette Hampton Morgan’s story is a powerful reminder that helping costs something, otherwise what is it worth? To help any person requires that we put ourselves second to their needs. Usually, we can do so with very little risk, such as driving a friend to an airport. But sometimes, helping costs us literally everything.
Resmaa Menakem: Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence’ via OnBeing with Kristia Tippett
Therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem is working with old wisdom and very new science about our bodies and nervous systems, and all we condense into the word “race.”
Recent meditations on the true meaning of compassion and care from Henri Nouwen, especially A Converted Heart, Not Me but God, Compassion is Being With, Cure Without Care via HenriNouwen.org
“Our tendency is to run away from the painful realities or to try to change them as soon as possible. But cure without care makes us into rulers, controllers, manipulators, and prevents a real community from taking shape. Cure without care makes us preoccupied with quick changes, impatient and unwilling to share each other’s burden. And so cure can often become offending instead of liberating.”
A Small Needful Fact by Ross Gay
This line stays with me continually “with his very large hands, / perhaps, in all likelihood, / he put gently into the earth / some plants which, most likely / some of them, in all likelihood, / continue to grow…” via poets.org
It Is Enough via Christ Church Sugar Land
My friend Amy shared this video with me. Pastor R. DeAndre Johnson wrote these words in 2016. This is a recording of him singing during a worship service, in response to the murder of George Floyd. It Is Enough.
Blues for Breonna by Kenyan Victor Adams
“Children of the King” by New Haven artist Shin Maeng - on FB | IG | Society 6 shop
Bonus: What to watch this month (in addition to this!)
9 movies and shows that explain how America’s justice system got this way The US’s system of policing, criminal justice, and incarceration didn’t just come from nowhere. And to change it, we have to understand it. by Alissa Wilkinson via Vox
10 Pieces of Pop Culture Lamenting Racial Injustice by Josh Larsen via Think Christian