Now is the Time to Pray

Now is the time to pray.

Before you start in with the "it's always the time to pray" speeches and the Christian-ese "pray without ceasing talk," let me be clear. Yes, we should always be in prayer. But now... in this time, in this city, it IS the time to pray.

This week, a jury of 12 people from the Charlotte area will hear closing arguments in a voluntary manslaughter case involving a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer. Today, they enter their first full day of deliberations. I'm not writing this to offer my own opinion on innocence or guilt, if you want to know my views, let's have a private conversation. Instead, I believe it is the time to pray for all involved.

Nobody "wins" in a case like this. In fact, I'd venture to argue that in cases where a person is killed or violated or injured, there aren't winners at all in the criminal justice system. Should Officer Kerrick be found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, the Ferrell family will almost certainly feel a sense of vindicated justice. But that "justice" they feel will not bring back their son. It will not fill the hole left in their lives by his absence. For them, a "victory"isn't going to bring the thing they long for most. It won't give their son a future. Should the jury find Officer Kerrick not-guilty, his family will feel a sense of relief, but they will not win. No, the lives of two families were irreparably changed forever that September morning. So now is the time to pray.

We need to pray for wisdom. For peace. For a peace that surpasses all understanding. I, for one, will never understand why countless lives, both white and black, are lost at the hands of those who are sworn to protect us. I'll also never understand what it is to willingly chose to enter situations that could cost me my life on a daily basis. So instead of trying to understand, I pray for peace.

As believers, we also need to pray for this city. Sure, this trial hasn't garnered the same national attention and passion-filled protests that other cases have. The shooting itself happened before the altercation between Ofc. Darren Wilson and Michael Brown, that led to Brown's death. It happened before the death's of Freddie Gray and Walter Scott. But this city, and the people in it, are hurting. People on all sides of this issue are hurting and yearning for peace. I pray that we might come together, learn from one another and strive for understanding.

I realize that my position and viewpoint is flows from my position in the majority. As a white woman in this country, I will never fully know the African-American experience. I've never been followed in a store, or immediately suspected of doing something wrong because of the way I look. In fact, I'm certain I've received the benefit of the doubt, when my sisters and brothers in the minority would not be given the same measure of grace.

All across our country, white families like the one I grew up in are instilling values of respecting authority. I know that my brother and I were taught to respect our elders and those of authority, even when we thought they were wrong. We knew that there were avenues to right wrongs made by those in power, should that occur. I'm learning, however, that those same avenues afforded to me by the virtue of my white complexion, aren't always available to those of color. This is a shame. It saddens me that African-American parents are having conversations with their children, their sons, about life and death. Not just about respecting authority, but about doing everything they can - everything they have to - to ensure that encounters with authority don't cost a life.

Now is the time to pray. As deliberations unfold and social media buzzes with a twisting of evidence revealed and the pulling of emotional strings, now is the time to pray. Pray for the 12 jurors in that room, for their wisdom, their safety and their hearts. It's time to pray for the Ferrell family, for the loss that they continue to grieve. That they might find peace and purpose from this terrible tragedy. It's time to pray for Officer Kerrick's family. For peace to live with the events that transpired that night, for the ability to move forward with courage and compassion - no matter the outcome. To pray for his family, his wife and child, who like Kerrick himself, are forever changed.

Now is the time to pray. Will you join me?