Today we lift up
Asking
as a spiritual practice for resisting racism. The Psalmist asks God to wash them, to cleanse them of their iniquity. It’s an invitation, but that invitation assumes that the psalmist has something that needs cleansing. I wonder if they know what it is—perhaps not. Usually, I prefer to be aware of my weakness, fault, or sin. I like to point it out and show just how self-aware I am, my ability to humbly acknowledge and even laugh a bit at my flaws. It’s a new level of humility to openly ask God to come in and find the dark corners of my life that I struggle to acknowledge, and to bring cleansing to those parts. I am learning to accept the fact that, for years, I have acted in ways that are biased against people of color; even when I don’t notice it, there are others who do. My work today is to ask God to enter in and reveal those areas to me. I ask God to give me courage and grace to face what is true about me, even if I wish it weren’t so. This is the beginning of God’s work of change in us, and it begins with the Asking.
―
Pastor Taylor Fuerst
