Joey Giffen-Hunter was the planned speaker at semi-programmed worship on September 16, 2018.

A deep and abiding love
A deep and endless sorrow
A river of tears
A river of love

“I did come across a river of tears, the grief of my sisters and brothers”

Love and sorrow – There is power in the connections between opposing currents in our lives and as our faith calls us to nurture love, it calls us to not shun all else, but to bear witness to and see the truth in the pain in our lives.

The power of these currents is realized – is put into action and results in healing – when we acknowledge it with acts – bearing witness, giving voice, deeds. Deeds – or as I prefer to put it, “Doing stuff.”

Now, seeking truth, bearing witness, and thinking about things are a lot easier for me to do than to answer a call to minister out loud with words and do things – and give them voice. This I find awkward and uncomfortable.

Before Philando Castile was murdered in July of 2016, I wasn’t doing much – I was thinking about and feeling upset about the currents of racial disparity running through the world, but with his death, something happened inside me. I felt in my bones that I had to – stop doing nothing – about the profound racial injustice that is present in my world and in my life. Now I didn’t really understand why I was feeling this so deeply, but I do know that my mother would have said, “Joey, don’t you know, it’s the Lord speaking to you?”

“Stop doing nothing.” Now the awkwardness begins in the phrase itself – and if I had the clarity of belief of my mother, that the Lord exists as an entity that could speak to me – I would expect something a bit more elegant than, “Stop doing nothing.” And the awkwardness spreads from there.

I didn’t know what to do, but I decided I would view a panel discussion about how the Black Lives Matter movement compares and connects with various civil rights movements of the ‘50s and ‘60s. And from that, two things moved me:
1) One panelist spoke about how Martin Luther King was uncompromising with his congregation when it came to loving others unconditionally. If they were to be members in the church, he demanded that they love everyone – especially those who oppressed them.
2) The second message was from another panelist. In speaking about injustice. She talked about allowing ourselves to, “feel it in our bones.” And I experienced then and there the connection between love and sorrow – how a deep and uncompromising love can lead me to a deeper understanding of my own pain and the pain of others.

The problem with doing something – is after you’re done doing it, you have to stop doing nothing all over again. And so I went to a few SURJ meetings. Showing Up for Racial Justice moves white folks into accountable action as part of a multi-racial movement through community organizing, mobilizing and education. And from there, I connected with Take Action Minnesota’s J4A organization. My work at Justice for All has often been uncomfortable and awkward for me. I’m a core team leader with J4A and I don’t know a quarter of what the others in our small leadership group know. We’re having research meetings with Minneapolis City Council members about passing ordinances that will enable people with criminal records to get jobs. I’m in way over my head, things are complex, and I often feel out of place.

And yet, this work brings me joy. I am following love’s calling to stop doing nothing. My faith, my love, our faith, our love is diminished when we shun discomfort and allow our hearts to numb. I experience power with you, my faith community, to the extent that our love commits us to facing what is true in our world, our world in all its goodness and terror. We bear witness, give voice and do stuff with love as our guide.