Vista Grande Vigil in Support of BLM
There was joy and the happy sound of children’s voices in Acacia Park on Saturday June 13th when a large crowd of families and others gathered for the Young Peoples March. The organizers had dancing, art, poetry reading, lots of snacks and cool water for the hot day. Vista Grande participated by supplying the poster boards for the art project and supported the endeavor in another, more unique way: Silence.
Eighteen Friends and Covenantal Partners gathered to stand in silence for one hour, holding up signs with the names of people of color killed by the police. Four times the silence was broken by the announcement of the start of observing 8 minutes and 46 seconds. During this time some stood, some knelt, and one lay prone on the ground with hands behind her back. This is the amount of time that it took for a police officer to strangle George Floyd. And 8:46 was the time it took to finally get a nation to rise up, to take to the streets, to say “Not One More” and to demand change to systems of unequal justice that began in times of slavery and continues to this day.
This isn’t a “usual” newsletter article. But Vista Grande isn’t a “usual” church. Vista Grande doesn’t sit in a pew and say” “Something should be done.” Vista Grande is active, involved, and engaged. From the White Privilege class, Sacred Conversations To End Racism (SC2ER) training that is now an established Institute led by our own Pastor Clare, to the continued involvement of our Mission Ministry Team within the community of Colorado Springs and beyond, Vista Grande takes seriously, personally, and communally the call to “…do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) It has been challenging as we have confronted our own unconscious bias and racism, but it has been done and it continues: We hold each other in loving support as we move beyond what we were taught or what we grew up with to what can be when we bring our best selves to the issues of our time and we dig deep with a response rooted in the Gospel.
You, each of you, Friend and Covenantal Partner, supports the work of discipleship financially, spiritually, and physically as you are able. God bless the work; God be with each of you.
Pastor Deborah