Seeking Transformation; “Love and Light” need not apply.

National Guard troops have moved into major cities nation wide, bracing for the outcome of the trial of Derek Chauvin (1).   I find myself clinging to a hope for peace.  But more than peace I want justice and I know that if that prayer is to be answered, we will have some difficult days ahead.  And if I am really honest, I don’t seek peace, I seek transformation, breakthrough and supernatural healing of our nation’s broken heart. 

Let’s be honest - there is no verdict that will make everything ok.  There is a verdict that will open us to the next chapter of healing, and reform, a long journey of recovery that begins with radical truth telling.  And there is a verdict that will reinforce supremacy, deny our humanity and push the pain deeper.  

I know in my own life, when I have had the courage to admit what was hard to admit - it opened the door to “the ugly cry,” you know, the one that accompanies a complete breakdown of all your previous defense systems.  Then from a place of sobering reality I was able to pick up the pieces and do the next right thing for my healing.  And this, I believe, is the best hope for our country right now.

When I have acted from fear of that level of vulnerability and sought to avoid the ugly cry, I only drove the pain and the inevitable confrontation with it down deeper.

I don’t know what the jury will decide.   I pray that they can see clearly the moment that is before them and do what is right and just. However, but the truth is the track record of our collective consciousness is not good in moments like these.  Even in moments when the jury did what was right, a corrupt and broken justice system finds a way to add the insult to injury.

I pray for peace in our cities, and yet I know that there is a pain body that has yet to be completely expressed.  I cannot stand in judgment for a generational pain that I cannot begin to comprehend.  I cannot condemn the civil unrest of a people that have never experienced civil rest within this county’s justice system.

I pray for the burden of fear to be lifted off of the shoulders of every black mother.  That the tears for her children cease their uncontrollable flow and her breathing be measured and deep with peace.

And yet I know that burden is not lifted over night, it is a long march that leads to the kind of reformed and healed consciousness that this moment demands.  And on that long journey tears will be our companion more often than not.  

I pray for a miracle, a breakthrough, a supernatural falling out of the spirit of love and compassion.  And, I know that if it does not happen, we still must get up and do the work.  

I know that the lie of whiteness makes our collective lives unmanageable (Step 1) and I believe that a power greater than we are can restore us to sanity (Step 2).  A sanity that says, we belong to each other. 

In the recovery community there is a familiar prayer called the serenity prayer, originally written by American Theologian Reinhold Neibuhr

God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change; 

Courage to change the things I can; 

And wisdom to know the difference.  

In my tradition, we know the one thing that we can change is our own consciousness.  And that is why we launched the Recovery from the Lie of Whiteness workbook.  To assist people (of all backgrounds) to examine, take inventory, make amends, and ultimately change the consciousness that has led to a nation gripped in racial tension, institutionalized supremacy and the ongoing trauma of unconscious bias.  

I hold that is is possible to heal and transform from the moment we find ourselves in.  We need to be honest, we actually know how to do this.  Transformation is possible, but not from prayers of “love and light” rather our path forward is possible only if we are willing to do the heavy lifting of examining the consciousness that got us here and committing to changing it.  That kind of change only comes One Day at A Time, One Step at a Time.

If you are ready to accept the courage to change the things you can - Order your copy of Recovery from the Lie of Whiteness today.