A call for lamenting

Dr. Harold Lewis

Vice President of Biblical Diversity

  • Diversity

Today is Mourning Monday. It’s a day that we are calling for lamenting, reflection and self-examination that should proactively encourage and empower us to live out a lifestyle of reconciliation and unity.

This past Saturday, October 12, another person of color, Atatiana Jefferson of Fort Worth, Texas, was fatally shot in her own home by a Caucasian police officer while playing a video game with her nephew. This narrative has played out over and over in our country, and our nation is now grieving the senseless loss of another life. In dark hours like these, it is very challenging to find the appropriate words to say because the cry for justice has been ringing out for so long and so loud. At times like this, it feels like no one is hearing or listening to us, not even God.

If you ever wonder how people of color view these kinds of things:

People are angry! People are afraid, even in their own homes! People are feeling unsafe and insecure as the racial tension continues to escalate in our communities and country. Another unjustified loss of life. When will this cease, and when will we ever feel safe to call the police again?

O Lord, in our distress and grief, we are crying out to you for help!

Converge family, if you haven’t thought about how people of color specifically and many others in general are feeling in this season, please take a moment to reflect, lament and empathize. Allow yourself to step into the shoes of this woman and her family and friends, then into the lives of so many others who have experienced the pain of the senseless loss of a loved one resulting from misunderstanding, misperception and fear.

May God grant you the courage to speak up and out, the compassion to pray and the concern to mourn and hope for better days.

It is my prayer that we all become burdened and spiritually restless until love and justice prevail.

May God have mercy on us and strengthen us in the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of his blood!

In the following video, Dr. Lewis discusses the role of lamenting in how we experience one another outside of our own culture.

Dr. Harold Lewis, Vice President of Biblical Diversity

Dr. Harold D. Lewis Sr. is Converge’s Vice President of Biblical Diversity. A native of Greenwood, Mississippi, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi, a Master of Divinity from Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta and a Doctorate of Psychology from the University of the Rockies in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He also has been awarded multiple honorary doctorates. Dr. Lewis comes to Converge with over three decades of pastoral and leadership experience as a turnaround church pastor and a transformational coach for clergy and laypersons. His ministerial experience also includes more than 10 years of multicultural and justice responsibilities, which included collaborating with and resourcing Native American, Micronesian, Hispanic, Korean and Haitian ministries, as well as Black Methodists for Church Revival and the Conference Committee on Religion and Race.

Additional articles by Dr. Harold Lewis