An Open Letter To Christians Overly Concerned With the Criminal Records of Murdered Black People

A long-winded and long-overdue #longpost.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few weeks ruminating on faith, given both a string of personal tragedies this year, and that we seem to be collectively blazing through the ten Plagues of Egypt and will probably hit the Book of Revelation by October. Given my upbringing, a lot of this centers on the ministry of Jesus Christ; more specifically, on his love of using parables.

Can’t say that I blame him. Ya boy does loves a good metaphor.

And for the most part, even if the details are less effective than they were two thousand years ago, the lessons in Jesus’ parables hold up, and can be particularly prescient for the definitely-not-at-all troubled times we’re living in.

The wise and foolish bridesmaids? If you stay ready, you won’t have to get ready. The Good Samaritan? The righteous countrymen who you expect to help you most are just as likely to ignore your suffering, and the foreigners you expect to leave you in the dirt just might be the ones who would break their backs to save you. The rich man and Lazarus? People who won’t listen to mundane warnings all around them aren’t worth wasting more dramatic ones on. The sheep and the…