How Then Shall You Live?
BODY/BREATH
Find a comfortable seat. Close your eyes and begin breathing using your belly breath. Notice the natural pause that happens as your breath makes the change between inhaling and exhaling. Linger there in the pause, then continue. Do this for as long as you need. Relax and let go.
READ
“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:14, 27
“But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here is not eros, a sort of esthetic or romantic love; not philia, a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends; but it is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“We share a common interest, survival, and it cannot be pursued in isolation from others simply because their differences make us uncomfortable….(We are) Not to believe that revolution is a one-time event, or something that happens around us rather than inside of us...Change is the immediate responsibility of each of us, wherever and however we are standing, in whatever arena we choose.” — Audre Lorde
QUESTION
What does the beloved community look like? How is the Spirit pushing you to expand that definition? What is your relationship like with the (white) other? What barriers keep us from moving and working together with folks that are different from us?
REFLECTION
Like most people in America, I grew up around people that looked and talked like me -- a working-class Puerto Rican community except for my school teachers. It’s only as an adult that I’ve been in predominantly white spaces, where I generally don’t feel comfortable nor can I bring my full self. Frankly, it’s nothing short of a miracle that I ended up with a white spouse, because God knows that wasn’t in my plans at all.
The pull to teach, rescue, and accommodate white people is so strong, but I am no longer interested in making white people feel safe or comfortable -- because I am neither of those things around them. However, I know white people are a part of the beloved community, and I wonder how I need to work with white people and in what manner. Perhaps the bond of discipleship, the shared work of building God’s kin’dom on earth, can be strong enough for white people - and for me - to show up differently for and with each other.
PRAYER
O Universal Spirit, shape me in ways to be of service to all in the beloved community.
