“All Rise For The Jury” & Invitation To Compline

Dear Trinity Church and friends,

 

Moments ago in Minneapolis, the twelve-member jury delivered a verdict of “Guilty” on all three counts brought against Derek Chauvin. After Judge Peter Cahill read the conviction, each member of the jury, in turn, confirmed their decision. With a note that he would meet them in the jury room, he instructed the court: “All rise for the jury.” And everyone stood.

 

Earlier today, our Junior Warden, Barbara Dortch-Okara, readied a message to the parish to address our waiting for this decision from her perspective as a retired member of the Massachusetts judiciary. She wrote:

 

“When your thoughts inevitably wander back to that jury deliberating in Minneapolis, your first impulse may be to pray for justice. However, I suggest that absolute justice for George Floyd is unattainable. He can’t be brought back to the life he had before he met Derek Chauvin. Within the American legal system, members of the judiciary adhere to the notion that justice is the honest and considered verdict of an impartial jury rendered after a fair trial. As a judge, I worked hard to offer litigants justice under the law. But justice under the law often is insufficient. Let us instead pray for a result that provides accountability. My earnest appeal to the Almighty is for an outcome that acknowledges the horror of what we observed and seeks to redress the wrongs committed in full view of the world …

 

“Let us wait in hope that George Floyd has indeed changed the world, as his young daughter, Gigi, foresaw. We’ve seen some change already. We’ll have to see if the action taken is fruitful and if any change endures. A verdict that provides full accountability would certainly be heralded as a change in the world of police aggression against Black citizens in this country.”

 

With our Senior Warden, Mark Morrow, I now join my prayers to Barbara’s – so powerfully named – asking that, with God’s help, this outcome begins to acknowledge the horrors endured by Black Americans for 400 years; asking that, with God’s help, we have witnessed a righteous shift in the soul of our country, one that will lead to meaningful action; asking that, with God’s help, every American will live in the reassurance of being regarded with the same dignity and honor intended by our Creator.

 

To inaugurate this future, any relief of this moment must soon give way to resolve – loving, humble, and enduring as iron – that we will make anti-racism our daily devotion. As that commitment at Trinity Church continues, I invite you to join us at 8:30 tonight for our weeknightly Compline, as together we pray:

 

Gracious God, you have bound us together in a common life. Send your holy and life-giving Spirit to move every human heart, and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect, until, our divisions being healed, we may live in the peace that you intend;

Amen.

 

With faith in the risen Christ,

 

The Rev. Morgan S. Allen

Rector