One of the hardest lessons that I’ve had to learn personally and pastorally is how to help in regard to the matter of race in our culture. A few years ago, one of our African-American parishioners stopped me after a service and said, “Pastor, when are we going to pray about Ferguson?”
At the time I didn’t understand Ferguson, I didn’t understand the context. So what he was really asking was if I understood what was happening, what was taking place. In that moment, as a pastor, I was dealing with a difficult scenario. I wanted to empathize with my brother, but I didn’t really know what to say. And this is where I’ve found lament to be really helpful.
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