Pastoral Statement for Tonight's Vigil on the Circle

Peace does not mean you are passive.
Peace does not mean you are silent.
Peace does not mean you are in-active.

Nor does peace mean you are complacent, or accepting of unkind, unjust realities.

Peace means you adhere to a vision and promise- that here in America ALL people are equals, that ALL people have a right to living a life of goodness; that ALL have the ability to come together and move forward as ONE.

ALL people.

Not 90%
Not some.

Not just those who have my same eye color, or same religious beliefs, or same ethnic make-up.

But ALL.

To gather in the midst of all that has gone on is to say to the community around us “WE are strong, WE are compassionate, and WE believe in the vision and the promise of our nation’s ancestral leaders.”

Those who have fear brandish torches; we with courage hold the flames of justice in our hearts.

Those who are detached from their fellow women and men shout of blood and soil; we who are in fellowship with our sisters and brothers speak of our beautiful land and the knowledge that there is enough for all.

Tonight, we let those who are filled with falsified hate know that history has shown again and again that the stories, the songs, the memories, and the acts of those who courageously act out of justice and kindness are the ones that last, because they give us hope.

And when one has hope, they are strong and unstoppable.

Though I am unable to stand beside you today in body, I proudly stand with you in spirit.

May the life-affirming call to say “No!” to hate guide you in being strong, guide you in being a positive presence, and guide you in saying to the Community that we are ONE.

We are One in which each of us is an essential person, and every one of us can be a channel for change.

In justice, in kindness, and in humility,
Rev. George Miller
Emmanuel United Church of Christ
Sebring, FL