Breathe on me, Breath of God: Reflections on the murder of George Floyd
Illustration by Scott Erickson
Breathe on me, Breath of God
Episcopal Charities joins people of goodwill and those who follow Christ in expressing sorrow and outrage at the murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer. Floyd’s death follows the shootings of a young black jogger in Georgia named Ahmaud Arbery and a black medical technician in Kentucky named Breonna Taylor who was shot by police inside her home.
Six years ago, a young black man named Michael Brown was gunned down by police in Ferguson, Missouri capturing national attention only one month after another black man, Eric Garner, died at the hands of New York City police officers as he gasped “I can’t breathe.” A few days ago, as George Floyd struggled for his life, Eric Garner’s words were present again, 6 years later, on George Floyd’s lips as he, too, gasped for air saying “I can’t breathe.”
Episcopal Charities supports 17 Ministry Partners around the Diocese of Chicago. From Rockford to Peoria to Waukegan to Chicago, our Ministry Partners provide permanent supportive housing, support to minority families and students on their journey to college, affordable mental health services, secondary education on Chicago’s west side, bilingual higher education, supportive services for formerly incarcerated persons, and many others.
For many of our Ministry Partners who provide trauma-informed care and assistance to vulnerable populations, it is the legacy of racism and ongoing impact of white supremacy and implicit bias that create many of the causes and conditions that give rise to homelessness, food insecurity, psychological trauma, lack of access to healthcare and educational services, and many others. We long for the day when the work of our Ministry Partners is no longer needed but we are aware that this dream will always be deferred as long as black sisters and brothers are unable to breathe.
On this Whitsunday (Pentecost), Episcopal Charities joins the Bishop of Chicago, The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (USA), The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, and many others who call for an end to the violence inflicted upon black bodies by police and for an end to racism at the individual, institutional, and structural levels. We pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit who is the breath of all life—that this Spirit of love, healing, and justice would fill the lungs of all who cannot breathe: for Eric Garner, for George Floyd, and for all those struggling for air under the weight of white supremacy.
Matt Berryman
Executive Director
Breathe on me, breath of God:
fill me with life anew,
that I may love as you have loved
and do as you would do.
Breathe on me, breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until my will is one with yours
to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, breath of God;
fulfill my heart's desire,
until this earthly part of me
glows with your heavenly fire.
by Edwin Hatch (1886)
