There is no question in my mind that “Black Lives Matter” and they matter immensely. They matter most when they are forgotten and their lives are treated as worthless or unworthy of respect and dignity and human rights. But the matter of human rights, dignity and worth is not just a black and white issue. Indigenous People’s have faced the worst and most unprecedented kinds of violence, poverty and lack of jobs, housing, imprisonment (in reservations) of any other population in the US.
The rates of domestic violence, suicide, unemployment and abuse and neglect are many times higher than for any other racial group in this Country and yet Indigenous peoples’ are left out of almost every conversation, whether we are talking about minimum wage, incarceration, housing or health care.
The Pope’s request for forgiveness from the Indigenous People’s of the America’s, is a powerful gesture in the world today, and in the US, because we do not say we are sorry for anything. We cloak our actions and their outcomes in so many lies that we have lost all faith in our leaders and representatives and in ourselves. I also think we have lost our ability to see and know and speak the truth as a result. We have allowed the media to overly simplify and also deny huge parts of the whole story, the continuum of color, the entire grey area, which is not spoken about and which, I think, holds the promise for a rebirth of a much more palpable democracy. But in order for that to be seeded and birthed, we must reckon with the origins of this Country, which includes, not only Slavery, but the ongoing occupation and economic and Cultural genocide of the First People’s, the original people of the America’s. Their story is our story and very attempt to annihilate it, also destroys the solutions to the problems which we now ALL face, climate destruction, economic impoverishment, imprisonment and lack of Cultural meaning and belonging.
The Pope’s asking for forgiveness and honestly revealing what has taken place in the name of religion which has tarnished the the religious for so many, has given us all a new space, a new humility, both inside the Church and with regards to the impacts of Corporate behavior in the World, questioning profit and greed over humanity and dignity, as well as redirecting our priorities towards alleviating poverty and assuring Climate Justice on Earth.
He is offering a new kind of consciousness which includes us all, especially those in need. He has given us a chance to openly grieve and to speak for those who have been silenced. I reflect on the impacts of such a massive lack of courageous and honest political leadership, which have become such a repetitious part of our experience, so much so, that it is easy to become complicit, as an audience would, rather than as a participating society. But the Pope’s words and gestures are bringing me back in….I never would have thought I could really like and respect a Pope for one thing. I’m a Jew.
There is something deeply transformative about his words and the quality of what he s saying. The Pope is representing a new kind of spiritual leader. One that is not overly identified with political position, power or money. One that is genuinely willing to confront what is not working and be humble and direct in the face of the past. One that is willing to connect the Earth and the People, rather than one or the other, i.e., which includes the majority and speaks on their behalf without reward but rather because it is true. One that is willing to do new things and “bind back” (the root meaning of ‘religion’) larger and more diverse movements for the common good, rather than colluding with the splitting of them.
His asking for forgiveness and willingness to be truly sorry also speaks to a new kind of man, a man that isn’t afraid to feel, and to be felt. His willingness to confront the abuses of the Church, takes a particular strength and discernment, an eye for seeing what is corrupt and corrosive and the strength to slash away at it with clarity and precision in service of something greater. While he is a man, and a courageous spiritual leader of this time, he is also becoming for me, a symbol of healing leadership, setting the stage for a way of being, which goes beyond egoic attachment to appearances, dresses, shoes and cloaks, while lying about his past, and, instead, bringing to light what has been left out, impoverished, forgotten in the Shadows; to women and children and the Earth Herself; not being seduced by the desire to be “right” (politically or otherwise), at the cost of what is of deeper and greater value in this world, the common good.
Friday, July 10, 2015
