Bearing Witness

I’m keeping Holy Week very much to the point this year at The Wild Reed by simply sharing the following by my friend Rev. Rebecca Voelkel.

In the Western Christian tradition, today is Good Friday, the day we mark how the Roman Empire crucified (executed) Jesus as a political prisoner. It is what Empire does, it is what systems of supremacy do, when they want to assert their power-over: they kill in traumatizing, horrifying ways.

As I watch small portions of the Chauvin trial, my non-Black, allied body is overwhelmed by the pain and I see so many Black beloveds who are triggered . . . and the children who watched George Floyd’s murder/execution/lynching and felt so powerless to do anything and are weeping in pain . . . they are like Mary and the women who stood at the foot of the cross, bearing witness but unable to stop Empire’s violence. George Floyd’s murder was a crucifixion/lynching/execution at the hands of white supremacy.

On this Good Friday, I am bearing witness.

– Rev. Rebecca Voelkel
via Facebook
April 2, 2021

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “I Can’t Breathe”: The Murder of George Floyd
• He Called Mama. He Has Called Up Great Power
• Honoring George Floyd
• “New and Very Dangerous”: The Extreme Right-Wing Infiltration of the George Floyd Protests
• Emma Jordan-Simpson: “There Will Be No Peace Without Justice”
• Out and About – Spring 2020
• The Language of the Oppressor
• A Very Intentional First Day of the Year
• The Problem Is Ultimately Bigger Than Individuals. It’s Systemic


For The Wild Reed’s 2020 Holy Week post, see:
• Holy Week 2020


For The Wild Reed’s 2019 Holy Week post, see:
• In This In-Between Time

For The Wild Reed’s 2018 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from Druid author and speaker John Michael Greer’s essay "The God from the House of Bread" in the 2012 anthology, Jesus Through Pagan Eyes: Bridging Neopagan Perspectives with a Progressive Vision of Christ, see:
• The God from the House of Bread: A Bridge Between Christianity and Paganism (Part 1)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 2)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 3)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 4)




For The Wild Reed’s 2017 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from a 1999 interview with scholar and teacher Andrew Harvey, accompanied by images that depict Jesus as the embodiment of the Cosmic Christ, see:
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 1)
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 2)
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 3)




For The Wild Reed’s 2016 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from Richard Horsley’s 1993 book Jesus and the Spiral of Violence, accompanied by images of Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus in the 2015 NBC mini-series A.D.: The Bible Continues, see:
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 1)
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 2)
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 3)

For The Wild Reed’s 2015 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from Cletus Wessels’ book Jesus in the New Universe Story), see:
• The Two Entwined Events of the Easter Experience
• Resurrection in an Emerging Universe
• Resurrection: A New Depth of Consciousness



For The Wild Reed’s 2014 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from John Neafsey's book A Sacred Voice is Calling: Personal Vocation and Social Conscience, see:
• "To Die and So to Grow"
• The Way of the Wounded Warrior
• Suffering and Redemption
• A God With Whom It is Possible to Connect
• A Discerning Balance Between Holiness and Wholeness: A Hallmark of the Resurrected Life

For The Wild Reed’s 2013 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of Jesus that some might call "unconventional," see:
• Jesus: The Upside-down Messiah
• Jesus: Mystic and Prophet
• Jesus and the Art of Letting Go
• Within the Mystery, a Strange and Empty State of Suspension
• Jesus: The Revelation of Oneness




For The Wild Reed’s 2012 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from Cynthia Bourgeault’s book The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – A New Perspective on Christ and His Message, see:
• The Passion: "A Sacred Path of Liberation"
• Beyond Anger and Guilt
• Judas and Peter
• No Deeper Darkness
• When Love Entered Hell
• The Resurrected Jesus . . .



For The Wild Reed’s 2011 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of various cinematic depictions of Jesus, see:
• "Who Is This Man?"
• A Uniquely Liberated Man
• An Expression of Human Solidarity
• No Other Way
• Two Betrayals
• And What of Resurrection?
• Jesus: The Breakthrough in the History of Humanity
• To Believe in Jesus

For The Wild Reed’s 2010 Holy Week series, featuring excerpts from Andrew Harvey’s book Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ, see:
• Jesus: Path-Blazer of Radical Transformation
• The Essential Christ
• One Symbolic Iconoclastic Act
• One Overwhelming Fire of Love
• The Most Dangerous Kind of Rebel
• Resurrection: Beyond Words, Dogmas and All Possible Theological Formulations
• The Cosmic Christ: Brother, Lover, Friend, Divine and Tender Guide

For The Wild Reed’s 2009 Holy Week series, featuring the artwork of Doug Blanchard and the writings of Marcus Borg, James and Evelyn Whitehead, John Dominic Crossan, Andrew Harvey, Francis Webb, Dianna Ortiz, Uta Ranke-Heinemann and Paula Fredriksen, see:
• The Passion of Christ (Part 1) – Jesus Enters the City
• The Passion of Christ (Part 2) – Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers
• The Passion of Christ (Part 3) – Last Supper
• The Passion of Christ (Part 4) – Jesus Prays Alone
• The Passion of Christ (Part 5) – Jesus Before the People
• The Passion of Christ (Part 6) – Jesus Before the Soldiers
• The Passion of Christ (Part 7) – Jesus Goes to His Execution
• The Passion of Christ (Part 8) – Jesus is Nailed the Cross
• The Passion of Christ (Part 9) – Jesus Dies
• The Passion of Christ (Part 10) – Jesus Among the Dead
• The Passion of Christ (Part 11) – Jesus Appears to Mary
• The Passion of Christ (Part 12) – Jesus Appears to His Friends


Images: The George Floyd Memorial Site as photograpghed by Rev Rebecca Voelkel (image 1) and Ben Hovland/Sahan Journal (image 2).