By Rev. Wayne Credle
Holy Spirit, I can't breathe.
My air is being constrained by the footprints of America.
The same footprints that claim freedom, continue to claim those who look like me without conviction.
The same footprints that claim equality has unequivocally organized systems of inequality, that exasperate my ability to exhale.
The same footprints that claim fairness, claim my air with tear gas, hoping that through fear I would stay silent, complacent and compliant.
The same footprints that claim to give voice, is determined to squelch mine while making theirs louder.
Though it is Pentecost, and though you can do all things, I dare say, Spirit I cannot breathe today.
Not only do I need you to fill my lungs, but I need you to remove the footprint that constrains it.
Not only do I need you to help me exhale but I need you to also remove the footprint that keeps me exasperated.
Not only do I need you to clear the air, but I need you to remove the footprints of racial disparity and injustice that keep me in tears.
Help us to be the church that not only causes us to shout but causes us to breathe. And help us as a church to not perpetuate the very systems of injustice and unfairness in the lives of those we are called to serve.
Breathe on us Holy Spirit, not to quench the fire that blazes in us to dispel the places of anger because you can turn anger into righteousness when placed in your hands...but breathe on us Holy Spirit that we may be filled with more than just what we see.
Come down and consume not only the houses but the people within the houses that we may be launched, dispatched, and propelled to do your will as the true Acts church.
Amen.
Rev. Wayne Credle is the Youth & Young Adult Pastor of First Shiloh Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Virginia. This piece was shared as preface to Worship on Pentecost Sunday, 2020 in response to the George Floyd tragedy.