Remembering Tyre Nichols Life
1/27/2023
Dad,
Cause Father is just too formal for me right now. I need you now like that hug that one hopes never ends. That embrace that’s not broken until one has been broken all the way down and the last sob has been cried out.
I was just getting past the trauma of witnessing what happened to Damar Hamlin and now here we are again. Just as you comforted me through that experience, I know you’re with me as I’m learning of your son Tyre Nichols.
I distinctly remember asking you about him very late last night. I had just finished writing for the evening and I knew that body cam footage of his brutal police encounter would soon be available to the world to witness, and I didn’t just only desire to know what the news had to offer.
I remember one of my schoolteachers used to say, “you don’t know me, you know of me.” As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate the statement and its validity. Last night was one of those moments. I remember gently asking you to show me Tyre Nichols. Not as the world is now coming to discover his life through his unfortunate death but as you knew and still know him.
Admittingly over the past few days as the news coverage intensified of the brutal beating this young man endured and his final days on the earth I tried to “not get involved” so to speak. Honestly, I was being selfish. I didn’t desire to find myself grieving and sobbing as I had so many times when I had been faced with something so breathtakingly heinous. These kinds of acts of violence have become far too frequent here in this country. I knew this could be traumatic and surely this story would rock me to my core. I wasn’t mistaken. It has.
I knew I needed to talk to someone about his death and so I came to you.
For the past few months, I’ve prayed that you soften my heart towards my fellow man and allow me to be moved with the same compassion for your children as Jesus was. You showing me your love for Tyre is an answer to that prayer.
Last night you allowed me to learn that he loved his mother very much. And you know that touched me deeply because I love how the Bible shows us the love Jesus has for His mother. I learned that Tyre too enjoyed photography just as I do. I remember placing my hands over my heart when I read that Tyre was a father. I felt pain for his child that has now lost his father. But as I continued to read more about his life, I got to learn that he enjoyed skateboarding and even though my eyes were full of tears I smiled because I remember the one time I got on a skateboard and my whole life flashed before my eyes before my face met the concrete. I thought to myself man he must have been brave. I got to read how he loved capturing images of sunsets, and I wondered if it was because he was capturing the goodness of being allowed to have lived another day or maybe he just wasn’t a morning person like myself so sunrises weren’t his cup of tea.
One of the sweetest memories of our talk about Tyre is how I was hesitant to think of myself when you guided me through some of the things that brought him the most joy in life. Last night I thought about writing about Tyre, but I thought maybe I could not honor his memory in a way that truly mattered. It was then that you reminded me that just as he is your son that he was also my brother.
You let me know that he first and foremost was created in your image. That he is your son. You made it clear to me that he was on Jesus’s mind as He was nailed to the cross. You assured me that there was nothing wrong for crying about what happened to him and that I needn’t feel guilty for recognizing the similarities of the bits of goodness we both happened to share.
That truly did my heart some good. I know at times we’re so caught up in our family here on earth that we lose sight that we first belonged to you, and as His Father you loved him more than we ever could.
I recall standing very still today wondering what can be done now? You told me that even though Tyre Nichols is no longer here those affected by his story are, far and wide. You let me know that many lives will be forever changed by what occurred. You encouraged me to lift up his family in prayer and also the officers charged with his murder as well as their families for they were also on Jesus’s mind as he was on the cross.
I began praying as soon as I heard those words. The devil has already stolencf`zsazzsxawasw so much. You reminded me that salvation was made available to each and every one of those officers by the sacrifice of your Son and that now more than ever the powers of darkness need to be arrested. Satan could not care less about the colors of the officer’s skin. He is only out to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) and the war on mankind supersedes police brutality, racism and any political tug of war.
This tragedy will not find justice in the streets nor courtroom but in the realm of the spirit. This battle requires intercession, spiritual warfare and deliverance.
Father may your Body put in the work to see that the enemy robs no more. Cause us to remember your grace is more than enough for all those involved. Remind us that without Jesus paying the price for us not one of us would be able to receive the forgiveness we did not deserve. Call us to show our compassion for a man we may not have known personally by taking a moment to seek you about what you would have us to do concerning his memory. May we not allow his death to be in vain by not holding the line. May we push back the narratives of the media that are contrary to you. May we find unity in this moment.
Cause us to remember our common bonds. Remind us to love one another. Allow me to smile at the knowledge that he like myself was a courier who worked with a spirit of excellence, one who called his mom everyday just like I call mine.
Remind me Father every day that we’re not to wrestle against each other.
What matters most is that you love Tyre Nichols. There’s no greater love that he could have ever known. May he be remembered for the light within in and not the darkness that took him away.
Thank you for holding my hand through this one Abba.
Your Daughter
Scriptures Referenced
John 10:10 (KJV) The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
