Another hopeful drop in the bucket...

 Before posting this, I need to acknowledge my complicity in gratuitously posting "shameful" and "outrageous" things on Facebook.  Far too often have I stumbled across something that irks my conscience (or that easily lends itself to ridicule, condemnation or judgment - at least from my cultural perspective) and thoughtlessly chosen to share it with others.  Obviously I suffer from the common sin of deriving some hidden and perverse gratification in pointing out the sins of others (cf. Luke 18:11-12 -- I expect this was one of the things Paul had in mind when writing Ephesians, esp. 4:8).  For that I am truly sorry, and ask your forgiveness.  I am grateful to the Lord for revealing this to me, and repent of that unhelpful practice.

That said, I honestly believe this post (and others like it) is of a different character.  As far as I can tell, this post elicits in me no spiritual smugness, no personal sense of ethical superiority; it seeks not the affirmation of friends with "likes" and complementary outrage.  I post this (and other similar posts) not out of a juvenile desire to be part of a moralistic "pile on"; rather, I share this out of a much deeper conviction that the particular racism that is peculiar to our country and endemic in our culture thrives in a context of ignorance and denial - particularly when that context is largely white and privileged - i.e., like myself, and many of my friends.

Some of you may be tempted to categorize this post as "the confessions of a bleeding heart liberal." OTOH, many of you would never even consider using the adjective "liberal" to describe me.  ;-)  Understand that I post this not as a "call to action," nor as a disingenuous plea to whites to exhibit greater politeness and consideration towards people of color.  I post it simply because, in my personal experience, the cultural context of most white Americans' daily lives admits little to no consideration of the context in which so many black and brown Americans live.  (And to be clear, their context is DOMINATED -- with all the connotations that word brings -- by white culture).  This is not a condemnation so much as it is simply an observation.  There are only so many hours in every day, and they are so easily filled to overflowing by a multitude of cares and worries, media and hype, calendars and activities, that many important things are simply left unattended to.

This is one of those important things.  And I believe it to be of supreme importance for the Church.  God's Incarnation in Jesus - Emmanuel - was the paradigmatic manifestation of holy and perfect love, in that God left behind the glories of heaven in order to be with us, to dwell among us, to be our neighbor (cf. John 1:14, "The Message" translation).  However, most whites in the US are neither domestic nor occupational neighbors with people of color (again, not a judgment, just an observation of a fact, a fact that derives from a multitude of factors, some of them quite innocent).  Consequently, many white folk are unaware that the Damoclean sword of unprovoked, unexpected, and completely random murder -- because of one's skin color -- utterly dominates the daily thoughts of many of our brothers and sisters of color.

That horrible truth will not be changed with one post, or with a thousand posts.  It will only be changed when we, in love, choose to "be with" our brothers and sisters whose lives are thus dominated.  But when circumstance militates against that physical, incarnational "withness," God can use even the internet -- even Facebook and blog posts -- to bring their voices into our lives.  And when our lives are lived with others, then, I pray, our lives -- our choices, our words, our decisions, our actions -- will bear more faithful witness to the whole of God's kingdom.  With this post, I hope to contribute one small drop to that bucket of hope.