Friday December 5 — “Our students reminded me to keep on loving a hard world in a hard time.”
I don’t know when The Rock landed in it’s famous place on campus; 50 years ago? more? No matter; The Rock has carried paint brush wielding student group statements all these years; some messages playfully silly, some Greek-pride statements, and lots and lots of other student statements. It may be that in my 34 years at UDM I have never been so proud of UDM students “painting the rock” as last night between 10:30 and 11:45. About 80 people, mostly students but maybe 10 old folks like me, gathered on a cold night to pray and pay attention to what has come to be called “excessive police violence.” Trevor Martin, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner had many companions less well known in current media whose names the students read in prayer.
Yesterday, the US Department of Justice released a multi-year study of the use of force by the Cleveland Police Department. I heard a first news story yesterday afternoon, that called the DOJ report “scathing.” Today’s New York Times article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/us/justice-dept-inquiry-finds-abuses-by-cleveland-police.html?&hpw&rref=us&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0 ) includes these two summary paragraphs:
The city’s policing problems, Mr. Holder said, stemmed from “systemic deficiencies, including insufficient accountability, inadequate training and equipment, ineffective policies and inadequate engagement with the community.”
Continue reading the main story
Justice Department officials had been saying for weeks that the Cleveland inquiry was coming to a close, suggesting that the timing of the release of its findings was not related to the outrage prompted by the Rice killing. On Thursday, Steven M. Dettelbach, the United States attorney in Cleveland, said the investigation, which involved a review of nearly 600 encounters involving police use of force from 2010 to 2013, did not include the shooting of Tamir.
Readers of this blog know well this searing national question and its partison passions. As I stood in the circle of mostly students holding candles around The Rock, what impressed me most was that they were addressing the wave of ugly news sweeping the nation the way UDM hopes it’s students and employees will engage hard realities. Universities commit to a bedrock respect for people with whom one differs, to patient sorting out of the tangled moments of human behavior, for betting on the long haul rather than the short violent fix. It is a demanding moral code. UDM, in its statement of Catholic identity underscores this commitment with a theological belief: that God approaches the human condition as one whole, leaving no one and nothing out, from a starting point of affection rather than suspicion. At our best, UDM people respect this immense challenge as sacred reverence for God’s love of the mess of humanity. On good days I am proud of how we do that here, proud of the 30,000+ people who came to our 20+ clinics last year, proud of our stated commitment to the heart of the city of Detroit. On bad days I get cranky about those same realities and look for a club to settle my disagreements at least in my fantasy life.
By this measure, last night at The Rock was for me a very good day: the soft spoken reverence of the student speakers called me to love the world as it is and to build out from that love. For the 80+ of us, last night’s hour was a sacred vigil, not a rant. Our students reminded me to keep on loving a hard world in a hard time.
Thank you,
john st sj
Today’s Post The Prophet Habakkuk
“For the vision still has its time
presses on to fulfilment, does not deceive
if it comes slowly, wait,
for come it will, without fail.”
Habakkuk 2
