People of faith must respond with prayer and action to help heal a wounded nation | Opinion

The anarchy that erupted on the streets of Washington D.C. and particularly at the U.S. Capitol Building on yesterday Jan. 6this a dark stain on the history of our nation.

When people advocate for their political leaders or objectives there is never a rationale for committing violence. The deep divisions in our nation right now are traumatizing tens of millions of people. As people of faith, we must provide the necessary response through prayer and action--needed to heal a wounded nation. The events at the U.S. Capitol have resulted in loss of life. Is there no balm in Gilead?

In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote:

“In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men (women) are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

Our destiny as Americans is not separate from the rest of the world; in fact, we are simply a part of God’s human tapestry in which the lives and experiences of all people are sacred. Dr. King also said in this seminal letter, written to Alabama clergy, “whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”

As a nation we can never be all that we are called to be unless we are willing to live out the creed that all men and women are created equal and that we are “endowed with certain unalienable rights, chief among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Our call compels us to speak truth to power, to galvanize a movement for justice and to challenge our nation and its leaders to pursue the nature of our better angels.

Jan. 6 was not our best day as a nation but my prayer is that today and the next, we will all rise to the challenge of creating Beloved Community.

On behalf of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches and its members churches I stand on the side of justice with peace. Violence is never an answer in settling our disputes. Aristotle was correct in stating that we are social beings. In our associations, however, we must learn the importance of mutual respect and affirming the dignity of all persons.

The Rev. Dr. Larry Pickens is executive director of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.

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