Commentary: My work as a journalist has always been flanked by my work in ministry. I started both when I was 19 years old. Over the years, I’ve attempted to balance the bad news with the good news. My last blog is a reminder of how the good news often gets gobbled by an overabundance of bullshit.
I trust in the power of amazing grace. I live by it due to how
my own life is an overwhelming reminder of how I consistently get in my own
way. My personal imperfections demand the enduring love of a forgiving God,
coupled with the embrace of an understanding community. I know the power of
affirmation and the satisfaction of being granted one more chance.
I’m internally confronted with the need of a sermon challenging
me to see the face of God in everyone I meet. Believing that has become
increasingly more complicated over the past two years. Nationally, pro-Trump
and alt-right extremism stirs memories of the first time I was called nigger while
three white bullies decided to hurl fist at me to make a point regarding their
assumed white supremacy. My days in mid-Missouri taught me lessons involving
white rage as a tool in facilitating Black submission. Locally, I’m confronted
with bullies on the Durham Board of County Commissioners who consistently refuse
to hear the cries of the people.
My personal journey for freedom complicates everything related
to my goal in spreading the good news. Praying in the name of Black Jesus helps
me see the vast beauty in Black and Brown people. Reading the scriptures soothes
the festering wrath that makes it effortless to envision a life separated from
white people. My call to proclaim good news reminds me of the Quakers teachings
about the spark of God in all people.
It’s becoming far too easy to reject that teaching. Still, I
try to find grace as part of my personal faith practice. I hold no sense of
obligation related to forgiving people who harm both my body and soul. Grace,
for me, is not about loving the hell out of my enemies. Seeking grace matters
because of how pride and a load of character defects prevent me from becoming
the best version of myself. Grace is an act of submission. In offering it to
others, I’m asserting my greatest need.
The bad news is not everyone deserves the beauty of grace. It’s
perceived as weakness. They plunge deeper to take more than before. They refuse
to honor the offering of grace as a gift of reconciliation. They lack the
capacity in understanding how and when spiritual truth rises as the foundation
for the beloved community.
The marriage between my work in ministry and journalism is an
offering of grace. Within the perpetual cycle of bad news, is there hope for
this divided world? Is redemption possible for communities consumed with
lingering under the massive pile of dung shoveled on the path leading to better
days?
The bad news informs how we think about community. It’s us
versus them - the sheep versus the wolves. This is a world informed by political
battles. My faith and quest in sharing good news strains to find new narratives
to define what it means to be human. This is the power of transcendence. This
is the faith in the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us to facilitate the
coming of a new Queendom.
My wish for the world is to feel the desire of my heart. Mine
is a vision for the world to embrace the teachings of our sacred text and
religions. Our common bond is devotion to the possibility of better than this. Our
faith imagines better than this vicious cycle of political malfeasance.
Faith is a spiritual practice. It doesn’t need a religion to
validate its truth. Faith imagines a community characterized for embodying the
magic of diversity, equity and inclusion. Faith reflects less on who we say we
are, and more on what we do to validate our intentions.
In this sense, my work is a prayer. It’s a challenge to all of
us to do better at becoming the beloved community. I offer transparency as an
offering of grace. I extend the call for confession to anyone consumed with
power and motivated by pride. I pray for politicians too proud to publicly
confess the errors of their decisions. I challenge all of us to listen.
Finally, Black Jesus urged us to pray for our enemies. I do
that daily. I pray they go away.
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journalism for residents in Durham, North Carolina and reflections of faith in
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"Faith is a spiritual practice. It doesn’t need a religion to validate its truth." I needed this today. Thank you.
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