The power of faith and forgiveness: Remembering 11 years of Mother Emanuel

By Senator Tim Scott

I will never forget the text I sent my dear friend, Clementa Pinckney. I waited for a response but never got an answer.

Clementa and eight other beautiful souls died at the hands of a racist while attending a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church. The killer thought he could create division in the birthplace of the Civil War, but he was wrong. He misunderstood who we are as South Carolinians and the power of faith and forgiveness. In a nation filled with division, we can all learn from the beauty that came out of the tragedy at Mother Emanuel.

States like Missouri turned into war zones when race-based conflict reached their borders. Streets filled with smoke, flames, and broken glass as rioters destroyed communities and businesses. Not in Charleston. Not in South Carolina.

In just 36 hours, the families of the victims came together in prayer and forgiveness. When retribution was justified, they chose to love their enemies and prayed for those who persecuted them.

Not only did they pray for him, but they hoped that the killer would come to know Christ. Even though some of the families struggled to make sense of the tragedy, they knew that even the killer’s life could be better if he gave his life to Jesus.

When these nine African American families came forward and said that they not only forgave him, but they also wanted him to have a relationship with Jesus, they inspired a state to forgive a racist killer and prevented South Carolina from spiraling into chaos.

Protests were traded for prayer. Hate was crushed by forgiveness. More than 20,000 South Carolinians of every race and religion joined hand-in-hand at the Ravenel Bridge to celebrate the diversity that makes South Carolina such a beautiful place to live and raise a family. This is the strength of our state and our country.

I don’t know if I could have done it the way the families of the Emanuel Nine did, but their faith strengthens me and should remind Americans what it looks like to come together and heal our nation.

In the face of misery, pride, and conflict, may we all remember the Emanuel Nine and the families that took the loss, the pain, and the heartache and turned it into the gift of grace that can only come from something greater than ourselves, the Lord God Almighty.

For me, that means knowing that every single time things get hard, remember Mother Emanuel. Every time I think someone on the other side is doing something I can’t deal with, remember Mother Emanuel.

Over a decade later, we are still inspired by the strength, courage, and compassion of the Mother Emanuel families.

South Carolina will never be able to fill the hole left in the heart of our state, but we can rest in God’s peace that surpasses all understanding and the power of forgiveness. May the Lord continue to bless South Carolina and the people, like the families of the Mother Emanuel Nine, who make our state remarkable.