{"id":16652,"date":"2018-04-12T09:26:11","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T13:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16652"},"modified":"2018-04-12T09:39:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-12T13:39:17","slug":"black-bodies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16652","title":{"rendered":"Black Bodies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Richard Rohr<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Black Bodies<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Thursday, April 12, 2018<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0RwDpnKIvUI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nUntil the killing of black mothers\u2019 sons [and daughters] is as important as the discovery of white mothers\u2019 sons, we who believe in freedom cannot rest. \u2014Ella Baker [1]<br \/>\nAs I wrote in last week\u2019s meditations, the early ego creates itself by comparison or negation, by how we are not like others. [2] It likes to differentiate. The ego then holds onto this falsely created sense of superiority at all costs. Last year when I shared about coming to recognize my own white privilege\u2014the unearned benefits I receive simply because of the color of my skin\u2014I wasn\u2019t surprised that the Center\u2019s Customer Service team received more than the usual defensive and angry emails. [3] Many people think \u201cwhite privilege\u201d is liberal propaganda, a made-up idea to seed more division. After all, the United States had a black president! Surely, we\u2019ve moved beyond racism.<br \/>\nAnd what about \u201creverse racism,\u201d some whites say? Anyone can be prejudiced. But racism is all about an imbalance of power. In the United States today, most of the power still lies with people who are white. The very nature of oppression makes it hard for those of us who are comfortable to see this problem. [4] Perhaps subconsciously we know that systemic inequality serves our own ego\u2019s interests and so we resist change. We still define ourselves by differentiating and comparing (dualistic thinking) and not by \u201csimilarizing\u201d (which is unitive thinking).<br \/>\nAs Jewish poet Emma Lazarus wrote, \u201cUntil we are all free, we are none of us free.\u201d [5] If we are all made in God\u2019s image, if we are all the Body of Christ, then treating black and brown bodies with love and respect is the only way for our country, our communities, and our Christianity to be whole. Our love must be active and embodied. We cannot just preach peace and justice in a theoretical way; the rubber of justice needs to hit the real road.<br \/>\nOne of our CONSPIRE 2018 presenters, author and professor Barbara Holmes, explores how some young people today are working hard to dismantle systems of oppression:<br \/>\nElla Baker [1903-1986], civil rights activist and organizer, reminds us of the reason that we continue the struggle for justice. It is for fairness, equal treatment under the law, and the cessation of violence against innocent black and brown bodies. Another generation is on the rise, and they are confronting police brutality and advocating for black lives through the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLMM), its contemplative activism and deeply spiritual resistance. . . .<br \/>\nOne cannot help but wonder why the same battles for justice must be fought by every generation? Certainly, there were enough sacrifices, martyrs, and legislation during the \u201960s to ensure justice for all. Yet . . . \u201cwe wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and the rulers of darkness in high places\u201d [Ephesians 6:12]. The powers or systems do everything they can to resist change. In response to the demand for justice, systems morph and adjust while maintaining the status quo.<br \/>\nSo public hangings end and the murders of unarmed black folk rise. Slavery ends, but the mass incarceration of minority populations increases. Jim Crow practices are no longer openly discriminatory; they reappear as educational and economic disparities, voter suppression, and aggressive police actions against people of color. [6]<br \/>\nPower never surrenders without a fight. If your response to today\u2019s meditation is to retort, \u201cAll lives matter!\u201d I invite you to take a closer look at your own fears and biases. Of course, all lives matter! Yet until black and brown lives matter, no lives truly matter. Jesus spoke into specific lives, into particular circumstances of oppression, saying, \u201cYou, an outcast Samaritan woman, you matter. You, a leper rejected by society, you matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>____________________________________________________<\/p>\n<div class=\"grey-box\">\n<div class=\"quoted_scripture\">\n<p><strong>April 12, 2018 <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>A Better Way<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Ann Stewart (South Australia, Australia)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>[The Lord] said to [Paul], \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.\u201d <span class=\"reference\"> &#8211; 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"body\">\n<p>At times, when I look at my schedule for the weeks ahead, I wonder how I can possibly fit everything in. At other times I worry about how I will manage to cope with all of life\u2019s challenges. At these times I can choose to become anxious and think about the worst-case scenarios, or I can choose a different way. I can stop worrying and start praying. Usually prayer calms me \u2014 reminding me to trust God one day at a time. God\u2019s grace is sufficient for each moment of each day. I can choose to trust in God\u2019s strength and be thankful even for my weaknesses. I can choose to live in the present and open my eyes and ears to enjoy the blessings of each day instead of worrying about tomorrow and the next challenge. I can choose to take negative thoughts captive (see 2 Cor. 10:5) and think instead on the truth in God\u2019s word.<br \/>\nI cannot say that I always find it easy to do this, but with practice it has gradually become the norm for me. From experience, I know that I can trust God to meet all my needs. I\u2019ve seen God give me strength exactly when I need it. So I choose a better way to live \u2014 one day at a time \u2014 confidently relying on God with a thankful heart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"prayer-box\">\n<div class=\"subtle-label\">Today&#8217;s Prayer<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"todays-prayer\"> Loving Father, give us confidence to trust you in every situation. In the challenges of life, help us to rely on your strength, not our own. Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Rohr Black Bodies Thursday, April 12, 2018 Until the killing of black mothers\u2019 sons [and daughters] is as important as the discovery of white mothers\u2019 sons, we who believe in freedom cannot rest. \u2014Ella Baker [1] As I wrote in last week\u2019s meditations, the early ego creates itself by comparison or negation, by how [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16652"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16656,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16652\/revisions\/16656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}