Pray for Our People

I am deeply moved as listen to voicemail of the first caller to ChaplainsOnHand from NYC in distress over what he describes as the, "outcome and resolutions in the Justice dept. over our race, our young, our men being shot and slain... My spirit is troubled." He goes on to use the word, "unanswered" and then "no real solution." I stop the recording to breathe in and attune to what is real, what did he mean by an answer?

I still can hear the haunting echo from the streets of NYC as protesters chant, "I can't breathe."

I breathe into that troubled space in my body and repeat the words, "open, open, open" and sense some spaciousness and feel this man close, feel my friend Jeff Thompson, who has served as Community Outreach liason for the NYPD and also is a dad and student of Thich Nhat Hahn. I breathe with them.

I remember a phrase in the intro to his book, "Keeping the Peace: Mindfulness and Public Service" where police officer Sheri Maples speaks of the imperative of transforming training to include mindful peacebuilding so can be a peace officer.

I feel that responsibility uniting us as feel them close. Then, I press "play" and hear this man, my brother now, say slowly and solidly, "If you could pray for our people, for our departments. May God bless you and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace."In that moment, I feel all of us holding hands breathing that blessing alive.

#ferguson2nyc #ICantBreathe #‎opensourcechaplaincy‬ ‪#‎peacebmindful‬