We’ve just experienced a week for the record books, haven’t we?
How are you doing? How’s your heart feeling?
After hearing about the death of Alton Sterling, I spent a good portion of the day, laid across the bed in our guest bedroom. I cried. I stared at the ceiling. I had a few conversations with God. Those conversations sounded like this: “What am I supposed to do? I have cried. I have prayed. I have spoken. I have written. I have protested. I have kept silent. And still…violence. What’s up with that, God? What do I do, now?”
I don’t know that I was really expecting an answer. But, I got one.
Late in the day, I went out onto the deck to let myself get lost in the pages of a book I was reading. I hadn’t been reading very long when two words on the page seemed to stand out on the page. “…come together..”
“How?” I thought. “Where?” “Who?” “When?” Then, I thought to myself, “Never mind.” I mean, I’m just one person, right?
In the evening, my husband and I made a phone call to our son. We talked about the death of Alton Sterling (the next day, we would hear about Philando Castile, and then, a day later, Dallas), and about what it meant and how we should respond. I told my son, “I don’t know what to do. I have cried. I have prayed. I have spoken. I have written. I have protested. I have kept silent. And still…”
“Come together,” my son said, when my voice trailed off. And an idea began to take shape in my head. I remembered the promise that God will gather with us, whenever we come together, in his name. God is not hindered by time or space, so the Internet seemed the most likely gathering spot. The next day, working quickly, I put together a Facebook event, named it “Prayers of the People,” and sent out invitations. We would pray together, for thirty minutes, from wherever we were in the world. The event was shared, over and over again. Invitations were issued. By now, we’d all learned about Philando Castile’s death in Minnesota. Our hearts were broken, yet again.
I thought maybe a dozen people would join in. But, that afternoon, at 4:00 PM, Central Time, more than four hundred people checked in to the event and joined in the praying. I wish I had words to describe it. Beautiful is a weak descriptor. Even holy seems to fall short. What I can tell you is I am convinced the answer lies in our unity, and not in our division.
The next day, we learned of the tragic shooting in Dallas and we joined for prayer again. Again, the time together was sweet and sacred. The answer, right there in front of us.
I don’t know who the people are in your life that are difficult to love. I don’t know the walls you’ve built or the lines you’ve drawn. Democrats? Republicans? Immigrants? Gang members? White supremacists? Muslims? Members of the LBGTQ community? What I know for sure is that Jesus came to tear down all of the walls that we put up to keep one another at a distance.
On that first day, when I spent the day on the bed in our guest room, I drafted an email to my editor. I was going to tell her to scrap the book I’ve been working on. The book about unity and oneness. “What good is a book on unity?” I thought to myself. But, for some reason, I never sent that email. Thank God. Because, when we gathered together for prayer on the Internet, I knew the message of that book is true. So, I deleted the draft of that email to my editor.
Late that night, while exchanging emails with a friend, I learned my book is available for pre-order on Amazon. The very same book I almost told my editor to scrap. I believe in the message of that book. I know it was written for this moment in time. I am convinced it’s a book God wanted written, even though writing it took me to the very end of myself. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe we need to get to the end of ourselves so that we can discover how much we truly need one another. At the end of ourselves, we stumble upon the gifts of unity and oneness, forgiveness and mercy; these things are always in the most unlikely places.
Tell me how you’re doing. Tell me where you’re struggling. Tell me a story about oneness and unity. We need to hear your voice. If you’re longing for oneness—in your family, your church, your community, our world—click the image below to pre-order ONE: Unity in a Divided World. 
So grateful for your heart, Deidra, and for your willingness to do the hard work and heart work of drawing people together. You are making a difference. Can’t wait for your book!
I’m really thankful for you, Kate. Praying for you and yours. With love.
Deidra, I love the almost instantaneous confirmation God gave you “come together”. The call to prayer was powerful.
Pretty amazing, right? Thanks for joining in.
Reminds me of Isaiah 1.18
“Come together”. Thats what we did. I have tried to explain to others what it was like. Words were hard to express. Holy and hopeful. Thats what it was to me.
Thank you again for organizing thaose precious times.
And your son? God’s confirmation. Incredible. I loved hearing this.
I think hopeful is a really great word, Missy. I did feel hopeful. I do. Thanks so much for participating.
I saw that your book was available for pre-order right at the end of that horrible week, and even though I’m sure you wish the circumstances were different, maybe your book is God’s offering of grace to a hurting world? I’m glad you wrote the book, and I’m sure it’s going to be a blessing to many who read it.
I do. I wish there was no need for this book. But, I’m trusting God knows what’s up. I’m praying my feeble attempt at articulating a vision of unity will make a difference. Thanks so much for this encouragement.
I was JUST thinking about you this morning because I had not seen you post in some time! Glad to hear your thoughts.
Where am I? Well….honestly I just feel “damned if I do and damned if I don’t”. I wish we could sit across a table so that I could be sure you understood my heart. I CARE about all that has gone on…deeply!
I want to say “something” and speak out, but don’t know what to say. I don’t want to remain silent, but fear my words will be misconstrued by someone.
I’m conflicted about all the hashtags….#blacklivesmatter, #alllivesmatter, #bluelivesmatter….regardless of which one is used there is controversy. So, I don’t use any of them.
So, I’ve been mostly quiet and prayerful, though I missed knowing you had rallied folks for prayer. Intellectually I KNOW prayer is the greater work, but I confess that some days it doesn’t feel like it!
There’s lots more where that came from 🙂 but I’ll leave it at that. Thanks for being a safe place to “come together”!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, Karen. My husband always says, “If you don’t have a clear directive from God, wait for it.” You don’t HAVE to speak out in a public forum. Don’t feel pressured to do that. Some of my friends were saying they felt helpless. But, in their own way, and without even knowing it, those very same people have ministered to me through the craziness of the past week. I believe there is great value in sitting with our feelings, before God, to let him work things out in us before we step out into the world to speak or act. So, keep pressing in. Keep offering your thoughts and feelings to God. It’s a process, and we are in it, together.
Good Morning, Deidra…..I am a steady reader of your blog, but seldom seem to have time to respond. But this issue is so HUGE, I feel I must make time to respond today. Laying on your guest bed, weeping, talking to God about all that’s taken place? Why didn’t I think of that? Mostly, I’ve walked about in a daze, hardly believing we’ve gone back in time some 40-50 years!!! I feel like we’re right back in the days of Martin Luther King, Jr! The images on my T.V. screen have been horrendous, unbelievable. My heart breaks for the families & friends of Alton Stirling & Philando Castile. From the video taken, I saw only police brutality & bald-faced racism. So ugly. So cruel. So evil.
Is it my imagination, Deidra, or is there also a “class distinction” involved in this? It seems we have the upper–those Blacks who have “made it” in life, becoming doctors, lawyers, outstanding citizens in their community, ACTORS, and the like…and the lower–those Blacks who daily struggle to eke out a living, live in the poorer areas of their community, struggling day in and day out. THEY seem to be the targets of this cruelty & suspicion, racism, & death by racism. Looking through human eyes, it all seems so hopeless & fruitless that the heart of man will ever change. Our foolish hearts are darkened, hardened. Where will this ever end? WILL it ever end? Sometimes even prayer seems fruitless, awful as that may sound. I truly believe we are living in the very last days, where evil will increase & hearts will grow cold. I believe, by pushing God OUT of our countries, He is now giving us what we thought we wanted. I believe He is slowly withdrawing His sustaining hand and we’re on our own. Yes, He is still in Power, still at the helm of this wayward ship, but we are under His wrath. (Romans 1 & 2)
You also ask about my personal struggle? Right now it involves my Ontario (Canada) Government. I can barely stand to see the face of our “esteemed” Premiere on my television, (or our Prime Minister, for that matter!) It is my firm belief that she’s working hard to bankrupt our province and also to forward her gay agenda, she being gay herself. It all seems a hopeless mess. I am angry. She is sucking the life out of the common citizen, one dollar at a time, one moral at a time. My husband & I truly wonder how we will survive come his retirement in a few short years. I guess what it boils down to is this: we MUST keep our eyes on The Master, totally surrendered & dependent upon HIM, and Him alone. He IS our only Hope in all this mess we’ve made and continue to make. Desperate times call for desperate measures. As evil increases, I pray more will LOOK UP! I don’t sit with my face pressed against the glass of my windows, watching desperately for His return, but I DO look forward to His glorious appearing. In the meantime, like you, we MUST ask what our role is in all of this, and then do it, whatever it is. (I was greatly encouraged by the affirmation you received through the words that leapt off the page of the book you were reading, and then the exact same words spoken in your ear by your dear and wise son.) You have a greater voice than many. Keep using it, Deidra. You are such an encouragement to so many!)
Hi, Jillie!
Last week, I was asking my husband a similar question. I asked him, “Do you think this would happen to a black man in a Mercedes, wearing a $3,000 suit?” I don’t know the answer to that question. But, I have been thinking about it.
I hear your frustration, and your disappointment. I honestly believe that what we’re seeing is nothing new. What’s new is all the ways we now have to be made aware of what’s always been going on in our world. As I wrote in the post, I believe the ball is in our court, and we’ve got to find a way to be FOR people, rather than against them. Whoever it is that gets on my nerves, or scares me, or seems to be a threat to me—I believe God is calling me to figure out how to love them. How to come together, rather than separating myself from them.
It’s not easy, that’s for sure. A dear friend of mine once challenged me with these words: “Who are the people you don’t want your children to marry?” After I thought about that question for a few minutes, my friend then said, “Those are the people against whom you have a bias.” Yikes! Hearing it put that way really made me reevaluate my alleged open heart towards others. I wasn’t as open or loving as I’d thought. In that moment, I had to decide whether or not I wanted to hold on to my biases, or release them to God. i think we’re all being offered that choice in these days. I think God is calling us together. That’s who God is. God is FOR us. All of us. Thanks be to Him for that!
Deidra! You must stop this!!! I need to get to work. I’m drowning in it….but oh boy does this ring true in my heart. I was literally on my knees, bedside, a couple days ago about this very thing. And not only did I have to repent of bias towards anybody I don’t want my daughter to marry, but of trying to manipulate (even unwittingly) any circumstances to arrange whom she might! Dust and ashes. Just ask me about them. I’m covered w/ them. thank you for sharing what is always and ever thought-provocative.
Well, I had a young black friend, college student, challenged so badly he was afraid he’d be shot if he moved wrong, when he and his friend got into his father’s BMW. He wrote about it and I posted it on my wall. Students wrote often about “driving while black” and how careful they had to be. I just listened to a radio show that talked about how revival came when people reconciled with each other. (Your comment “I had to decide whether or not I wanted to hold onto my biases and release them to God” made me think of that…) I too believe God is calling us together. That the true enemy is this spirit that divides, and the words that divide us.
Sorry. Very work-pressured right now, but grateful for your heart and vision.
Love
Lynn
Thanks Lynn. I hope you get a break, soon!
Bless you! And I had meant to say that you were MEANT to write. that. book.
How I am doing: So very, very, tired. Too many personal issues sucking up my energy, and no one to talk to since I am trying to hold others up at this time… for so long. Disappointment in myself for my lack of discipline. Grief for our nation, grief for the world. Confusion about what to believe and whose voice to listen to. Angry at voices that are arrogant and leave no room for others to have a voice (and grateful for your space). Anxious for so many large and important issues happening in society at once that I wonder when it will all burst. Guilt at being concerned about myself when I live relatively free from the larger things that trouble others. Perplexed about what love can look like to another when their rules of acceptance conflicts with your value system. Frustration that “persecution” of Christian people is mostly coming from other Christian people.
Hope, in that God is in control and I am not.
Bill, I’m so very sorry for your grief. I share it. And wow, what a sad and thought-provoking statement: “Frustration that ‘persecution’ of Christian people is mostly coming from other Christian people.” What on earth are we doing?
What I mostly see is Christians cutting down other Christians on FB or other social media. It seems to be the new trend to want to dissociate from another Christian if common views are not shared. You see this especially in the political process. (“How can a Christian vote for ____”.) I also see so many Christian peers talking about their disappointment with “The Church.” We are the church, and it seems (to me) that blaming all of society’s problems on The Church is a cheap way to say “not my fault–don’t associate me with them. I am not “that” kind of Christian). Our spouses, our children, our fathers and mothers, aunts and uncles, friends and associates–we are all in this together because we are what makes up the church.
We have also become obsessed with tossing Bible verses at each other as if we have the only true interpretation. Again, that is arrogance, and unhelpful. Doing that does not add clarity, it divides. We are being watched by non-Christians, and some of them are enjoying the civil war inside our institutions. It affirms their belief of non-belief.
Well, I am starting to sound like the very thing I am frustrated with! 🙂 It is an easy mindset to slip in to!
Someone I know called it “Christian shaming.” :/
You’re right. The world is watching us. Jesus said the world will believe because of our unity. I think we can commit to pray for that powerful witness of oneness to speak loudly, for his glory.
Thanks for sharing further,Bill.
I think you speak for a lot of people here, Bill. I know I’m not a pastor or anything, but I read this and felt a specific blessing from the scriptures rising up in my heart:
the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:
‘May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.’
Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”
Praying peace over you today, friend.
Thanks again for a safe space to share. I feel safe with you and the community you have made here.
Much more I could say on the topics, but I believe this is more a time of listening for me.
Blessings, Bill
Come together… It is interesting… I have an old friend that I have not seen or talked to in years due to a church split thing … But through FB I could see her life… She could see mine… We seemed miles apart … Until Black life matters… I liked some of the articles she was posting… The status she shared about her white ignorance…etc… Etc… I had reached out to her years ago… Just wanting to walk across a bridge to meet her…but I got no response… I was thinking again how I would love to talk to her… It sounded like God had done much in both of our hearts… Well the other day she FB messaged me… I think we should meet and talk… So on Sunday we are taking a walk together…this is both literal and figurative… So this coming together… God is taking two white sisters who were divided … Who now find ourselves standing on common ground… Exploring how to live in solidarity people of color…to live in LOVE !!! Only God!!!!!
as always Deidra… Thanks and many blessings!!!
What a beautiful story, Ro! I just said a prayer for you and your friend.
Thank you Deidra!!
One thing is clear in the middle of the awful mess we find ourselves in, Deidra. God has placed you in a place of influence, of peacemaking, of reconciliation, of prayer. Your faithful response to Him is inspiring. And life altering.