On Sunday afternoon, the Kingdom of God in New York City and 13 other cities is coming together for the National Rally for AAPI Lives and Dignity. It’s not lost on me that these rallies are taking place on Palm Sunday, the beginning of the end of our season of Lent, and the beginning of Holy Week.
Palm Sunday marks the preparation for the height of suffering in the history of the Christian faith as it points toward Good Friday, the moment in the global church calendar that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But Holy Week doesn’t end there. The culmination of this season is not his pain and suffering, but Christ’s resurrection—and that ultimately points to his ascension as Lord of our world.
I can only pretend to understand the pain, tiredness, frustration, anger, and fear that my brothers and sisters in the AAPI community have faced the last 12 months (and more, of course). The cause of these things is deeply rooted in the insidiousness and the antichrist of white supremacy, and for that I am grieved and repentant. Whether or not I contribute to that today, I know that I have in the past, and I know that I have benefited and gained privileges from a system that continues to prop up white supremacy.
I am sorry, and I stand with you today, tomorrow, and always.
In just the last few weeks, it seems like these feelings of pain, tiredness, frustration, anger, and fear have burst, and now today, Palm Sunday, we rally together in solidarity to honor the AAPI community. And while we confront the pain and suffering, we don’t only do that; we rally together to honor the dignity and humanity of this beloved community.
I pray that tonight’s rally isn’t a gathering of pain, but a gathering of hope, just as Holy Week doesn’t end in pain—nor does it ignore it—but instead, it ends in cosmic, earth-shaking hope. We are people of the resurrection, and no pain, no brokenness, nothing, can change that.
In a devotion read on the Hope Hell’s Kitchen prayer call yesterday, we focused on a few verses from Psalm 31, a passage that captures this juxtaposition of pain and hope that Holy Week represents. It is my prayer that the grief and stress of the AAPI community is rooted in the reality that Christ is your God, and your lives—our lives—are in his hands and no one else’s.
But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. — Psalm 31:14-16
Get details on today’s rally in New York City here. It will be held at the North Plaza at Union Square at 4pm ET.