In these difficult days – days that turn into weeks and months and perhaps even years, it’s hard to keep on keeping on. There’s so much need all around. There are moments when we’re so consumed with what happened in the past and so anxious about what tomorrow will bring, that we find it difficult to tend to “today.” As I look back over my life, I see how little I’ve done in the area of social justice. I’m just now learning truths about American history and even church history that are disturbing, even shameful. Why did I not see all that was going on? How did I not see injustices so visible in daily life?
Only this morning, I heard an interview with a Native American, of the Navaho Nation. She spoke of “institutional racism,” resulting in over-regulations that keep her people from moving forward. She stated that 30-40 percent of her people do not have homes with running water. There’s great need for “the system” to ”invest” in the Navaho people, so that electricity, water and housing are available to them. While they’re “grateful” for the aid given so far, “We need to do better,” the reporter said. We must not turn back from facing those whom our actions and inactions have hurt – sometimes for hundreds of years. It’s time for us to do better.
When I hear the phrase “defunding the police” I don’t think of doing away with the police, but of re-directing some of their funding to put other trained professionals in place to help to meet needs in the community. Social workers and mental health workers and medical professionals could address community issues and provide resources to help.
In his book series The Walk, Richard Paul Evans quotes Kierkegaard, “We understand our lives backwards, but we must live them forward.” So very true! Remember the saying “Hindsight is 20-20?” Perhaps the year 2020 is the year that will correct our vision and help us to see more clearly going forward.
In this month’s Pine Straw magazine, editor Jim Dodson writes: “Change and history move in halting steps, stumbling – before we who are living through them finally come to terms with the truth. To many in America, a racial awakening in the midst of a worldwide pandemic is a clear message that it’s time for America to face up to the sins of our collective past, and finally take steps to end systemic racism, a reckoning long overdue.”
As we slow down and listen to our lives and reflect on our living, as we learn to live with open, teachable hearts, and as we grow in our awareness of the needs of the world, may we become a part of the solution, rather than a part of the continuing problem. May we begin to see more clearly the truth of what has been, and the hope of what yet can be.
Elizabeth
I look forward to Vernon Broyles’ article, “Justice for God’s World,” in each issue of the Presbyterians Today magazine. The key verse he upholds from month to month is Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”
In his articles, Broyles follows the Presbyterian Church’s long history of trying to connect declared faith to actions in society. Referring to our “checkered history”, he writes, “Hindsight shows us we were derelict in our participation in the destruction of Native American life (though we did it to ‘Christianize and civilize’ the native inhabitants). We also failed to adequately address the issue of slavery in a timely way, and split our church over biblical disagreements as to whether slavery was right or wrong. We must acknowledge that even today our professed commitments to ameliorate the racism in our society fall far short of God’s will.” (January/February 2017, Presbyterians Today, “Justice for God’s World: Where do we go from here?”)
Opening the July/August 2020 Presbyterians Today, and turning to “Justice for God’s World,” I saw these words: “Truth in a Fake News World.” Broyles’ text was John 18:33-38, the conversation between Jesus and Pilate. “So you are a king?” Pilate asks. Jesus answers, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?”
I been asking that same question in recent days. What is truth – today? There seems to be so much disagreement about that very question! “In our search for truth, we’ve created categories such as real news vs. fake news,” writes Broyles; “we’ve even seen some religious leaders artfully clothe political agendas in the language of faith to shape political reality.”
We are called to discern the truth of Jesus Christ, to embrace his call to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Just what news service do we trust? Which politician is speaking truth? What books give truthful clarification on issues of the day? We must be about “discerning” truth day by day.
These words from A Brief Statement are words of truth:
“In a broken and fearful world,
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.”
May each of us be faithful to this high and holy calling in these days of truth-telling.
Elizabeth
Rep. John Lewis, who devoted his life to racial justice and equality, died last week. Often called "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community” in America. He has been called "the conscience of the U.S. Congress … a genuine American hero and moral leader who commands widespread respect in the chamber.” His dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress.
Lewis, D-Ga., had served in the House of Representatives since 1987, after decades of work as an organizer and activist – serving as a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, organizing the March on Washington in lockstep with Martin Luther King Jr. and serving in the Atlanta City Council.
He was an orator unlike many others, his words galvanizing action for multiple generations. To honor his legacy, I share some of his most powerful quotes:
"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble." – A tweet from June 2018
"I appeal to all of you to get into this great revolution that is sweeping this nation. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation, until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete."– At the 1963 March on Washington
"Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.” - from his 2017 memoir, "Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America"
“We used to say that ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part. And if we believe in the change we seek, then it is easy to commit to doing all we can, because the responsibility is ours alone to build a better society and a more peaceful world.” ― John Lewis, Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future
“You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone—any person or any force—dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don't be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.” ― John Lewis, Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America
May we be willing to get into “good trouble, necessary trouble” until “true freedom” comes; may we do our part “to create an even more fair, more just society.” Let us give thanks for the life of John Lewis, and pray for the day when that “more perfect union,” that “Beloved Community, is finally at peace with itself.”
Giving thanks for our brother John Lewis, for the life he lived, the words he spoke.
Elizabeth