Friday, January 27, 2023
A Pastoral Message from the Rector regarding the Death of Tyre Nichols
The Rev. Ollie V. Rencher, Rector
Ubuntu: I am because you are. – Southern Africa Proverb (Nguni Bantu)
Today, along with the family and friends of fellow Memphian Tyre Nichols, who was arrested and beaten on January 7 and died on January 10, we grieve the loss of another sacred life due to the human capacity for evil and disregard for another image of God. This evening, we and the world will have access to a horrific video that captures the violence that led to the death of Mr. Nichols. If protests follow the release of the video, may they be non-violent following the example of our Lord Jesus.
My heart breaks not only for the Nichols family, but also for the five former Memphis Police officers, Bean, Haley, Martin, Mills, and Smith, who inflicted violence on Mr. Nichols, and for their struggling family and friends. All need unceasing prayers. While most law enforcement officers adhere to the vow to maintain public safety and trust among the people they protect and serve with respect and integrity, and we rightfully celebrate them, a minority do not function as they avowed. I ask that, as we navigate dismay, frustration, anger, and an increasing lack of trust, to remember that a minority of officers should not have the power to negatively control our opinions about and behavior toward officers who have served with honor. Instead, Christians are called to participate in efforts focused on hope: justice and policing reform, ever mindful of the spiritual concept of “ubuntu,” which means “I am because you are.”
All humans, images of God, are connected in a sacred, mysterious, and significant way. If each strives daily to consider “ubuntu” when we think of or encounter another - family, friend, and stranger alike - evil and violence towards others are bound to lessen and even be eradicated. The late South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu once shared: “Ubuntu is the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness…We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”
In addition to prayers and concerns for the welfare of our beloved city, Grace-St. Luke’s Church is an active member of MICAH (Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope), which faithfully has been involved in this current matter and responded: “Once again, we are hurting, we are tired, we are angry. And we are calling for justice.” I commend the MICAH statement on Tyre Nichols and encourage all parishioners to learn more about MICAH by contacting our lay delegates Barb Frazer or Murray McKay (via Realm) or the Rev. Laura F. Gettys, Associate Rector.
I write to you from the Episcopal Society of St. John the Evangelist (Cambridge, MA) where I am for continuing education and retreat time until Monday. Every day, I thank God for our life together and for the GSL Vision to be a thriving community of hope, belonging, and healing through worship, parish life, and service, and who rejoices in the love of Jesus to transform the world.
Let us check-in with and take care of one another, and consider folding the prayers below from The Book of Common Prayer into our meditation times. Importantly, your clergy are always available for prayer and counseling, so please reach out via phone or email (gracestlukes.org/clergy-and-staff).
God’s peace, blessings, and in thanksgiving for the faith that binds us.
The Rev. Ollie V. Rencher, Rector
901.252.6320 | orencher@gracestlukes.org
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, and especially the hearts of the people of the Memphis community, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – For Social Justice
O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – In Times of Conflict
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – For the Human Family
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. – A Prayer attributed to St. Francis