This week we marked two somber anniversaries: the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a police officer; and the one hundred-year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Both are reminders of the ongoing history of violence against African Americans in this country. Today my focus is on Tulsa.
 
I didn’t learn about this event until a few years ago, and the silencing of this history is part of the story. In 1921 the thriving “Black Wall Street” community of Greenwood in Tulsa was burned to the ground by a white mob, aided by the white government. Dozens of churches, businesses, restaurants, theatres and homes were burned; Black people were shot in the street while airplanes dropped bombs; and hundreds died. Those who survived lost their wealth and their homes, and were traumatized for the rest of their lives. The story was either not told or was twisted so as to somehow blame the Black residents for the white mob who massacred them.
 
An article in the New York Times this week told some of this history with virtual maps and models of the neighborhood that was destroyed. Here is the link:
​ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/24/us/tulsa-race-massacre.html
 
I learned about this event in some depth in a class I took as a seminary student, spending a week in Tulsa and visiting the UU churches there, including All Souls, one of the largest UU congregations in the country. Last night my class had a reunion with our professor and other Tulsa students from other years. The professor asked us – most of us ordained ministers now – what we are doing in our anti-racist work and what strategies we have found to be effective in countering white supremacy culture.
 
What strategies have you found, what actions have you taken, to counter white supremacy culture in yourself, in your life, in your congregation?
 
 This is a hard question and one that I continue to sit with. I don’t have a quick answer. The problem of racism is so deep in our culture that it is hard to feel any success against it. My small successes are internal: doing the work within myself (imperfectly, haltingly, but with perseverance) to recognize and root our racism. We have small successes in our congregation as well: participating in the New Day Rising workshop; studying the book White Fragility; having a conversation about micro-aggressions.
 
What about you? What work are you doing in yourself, in your circle of loved ones, in this congregation?
 
The anniversary of this horrific event in American history is a chance to name the violent anti-Black racism that is part of our heritage. It is a chance to ask ourselves and each other what we are doing to make a more just and peaceful society. And we are not doing it alone – I’m doing it, the 25 ministers and seminarians in my reunion last night are doing it, and you’re doing it. Let’s keep doing the vital work of anti-racism together.
 
PRAYER:
Spirit of Life and Love, Spirit of Justice and Remembrance, be here now. Divine spirit, be with me as I sit with the feelings of guilt and anger and sadness remembering the Tulsa massacre. May anger lead to action; may guilt give way to healthy introspection; may sadness remind me that every life is precious.
 
May all who endeavor to work for a more racially just society be strengthened and encouraged in their work. May all know that we do this work together, not alone.
 
Blessed be.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
May 27, 2021

Yesterday I heard the much-anticipated verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin: he was found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd. Today I participated in a community discussion about this case, with many members of the congregation, and what it means for us.
 
This was the event that had repercussions around the world in street protests last summer. This is the case that shows how broken policing is in the United States. I felt great joy and relief at this guilty verdict: relief that the justice system finally worked in a case like this, when we have seen so many cases of police violence against Black people end with no punishment. Still, we see more cases of police violence day after day, which causes us to wonder if we are truly making progress.
 
Making progress is a political and civic question: we can measure progress in terms of laws passed and in terms of police data. And there is a spiritual component to this question as well. Are we making progress spiritually on this as a society? as a religious movement? as individuals?
 
It is a spiritual question to ask ourselves how racism and other forms of oppression can be overcome – first in our minds, then in our families, then in our neighborhoods. It is a spiritual question to confront human violence and begin to transcend it. A nation awash with handguns and violence takes a huge spiritual toll on its citizens.
 
May we be willing to do the internal and external work required of us: what does George Floyd’s killing show us? What can we learn from Derek Chauvin’s trial? What is the emotional and spiritual work we each need to do within, and what is the work of words and actions in community and public spaces?
 
PRAYER:
Great spirit that abides over all, beneath all, within all, may we feel your presence now. May our best selves be called forth now: the most loving, wise parts of ourselves. May we be filled with love and wisdom, but also with determination and power.
 
There is a way forward, through love and community.
 
May we see beyond all disguise of outward difference, to the truth that we are all one and we are all connected. We are connected to all other humans, to all living creatures, and to all of nature.
 
May blessing come to Mount Pleasant. May blessing come to Minneapolis; may blessing come to Columbus and Chicago and Detroit. May peace and justice be increased on this day, through our will.
 
Amen.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz

This week marks the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and prayer. I have been thinking about the spiritual practice of self-denial that this Muslim tradition represents, and what it means for non-Muslims like myself. Fasting for Ramadan, as I understand it, is to deny the body in order to feed the spirit. It is done in community, and breaking the fast nightly is a communal event. A Muslim observing Ramadan is removing the habit of eating during daylight hours, and making room for prayer and community.
 
Many Christians practice a period of self-denial and reflection called Lent, leading up to the holiday of Easter. In mainstream secular US culture, however, the only widespread practice of self-denial I can think of is dieting. Many Americans have never fasted for religious reasons, but they have dieted for personal reasons. Unfortunately, most often the practice of dieting is not for spiritual deepening, nor even for true physical health, but for the sake of external appearance. We go on a diet when we are not happy with how our bodies look to ourselves and others.  If this is the only kind of self-denial practice that we know in mainstream US culture, we could learn something from the Muslim practice of Ramadan.
 
For any human being, Muslim, secular, or Unitarian Universalist, a practice of spiritual discipline that involves self-denial, and using this as a chance to deepen spiritual awareness, community, and self-esteem is a healthy practice. Self-denial that is undertaken through a sense of shame or punishing the self is not healthy. Seeing my Muslim neighbors and colleagues and fellow human being practice Ramadan gives me a chance to reflect on this larger human truth: may this truth enlighten us all.
 
PRAYER:
Spirit of Life, divine energy that some call God and some call Allah, be with me now.
 
May those fasting for Ramadan be blessed and safe. May their practice deepen their connection with tradition, with culture, with community, and with spirit.
 
May I be blessed with healthy practices for my body, mind and spirit. May all people be guided to make choices that increase their health, their connection to loved ones, and their relationship to the Divine--however they understand or experience the Divine.
 
May it be so.
 
A salaam alaikum.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz