Tuesday evening in Hillsborough, the Rev. Marguerite Serrine, pastor of the Presbyterian church that Alice and I attend, offered a prayer of confession to begin a service of solidarity (in memory of George Floyd and other victims of recent police violence) in the parking lot of a neighboring congregation, Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

A hundred and fifty or so people of various races, cultures, and faith traditions attended, all of us voluntarily with face masks on and carefully socially distanced from one another. For me it was a powerful and helpful experience that restored a degree of hopefulness to my own human spirit, and I am sincerely grateful to Justice United of Orange County for organizing the event.

All of the comments, prayers, and preaching we heard was powerful. But Marguerite’s prayer at the beginning was, for me, especially moving and set the tone for the service. I have asked her permission to share it with you. She began with this introduction:

“The purpose of this meeting is to demonstrate solidarity across our communities; to condemn the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor; and to propose action to meet with local law enforcement in Orange County. But before we get to all that, it might help to start with a confession.

“Confession is that Christian tradition of owning up to our own wrongs, so that we might develop a little more compassion when we see others go wrong. It is following Jesus when he said ‘take the log out of your own eye before removing the splinter from your neighbor’s eye.'”

She then continued:

“Please bow with me. Holy God who, for some of us, is expressed in the Tetragrammaton, for others in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for others in the great mystery of benevolent presence, but who, for all of us, is beyond anything we can totally describe or imagine, we have much to confess before you and one another in this painful time.

“We confess how much helplessness and anger there is that brings us, once again, to gather because Americans of color keep dying in the custody of white American police officers.

“We confess how much guilt there is on the part of white America and anger on the part of black America that, once again, we see the wages of the sins of slavery being paid by people whose race has set them at disadvantage with regard to law enforcement, opportunity, and health.

“We confess the fact that we are here again, and we grieve the fact that we are here again with thoughts and prayers, having failed at creating the land of the free for every citizen and guest.

“Lord, we confess that we would rather condemn others out of self-righteousness than listen to them, trying to learn where we might be wrong about them and they about us, and confessing all we learn to each other so that your transformative grace might become more than just a prayer, but our way of life. 

“Lord, forgive us. Help us. Hear us. Create in us the mercy, grace, forgiveness, and compassion that would enact the change in the world that you want to see in each one of us. Amen.”

Thank you, Marguerite. At the conclusion of the service, which was brief, it was announced that Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood has already agreed to meet with Justice United leaders soon to discuss local police policies and procedures and how changes, if and when needed, can and will be made.