What if there's more?

I love this time of year when you can buy daffodils at Trader Joe’s and watch them magically transform once you put them in water. They’re not very pretty when you buy them. If we didn’t know that they’re not finished, we would probably never buy any flowers unless they’re in full bloom. That the buds are only the beginning of the beautiful thing that they will be. There will be more.

I got on a list of people that receive email with links to a blog, podcasts, etc. It’s from someone I know, so I didn’t immediately unsubscribe. The title of the most recent one really captured me. It was a podcast about Ferguson and why the Church can’t be silent about racism. I’m guessing most of my readers actually know me personally and would attest to the fact that I HATE racism. I believe it to be evil…and I use that word very sparingly. I don’t want to dumb-down evil by assigning it to every bad thing that happens in the world. Racism, however, is straight up EVIL.

The pastor in this podcast begins by talking about how Christians will race to a tornado (or some other catastrophe or natural disaster I’m guessing; and I’m totally paraphrasing here but this is the gist), but we didn’t do that with Ferguson which in some ways was like a tornado. Implying that multiple people dying and houses destroyed, people without clean water or food or clothing somehow compares to what happened in Ferguson? And that Christians (or the Church) failed because we didn’t go there in droves as soon as “it” happened? Huh?

One of the things I struggle with on a regular basis is anything to do with justice. Injustice, not fair, whatever you want to call it. For years there was someone in my life that didn’t like me because of something they thought I did. I wouldn’t do it, ever, didn’t make sense, but it didn’t matter. In their eyes, their memory, I did. It was SO HARD for me. I couldn’t let it go. It haunted me like a recurring bad dream because I wanted so much to be right. You catch that? I WANTED TO BE RIGHT.

A couple of years ago I had an epiphany. Maybe I didn’t do “the thing” that they thought I did, but I’m guessing over the course of life with them I probably did SOMETHING. I am an imperfect human. I don’t say or do everything (or many things), right. And so I decided to apologize. For all the things I may have done, perceived and actual, over the years to hurt them. I decided I wanted to be in life together and ask for forgiveness…instead of being alone, and right. I finally had to look at myself and say “Really, Donna? Do you think that you are incapable of hurting someone? Or could there be more to this story?”

There’s a point to these two stories, I promise. They will link together, I think. At least in my head they did.

On the podcast these two pastors went on to talk about Ferguson and racism and how the Church can’t be silent. On that I agree. The Church can’t be silent about a lot of things, including racism. But what happened originally in Ferguson wasn’t about racism; it was about a young man who made some bad decisions, and a police officer who was doing what he was trained to do when he was in fear of his life. To accuse the Church of a lack of empathy or urgency to respond to this situation is just wrong. The Church fails on a lot of levels. But not showing up for something that is perceived injustice isn’t one of them. When we look through the lens of assumed racism, this was a typical white-on-black, all white cops are racist in every circumstance always and forever. But…what if there’s more?

What happened in Ferguson was a tragedy. No matter if you have taken sides or have a strong opinion on who is right and who is wrong, we can all agree that it was a tragedy. A young man is dead and a police officer’s career is over. I think that assuming it happened because of racism simply perpetuates the racial divide. And if we are guilty of glorifying partial truths in order to further our own agenda, or stir up controversy for something to talk about, well. Shame. On. Us.

Speaking out against racism and injustice is very sexy in our culture. It’s not wrong, but doing it only because it’s sexy is irresponsible at the very least. I am very passionate about these two things…but isn’t part of my responsibility as a person and a Christian to ask the question first…is there more? Is there a part of the story that I’m not privy to?

Trust me, I don’t compare these two stories as though they’re similar, because that’s just dumb. But what’s the same is what’s missing. The bigger picture.

Friends, as I’ve said before…I consistently fail at being a perfect person. I have to ask God continually for those epiphanies that remind me that there’s more to life than being right. I have to hope and pray that He’s not finished with me. That there is beauty in me still to be revealed. Please, Lord, make me humble enough to be able to declare that maybe, just maybe, there is more.