On March 14 Brazilian human rights activist Marielle Franco was shot to death on the streets of Rio as she departed a community empowerment meeting. The 38 year old Franco grew up in dangerous Mare slum and was catapulted into public service through her election to the Rio’s city council. As a single black lesbian mother she was herself an extreme minority and she offered her voice to the voiceless of the city.
As one who confronted the power structures of the government she was vulnerable to acts of retaliatory violence. Her death galvanized thousands in a renewed quest for justice and equality.
When I think of Marielle and why and how she died my thoughts immediately turn to Jesus, one who sacrificed and died for very similar reasons. He also called into question the power structures of the status quo – both politically and religiously – and he was also silenced. I believe that is what happens when love comes to town and advocates for those who have no voice. Love gets crushed. But in the case of Jesus the seed that dies and falls to the ground germinates into a new, larger life. In the end you can’t kill love and the power behind it.
The people who killed Jesus out of the darkness of their souls are the same people who shot down Marielle. They will be forgotten, lost in the dustbin of history. But the power of love will ultimately triumph. So we sing on the other side of that portal of death we call the tomb, a passageway to more than we could of ever imagined.
It’s hard to call Good Friday good. But in this light it is; something good comes out of the tragedy and human darkness. And that good warms the hearts of all around it.
vitalwholeness 