On this weekend, when so many celebrate overcoming what has imprisoned us, when we think about the grace of sacrifice and the gift of plagues, I am reminded of how much overcoming we – as people – still have to accomplish, and I am grateful that ultimately the weight of that burden is not entirely mine.
One thing I have learned in my time here on this gorgeous earth is that ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. Change requires focused attention, discussion, and commitment to that change – this idea seems born out in both Easter and Passover, where God took direct action to save God’s people.
As I’ve been writing this book, I’ve had many conversations with people about race, about the legacy of slavery, about inequality, and white privilege. Sometimes those conversations are life-changing for me, and maybe for the people with whom I am talking. But often they are not because the conversation doesn’t ever become honest; instead, some people want to talk about how “things are so much better” or “that’s just the way it was then” or “slavery has existed in all cultures across centuries.” All of these things are true, in some ways, of course, but these statements are also our ways of not really want to look the problems of injustice and long history of racism in our country.
This week, I watched a brief video with Toni Morrison where she urges me – a white woman – to take a long hard look at my own racism . . . and so I encourage you to do the same, for it is only when we examine ourselves that we can change them.
On this blessed weekend, where we live in the grace of a God who saves, may we all look to ourselves and the beautiful responsibility that comes with such grace. . . may we find ways to look pain in the eye and find a path to change through honesty and love. Happy Passover and Happy Easter, all.