*Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

To Anyone Who Has Ever Been Hurt By A White Person

I shared this post on a local community site, http://www.ourcityonahill.net, but what I didn’t share was the journey that birthed this meaningful apology.

I hope that you will join me here over this next week as I share the

WHY,

WHY NOW,

and

WHY ME

that lead my heart to this place. I hope you will come alongside me, lean into where your heart breaks and share your own WHY, WHY NOW, WHY ME story as well.

Meaningful Apologies

Have you ever received an “I’m sorry” from your kids or someone else that didn’t feel like an apology at all? I have and sadly, I have probably given a few fake “I’m sorries” as well.  I am truly SORRY for that and I plan to never do that again.

But have you ever received a sincere-to-the-bone apology, the kind that is so deeply remorseful that it was your pleasure to receive it and quickly give forgiveness for the wounds inflicted?

I have and healing washed in like a tidal wave.

If I am being honest, I have been afraid to write this post. My heart has been in a wide-open, blood-gushing broken-down state since Charlottesville. That heartbreak was compounded after seeing the movie, Wind River, a film which sheds light on some of the areas in which we have failed our Native American communities.  Our country has a history of racism and we are clearly still wrestling on the broken glass left behind.

Imagine, for a just second, what a wrestling match on broken glass would look like: 

bloody, messy and possibly lethal. 

If you were watching this go down, wouldn’t you do anything possible to stop the wreckage right before your very eyes?

God confirmed that He was asking me to tell the world about HIS justice and to not be afraid to speak out. He asked me to shine a light, to help stop this fight!

I have told ALL your people about your JUSTICE.
    I have not been afraid to speak out,
    as you, O Lord, well know.
I have not kept the good news of your JUSTICE hidden in my heart;
    I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.
I have told EVERYONE in the great assembly
    of your unfailing love and faithfulness.

Psalm 40:9-10 NLT

So, I am stepping out in obedience. I am laying down my fear and clinging to my faith. Out of the overflow of my heart, I am writing a sincere-to-the-bone apology to anyone who has ever been hurt by a white person. I pray that you hear this as if it were coming directly from the ones who have crushed you the most; I pray that healing begins and forgiveness comes.

Meaningful Apologies:

To Anyone Who Has Ever Been Hurt By A White Person

I do not expect

a poem to erase the past.

But I do hope this poem

Leaves a beauty mark that lasts.

To the ones who have been hurt,

ignored or left behind

I want to say I’m sorry.

I want to just be kind.

If you were forced onto a ship

And brought here against your will,

Ignorance and evil

Were the ones who wrote that bill.

An apology won’t heal the wound

But I am so sorry anyway.

I won’t ignore the past.

How can I love you well today?

If your land was taken

By white men long ago

There’s no excuse. That’s abuse.

It’s time we let you know.

We’ve treated you as if

Your life was second best.

I cringe in utter horror

A history I detest.

Black lives matter.

Yes they do.

To the Native American community,

I SEE YOU.

The United States of America

Is divided to the core.

But it doesn’t have to stay that way.

God has something more.

Pride comes before a fall.

The fall we have perfected.

A humble heart bows down low

Before the ones they’ve neglected.

I’d like to make a vow

I’d like to start today.

I want to be your friend.

I want to hear what you have to say.

God sees us as family.

We’re related; I’m so glad.

Can we rewrite history,

Bringing good from all the bad?

God is in the business

Of making all things new.

Nothing is impossible;

I’m in.

Are you?

I LOVE YOU- I REALLY DO!

*I painted this last year as one of the ways I envision compassion. I also see this as a visual representation of how a meaningful apology reaches out and touches someone; it is up-close and personal.

I pray this post continues to stir our hearts and that it nudges us to lean into where they break.

How will we respond?

I want to play a part in making today and tomorrow a little better than yesterday. I know that is not possible without Christ. And I believe that is the heartbeat of most. In a culture that is quick to assume the worst, I hope to leave a legacy of assuming the best.

Let’s link arms in love. We are most definitely better together!

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