When we were recently in Minnesota, we visited George Floyd Square, a memorial set up on the site where George Floyd was murdered by Minnesota Police Office Derek Chauvin in 2020.  Our visit was a powerful experience.

The traffic has been reworked as a round about and portions of the street have been blocked off to provide plenty of room for displays.

There are many memorials to George Floyd all around the intersection.

 

And there is some beautiful and powerful art work.

 

 

 

 

I especially admired these huge billboards showing artwork done by young children in honor of George Floyd.

 

But perhaps the most moving part for me, was the nearby Say Their Names Cemetery, a patch of grass displaying plastic “headstones” memorializing so many Black people who have been killed by police. To see them all in one place is significant.

 

 

I come away from this experience asking the same old questions. Why do we allow this to happen? Why has it taken so much loss of life for us to do something?

My answer is that this continues to happen because white folks like me don’t do enough, speak out enough, donate enough, march enough, and protest enough to make a difference.

Today, Janet and I walked in our little Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival parade with our church. We carried our “Love One Another” banner and wore our Black Lives Matter shirts. But that is so little.  That is so safe.

But, then again, maybe we don’t always have to do the “big” things. I was reminded this morning that sometimes it is the little things that count. That our call, our work, may just be listening to the Spirit lead us and following that lead. Enjoy this wonderful reflection from my friend Beverly on listening to “the big guy”, and responding by doing the “little things”.

Y’all God just gave me a glimmer ✨ We’re having some landscaping done and I’m lying on my bed super chill after a luxurious two hour Thai massage 💆🏾‍♀️ I’m watching the slender young Hispanic man outside my window wielding a pic ax like nobody’s business. I’m admiring his work ethic when the big guy says “Don’t just lie there admiring him; get up and support him.” Huh 🤔 So I get up and go offer him some water. He timidly says “No thank you” and I say “It’s pretty hot” and he says “okay one cup” I give him a glass of ice water and come back inside. Big guy says “Is that all you got? You just ate that juicy piece of chicken. You think he’s had lunch?” 🤷🏾‍♀️ So I grab some grapes from the fridge and take them out for him. He thanks me, I come back inside. He goes straight for the grapes 🍇 Then I noticed him wiping his brow with his shirt so I took him a towel to mop the sweat from his forehead. Through all of this he keeps wielding the pic ax, pulling at dirt and roots with his bare hands and shoveling rocks. And I’m standing in the window weeping for joy because the big guy nudged me to be more than observant. Nudged me to be humble, kind and just. A glimmer given is just as meaningful as a glimmer received if not more. 🥲

Isn’t that beautiful! I commit to looking for ways that I can make a difference, that I can BE a difference. And I commit to listening for the little things, and to responding to those “glimmers.”

God bless,
Coe