Ashes

Matthew 21:39 - "So the farmers seized the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him."

The farmers leasing the vineyard have carried out their plan to take over the land. I wonder whether Jesus' audience was surprised at this twist in the retelling of prophetic history? Did any of them aside from the disciples know that he was referring to himself? They would have been scandalized as that would have been blasphemy to them. I wonder if any of them moved away in order to dissociate themselves from him in case God sent a lightning bolt in his direction?

The chief priests and elders were probably unsure what to make of this twist. They felt that they, at least, were blameless under the Law. Yet, there is more than one way to kill. It's relatively easy for most of us to refrain from physically killing someone, but what about their spirits, their minds, and/or their futures? This reminds me of Father Michael Pfleger's assertion that killing black children's futures by making sure they do not get a first-class education is abortion. Even if we've not participated directly in such actions, white people benefit from such treatment of black people.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of forty days of fasting and repentance for Christians (excluding Sundays). The ashes represent our repentance and mourning for our sins. One thing white people need to repent is our participation and/or our benefiting from racism against black people. Against all non-white people really; we just seem to have a special hatred of black people. Perhaps because they remind us of our sin.

Yet, repentance requires more of us than simply saying "I'm sorry." If we do nothing else, if we do nothing to change the situation, we really haven't begun to repent. One concrete action we can take is educating ourselves of the history of racism in the US. Three books that have had a huge impact on me: Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow," Debbie Irving's  "Waking Up White," and Richard Rothstein's "The Color of Law." There are lots of ways outside of books to educate ourselves, but whatever you do, please do not ask a black person to explain it to you unless you know them well. It is not their job to educate us, It's ours.

A bonus! Reading these books has also given me insight into understanding the arguments and position of our Republican leaders. I still disagree, but I am more understanding. If I had what I consider to be a good education and I am just now finding these things out at 53, how can I assume they know these things? Especially when they don't really want to know them. Their actions stem from fear that they won't have enough, or that they aren't good enough to compete on a level playing field with black people, or that they'll lose the privilege they have. Even as we follow Jesus' commandments to try to love and pray for our enemies, we should absolutely push back against their draconian ideas and laws. Learning to love and understand them is another concrete step we can take toward repentance.

That is what I need to repent: thinking of them in the same manner that they think about others. It's very hard to wrap my mind around the idea that Jesus loves them every bit as much as he loves you or me.

"You are dust, and to dust you shall return." Amen