As I look around the country and the world, the only word that comes to mind is groaning. We have all been groaning under the restrictions and the suffering brought on by this new coronavirus. We groan at the horror of the video where we saw a man murdered before our eyes, and that groan echoes back as we remember so many others who have suffered and died. We remember other videos that were not so prolonged and dramatic, but still showed the unthinkable. The African-Americans among us groan in pain at yet another death of their own, further proof that prejudice and oppression are still alive and far too prevalent. We groan also as the cries for justice are diluted by violence and greed. We groan. The world groans.

I struggle to find words.

It’s not that there aren’t verses and Biblical principles that apply. We know that the pain and suffering in our broken world are rooted in sin, so I could talk about that. The Bible certainly addresses the sin of partiality and makes it clear that all humans are valued by God and created in his likeness. We are to love all people, whether like us or not, so I could talk about that. I could talk about God’s concern for both justice and kindness.

These are important topics, but right now all that I have to say on them seems glib and too easy.

I find myself struggling even to know how to pray and falling back on trust; trust that God knows the needs already and will shape my intent to his will. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27 ESV). 

As I have written about before, I have some experience of being different, having lived in a land where I was the minority and worked in a field where women are still underrepresented. However, as a white woman, I will never truly grasp the struggles of my fellow Americans who are black. I can only cry for justice, seek to act with kindness, and ask God to root out the pride and partiality that still live in my heart.

This time of pain and struggle seems to call for psalms, many of which depict oppression, affliction, even despair.

Let us work to bring about the day when we no longer must say “how long?” when it comes to racial injustice. Let us look forward to that day when all nations, all ethnicities, all peoples are finally joined in peace and we see the Lord’s final salvation in a world with no more pain, no more tears, no more hatred, and no more prejudice.

He has told you, O man, what is good;

    and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

    and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 ESV

Photo by David Ramos on Unsplash