A week ago, I met (online) with my writer group. My contribution to our peer review process was more of my Psalm Flights (believe it or not, I’ve now written poetry on over half the psalms!). One of the poems I shared with them I had already shared here. One line from the poem generated some interesting discussion which is now dovetailing for me with current events. That line is “harmonizing with history.”
In our discussion, the question arose about how “harmonizing” fits in with “haloing” and “harrowing.” The first two seem, in the poem, to be echoing the painful reality of the coronavirus. But how is the coronavirus “harmonizing” with history? The issue for my readers was the presumed positive connotations of “harmonizing.” It’s true that the primary definition of “harmonize,” per Merriam-Webster, is “to bring into consonance or accord.” But another definition is “to cause (two or more things) to be combined or to go together in a pleasing or effective way.” It is that “effective” way that I was indicating in my poem.
It’s true that the idea of COVID-19 being in harmony with history is not pleasing—but it is true. There have been plagues throughout human history, which have repeatedly infected millions and killed hundreds of thousands. Thus, this recurrence of pandemic is harmonizing with the rhythm of pandemics throughout human history. It’s not pleasing, but it’s accurate.
As I write this, Minneapolis is experiencing multiple days of riots and violence in response to the death of George Floyd. As we watched a police station burn on television, I asked Henry if he felt a sense of hopelessness during the Watts riots in 1968 (at four years old, I was way too young to know such a thing was happening). He said it’s difficult to remember his feelings from such a long time ago, but he thinks yes, he did.
History has this horrible habit of repeating itself. Plagues and racial violence recur because—well, it’s not always easy to get to the root of why. Sometimes it’s obvious: A virus encounters a new population or mutates into something for which humans have no resistance, and spreads like wildfire until resistance develops. Sometimes it’s not so obvious: In a time when the study of our DNA reveals that we are 99.9% identical, how is it possible that we continue to deny we are all ONE human race?
Some days, it’s difficult to find hope in the future of the one human race. It’s challenging to have faith when the harmonizing of history is horrible. But I will keep persevering. Today, I find a small measure of hope in two things. The first is Jesus’ clear commandment to love one another—period. No excuses, no exceptions. The second is well expressed in the poetry of Rumi:
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.
Where are you finding hope today?
I remember the Watts riots. My mother, confined to a wheelchair, was determined to visit the community so her children could understand what happened. As soon as it was possible, we visited the Watts towers and talked to the people living in the neighborhood. I felt their hostility and anger. My mother knew she was dying (she was dead in less than a year), but she wanted her children to be aware of racism and commit themselves to supporting civil rights.
Racism, unlike diseases like plague and cholera which have killed millions throughout history, is, in large part, a product of the Enlightenment. The chaos, despair, death and destruction both bring must be addressed differently.
The eschatological vision of Paul might be one way to address the ravages of racism in our society with hope. “Just as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, thought they are many, are one body, so also is the Messiah. For we all were baptized into one body, by one spirit – whether Jews of Greeks, whether slaves or free – and we were all given one spirit to drink.” (1 Cor. 12:12-13)
Thank you, Diana, for sharing your experience and perspective. I thank God for your mother and her passion to make a difference, even, perhaps especially, when she was dying and could legitimately have said she had other priorities. I wonder to what extent racism is less a product of the Enlightenment than revealed by it; we’ve always been afraid of those unlike ourselves, I believe. Thank you for sharing Paul’s vision; it is indeed an important image for us to keep in mind as we work to be one human community and support each other in that endeavor. Again, thank you!
Peace,
Shirin
Dearest Shirin
My first experience of blatant racism was when in was in the Army in Washington DC in 1974. I was 18. I didn’t understand it since I came from an area that openly accepted Blacks or I thought so. Boy, my education came swift and forcefully! I was ‘instructed by’ fellow black army guys to not visit the memorials because I was a not only the minority (DC is predominantly a Black community) but too young to understand the rules of gangs and their territories. I’m thankful that I complied. It was frightening times to be there and it still impacts me today because I understand the fear of being the one watched and waited for to hurt.
I’ve been read my Bible from the beginning recently and racism seems to have reared its ugly head as far back as Genesis 6:5. Before Noah, the wickedness was so profound that God had to destroy all. I imagine racism was in there too.
This week’s events have me praying my heart out for our country and all impacted by this. It’s especially difficult against the backdrop of the virus. But I still have hope that God is in control and out of it will come good.
Still miss you dearly
Thank you, Nila, for sharing your very powerful personal experience. I also fear that racism is endemic with human beings. We can grasp the opportunities God gives us to learn and grow (as you have) and “be the change” we want to see for God’s love in the world. Thank you for praying.
I miss you too! I pray your garden is thriving!
Peace,
Shirin
Shirin….you questioned my assertion that the Enlightenment was central in the development of modern racism. Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist” is only one of several books to make this argument. This article may help you understand that while tribalism and fear of the stranger has long been part of history, modern racism is relatively new.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-enlightenment-s-dark-side?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Thank you, Diana, for this helpful article. I think we are each asserting things that are expressed as true in your article: discrimination of those perceived as different has existed throughout history, but the Enlightenment made a “logical” and “racial” system out of it, which enabled it to spread like wildfire amongst people in power and became a powerful tool to keep others oppressed. It is helpful for me to understand the difference and I am grateful for this dialogue with you.
Peace,
Shirin