Al and a colleague leading vigil participants in honoring precious Black lives lost due to racial injustice.
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry to Him reached His ears.
Psalm 18:6
On Saturday, many leaders and members from various AAPI and Black churches and communities came together for a “Vigil of Love and Solidarity” to lament the racial injustices that have been happening in this nation for the past several centuries. On the surface, things seemed to have improved; but underneath the superficiality of America’s “liberty and freedom” lies corruption of the heart and depravity of racism. In one portion of the vigil, I had the honor and burden of leading the vigil participants in remembering and honoring some of the precious lives lost due to racial injustice. My colleague and I invited the participants to kneel if they felt compelled as we read the names of some of the victims out loud. We expected maybe half of the participants to kneel, we were surprised to see nearly all of the participants kneeling down as we proclaimed out loud the names of precious lives lost in America. For 15 excruciating minutes, we knelt, cried, and lamented the state of our nation. Lamenting is not only acceptable, it is a good and necessary part of healthy spirituality.
