Friend, I run faithfully three days a week usually before the sun rises, and usually with a White running buddy. As a Black man, it saddens me that running with a White person might still be required in some parts of our country to come back alive. I am grieving the life of #AhmaudArbery today. A life that was unjustly taken according to the laws of our land. “For all these things I weep; tears flow down my cheeks.” Lamentations 1:16. I lament. I will say his name. #JusticeForAhmaudArbery I also remember the impact of these desperate days on the most vulnerable in our society: essential workers in hospitals, nursing homes, grocery stores, and meat packing plants, those incarcerated, and nursing home residents. All of those most at risk are also disproportionately Black and Brown people, who are once again bearing the brunt of this horrific pandemic. The poor and vulnerable are also facing the greatest economic toll, as cuts to Medicaid and education are happening in state after state, community after community. The tragic racially motivated killing of Ahmaud Arbery is not an aberration during these days of COVID-19 in the United States. Because of the circumstances of his death, and the release of the horrific video last week, we now know his name. Only God knows the names of all the agricultural workers, the nursing home residents, and the prisoners, many Black and Brown, who are now dead because of COVID-19. Today I grieve them as well. “For all these things I weep; tears flow down my cheeks.” Far too many people, all over the world and in our country are grieving at this moment. The racial inequities and injustices and intentional hate driven murders add to the gravity and the pain. May this time of grieving and struggle not give way to despair, but rather move us to work all the more diligently for justice for Ahmaud Arbery, and justice for all for whom we weep. Sign up for Keeping Faith and follow Faith in Action on Twitter to see more faith reflections throughout the week. Chuck Mingo
Community Pastor
Crossroads Church | 
