|
A school expelled the black, 13-year old boy for bad behavior. He had to go to a reform school in another region of Michigan. A white family fostered him. It got him into a better school, and he entered seventh grade.
There, the boy was a novelty to others, being one of the few black students. He excelled in classes and was elected class president.
The boy was diligent to be like the white students. Regardless of his achievements, he never got full acceptance. Some of his most embarrassing moments were when denied to dance with white girls at school dances.
He told his teacher he wanted to be a lawyer. Blacks held such jobs as waiters or bootblacks; they were not even working in carplants. His teacher replied: "A lawyer-that's not a realistic goal for a nigger. You need to think about something you can be." The teacher recommended he go into carpentry.
The boy realized he was little more than a pet or mascot to his foster family and teachers. He wrote, much later: "They didn't give me credit for having the same sensitivity, intellect, and understanding that they would have been ready and willing to recognize in a white boy in my position.... Thus they never did really see me."
The boy left to live with his aunt Ella in Boston. We know this boy become leader of civil rights as: Malcolm X.
How might Malcolm's life have taken a course that would not have landed him in crime and prison, had his teachers, white classmates, and foster family truly seen him? He was not seen, only a vague shadow of the real boy through a prism of societal prejudice.
We each desire to be seen, not seen as other persons think we are or would like us to be. Indeed, many relationship problems arise from persons unwilling to give themselves truly to see the other, or others. We each want our self to be seen.
Religion offers many persons the chance to be seen, truly. In his post-prison time, Malcolm decided to go on pilgrimage to Mecca. He felt a oneness with other persons. People of all colors, rich and poor, prayed together and ate and slept together. Never before had Malcolm experienced this unity with all others. He wrote:
In my thirty-nine years on this earth, the Holy City of Mecca had been the first time I had ever stood before the Creator of All and felt like a complete human being.
This being among persons seeing other persons, truly, softened his harshness. He returned to the States and spoke at a press conference. Reporters were surprised at this contenter, kinder man. He said things like:
I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever or whatever benefits humanity as a whole.
Tom Butler-Bowden, in 50 Spiritual Classics, summarizes the conversion of Malcolm in thought and spirit:
What was important was the sense of brotherhood he had experienced. Whereas before he believed that white civilization was responsible for black misery, now he understood that it was the belief in separation ... that was the real cause of human suffering. ... Ironically, for a person considered so divisive, he realized that his life's real purpose had been to appreciate the oneness of humankind before God, and his battles were against the thinking that created false distinctions between one person and another.
Our conflicts, personal and global, can be resolved in dissolving our faith in separation. Much of religion is built upon the fear of surrendering boundaries of a sense of being better, special, the only-chosen ones.
God did not erect these, we did, and we do. We do this from a parent dominating a child, a teacher belittling a student, a stand-up comedian getting laughs by slandering public figures, a white or black supremacist advocating violence in the name of race, a child bullying another child at school, a preacher speaking harshly to his congregation in a sermon ... to one nation trying to impose its theory of government on another people. Of course, this is justified by such nonsense as, "But we are only trying to help ...." Triumphalism, either between two persons are among nations, is an act of abuse.
In the Gospel of Mark 14 (CEV), we read one of the earliest accounts of the last meal Jesus shared with his followers prior to his arrest:
12It was the first day of the Festival of Thin Bread, and the Passover lambs were being killed. Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?"
13Jesus said to two of the disciples, "Go into the city, where you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him, 14and when he goes into a house, say to the owner, `Our teacher wants to know if you have a room where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.' 15The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room furnished and ready for you to use. Prepare the meal there."
16The two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal.
17-18While Jesus and the twelve disciples were eating together that evening, he said, "The one who will betray me is now eating with me."
19This made the disciples sad, and one after another they said to Jesus, "You surely don't mean me!"
20He answered, "It is one of you twelve men who is eating from this dish with me. 21The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But it is going to be terrible for the one who betrays me. That man would be better off if he had never been born."
22During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, "Take this. It is my body."
23Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He gave it to his disciples, and they all drank some. 24Then he said, "This is my blood, which is poured out for many people, and with it God makes his agreement. 25From now on I will not drink any wine, until I drink new wine in God's kingdom." 26Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
Serving as host was a sacred privilege and duty in Jesus' day, as it is in many places now. Jesus shows us God's heart, the heart Malcolm X saw at Mecca, praying, eating, and sleeping as one with different types of peoples.
In the Mass we gather before the same altar, the same elements, the same tradition, the same God, and with the shared oneness of sacred humanity in the image of God.
I sat in a sanctuary with one of my dear Catholic friends. In my heart-brokenness, she told me to look at the beautiful, shining tabernacle sitting on the altar-"where the light shines," she told me. There was a light illuminating the beautiful, enclosed tabernacle holding the elements. I looked. I cried profusely before the Christ, knowing he truly saw me as me and loved me as me. I was his child, his brother, his friend. I was not alone, however, in this tearful entreaty, but with everyone around the world sitting before the Christ, tearful, prayerful, and waiting for Love and healing.
Healthy religion always draws us to the Love that will see us as of inestimable worth. Good religion creates within us a sense of being one with all other persons and peoples. Where there is Love, there is the Voice calling us to recognize nothing separates us from others but ourselves, and God is the Organizing Mind-Energy seeking to awaken us to our need to be one with everyone. In this Energy, we find fulfilment in losing ourselves in a completeness of who we are with all other persons. What a sweet loss! What a wonderful gift!
We can act this out in simple but profound says of caring, as when a friend wrote me, during a time of loss and discernment:
We can do so many simple things to see, truly, another person. In our seeing of the other person, we find ourselves, too, for we already are one.
* * *
1) Share a time when, even if for a brief moment, you felt totally one with other persons? What led to that? What did it feel like? Do you know ways to invite that experience more often?
2) Share a time when you felt you were not seen for who you really are? What does that feel like?
3) Share a time when you felt you were seen and fully honored for who you truly are? What does that feel like?
4) Is there someone you know who needs someone truly to see him or her? Will you offer that gift?
5) Does the faith community you belong to practice a faithful and loving seeing of each other? Of guests? Explain.
* * *
*Material on Malcolm X is from Tom Butler-Bowden, 50 Spiritual Classics.
*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
|
