Dear Beloveds:

We know your hearts are tender. We know you’re holding so many complex feelings in this moment. You are not alone.

In a just world, George Floyd would still be alive. While the Chauvin verdict brings so many of us collective relief, we can’t say it is justice. We know that a carceral system can’t truly hold accountability in transformative ways. And yet, we also know that in a country that so often treats Black people as disposable, it is meaningful to witness consequences for police brutality. We hold all these complexities and contradictions with care.

Shortly after many of us learned of the Chauvin verdict, we also learned of the police killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio after she called the police for help. There is no justice when police kill our children.

So in these times, we remember that our hope is not in the judicial system but in the strength and love of our communities. Through it all, we’ve held each other tenderly, and we will continue to do that in the days and weeks to come.

In this moment, know you are not alone. We are thinking of you and praying for all that you are holding.

Remember, Black folks, UU or otherwise, requesting pastoral and/or spiritual care can reach our Community Minister and folks from the Black Lives of UU Ministerial Network by calling or texting 984–219–8711. This is a Google Voice number that we check daily. We will respond to any calls or text messages within 24 hours.

May this prayer be a balm for your spirit in the days to come.

A Prayer in Real Time

by Rev. Mykal Slack, BLUU Community Minister for Worship & Spiritual Care

Dear Ones. Ancestors, gods and goddesses of many names and of no name. Sources of Love known and unknowable…

I come before you weary with grief and disgust, teetering somewhere between about done and well past it.

Hold me.

I don’t know if I can hold what has been passed down to me and mine, much less what lies ahead. No body, no mind, no heart, no spirit should have to carry this much.

Help me.

And yet… “Here I am.

Send me.”

I do what I can to show up as my whole self with full-bodied questions about community accountability, commitment, and care.

Show me.

My deepest hopes and prayers lie in justice and liberation for our people, of which we’ve only just caught a fleeting glimpse of this week.

Direct me.

May I move with love, clarity, vision, and commitment, share what I know, and listen with intention.

Embolden me.

We deserve so much more life and love and beauty and fullness than there is right now.

Please. Please fill me up with a Holy Breath that will live on, shine on, and thrive on.

…until it is time for that Breath to live on, shine on, and thrive on in the ones who are to be Held, Helped, Sent, Shown, Directed, Emboldened, and Filled after me.

May it be so in real time and for all time.

Amen. Ashe. Blessed Be.

Community Connection

Please join us for either of these events below for connection in the coming days if you need a place to be held in community.

Join BLUU on April 21 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern as we gather with the UUA, Side with Love, and DRUUMM for a virtual vigil in response to the guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin. (The vigil will be broadcast live on the UUA’s and Side with Loves’s Facebook pages.)

How is your heart and how is your spirit? How are you processing the trauma we’re experiencing in our communities and in our news feed? How is the racist police violence against Black people (and the constant discussion about it) impacting you and how can we keep showing up for each other without burning out?

Join Team Sankofa Friday, April 23 at 2 p.m. for a Lunch ‘N Vibe community check-in. Pastoral care will also be available.

Feel free to bring a snack or meal as we share how we’re doing in these times.

(Please note: This is Black sacred space.)

About BLUU:

Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism is committed to expanding the power and capacity of Black UUs within Unitarian Universalism; providing support, information, and resources for Black Unitarian Universalists; and justice-making and liberation for Black people through our faith. Subscribe to our email list to learn more about our worship events, organizing opportunities, and youth ministry.