White Supremacy Is A Poison, by EJ McGaughy

White Supremacy Is A Poison

EJ McGaughy

Day 1 or 7

I recall living in Los Angeles as a young child when the Northridge earthquake happened. There’s absolutely no relaying in words how scary it is to have the earth literally move beneath your feet, as a child, when that’s never happened before. It’s loud. It's disorienting; it literally feels like the world is falling apart. And it was. My little brain had no way of comprehending what was happening. And I can’t help but thinking of all the children, all over the world, who are experiencing floods, fires, and quakes for the first time. May God’s mercy surround them.

Back on that terrifying day I remember being swooped up by one of my parents and immediately taken underneath a doorway. We were safe. But upon turning on the television, we realized how many weren’t. Of course low income communities of color were the most devastated.

That Sunday in church we gathered to hear a word. The sermon didn’t do it. But the prayer did. My mom began to weep as the text of Psalm 46 wove its way into our collective conscious. There was something about my mother’s tears that clued me into the presence of God. Not in spite of the devastation, but in the midst of the devastation.

So as a return to and in honor of my mother’s theological garden, in honor of those all over the globe suffering from devastation today, in honor of the faith heritage I claim which is predominantly the voices of people of color living-dying-and-resurrecting in the midst of storms both natural and human-created, and in honor of the Planet whose body is comprised of everybody and then some, I turn us now to Psalm 46:

To the Leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A song.

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Though the earth should change, Though the mountains Shake in the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; She utters her voice, the Earth melts. The lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our Refuge.
Come, behold the works of the Lord, See what desolations he has brought on the Earth. She makes wars cease to the end of the Earth; She breaks the bow and shatters the spear; She burns the shields with fire.
Be Still and Know That I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the Earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Let us PRAY:
God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, our God, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen.

The Anti-Racist Devotional is dedicated to reading sacred texts through an Anti-Racist and Anti-Supremacist lens.

Day 1 or 7

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