Based
on Faith
“The
Civil Rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants saw
the movement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of
the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with
our faith, so we had to do something.”
Rep.
John Lewis
It has
been suggested to me that I change the name of my blog because spirituality
should not “lean political.” I used to believe that too. I didn’t want to hear
politics preached from the pulpit; thought it had no place in worship. But, as
I began to study the Bible, and let the stories in it teach me something
interior about myself and the things I had taken for granted in my own life, I
changed my mind. I agree with John Lewis that when we see something wrong and
don’t speak up, we are part of the problem. Martin Luther King said it best: “We
will have to repent in this generation not merely for the words and actions of
bad people, but for the appalling silence of good people.” (Letter from the
Birmingham Jail)
Yesterday,
I sat for an hour and a half in a long line of traffic trying to get into a once
a year “toxic recycling” event, where you can take old paint and other toxic
substances, electronics, batteries and those lightbulbs the president hates so
much. Hundreds of volunteers were working the parking lot in the blazing sun,
but the line still moved like a slug. There was a policeman with a loud-speaker
telling people what to do and being very helpful with traffic control. At one
point, however, he saw some cars down the way trying to U-turn and cut in line,
where upon he gave a little sermon about how he “might not see who you are,
but God sees it, so I want to ask you to get out of line right now and go to
the end like everybody else. If you don’t, God will punish you.” So, that’s
where we seem to be with God—HE punishes people for cutting in line, but
ignores the kids in cages at the border, and the rampant cruelty in Alabama’s
prison system. Really?
I know
a lot of good people. They do the work of the church or temple or synagogue or
mosque. But doing good work while allowing injustice to be perpetrated against
black and brown people, immigrants and refugees, and any other minority group,
is inconsistent with the values those institutions teach—or should be teaching.
Doing charitable work is one of the ways we, mostly white people, comfort
ourselves that we are “good people,” who only have the best interest of the
poor in mind. But if we are still opposed to a living wage, and still stand against
affordable housing we are not “doing the work of the Almighty.”
We do
the work of God, when we stand up and stand with people who are oppressed—there
are no short cuts or end runs around injustice. To do the hard work of the
Almighty, we must look at our history, at both the good and the terrible things
we have done and continue to do, to other more vulnerable people. We must, just
like the 12-Step folks, make amends for our wrongdoings and atone for our character
flaws. We need forgiveness. So, I will continue to write this blog about what I
find to be true, and I will continue to call it Spiritual. I pray that God blesses
you and all of us with grace enough for this day.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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