Our church’s antiracism discussion group is on a summer hiatus, four years after we started. There are a handful of reasons for this, including members’ summer travels and Henry’s slow and sometimes bumpy healing journey. It’s also important to take periodic time for rest and refreshment so we can return to living out our commitments with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
However, this summer break doesn’t mean our antiracism work stops. In fact, I’m considering this a time to look back and remind myself of the important things I’ve learned. It’s a chance to make sure I’m not losing touch with valuable lessons and to practice learning from others’ perspectives.
One phrase that has been rising for me was contributed by a member of our group at a recent meeting. In response to learning yet another way in which we white people have been acting from a position of privilege, she remarked that we needed to use a humility shaker with every meal.
I love that image. Like a saltshaker or pepper grinder, a humility shaker can season any type of spiritual food, intensifying the flavor and making it more palatable. When we use a humility shaker, we are also positioning ourselves alongside or across from others, like around a dining room table. This is in stark contrast to the superiority complex that so many of us unconsciously inherited from our families and cultures.
Last week, I noted that I’d like to see arrogance and self-righteousness burned on the pyre that immolates tattered and battered flags and other relics of US life. Just as a flag can be torn apart by the wind, nationalistic attitudes can tear us apart. We US citizens have assumed for decades that our country is the best. We have exported our self-righteous assumptions about self-governance along with our fast-food chains and workaholic tendencies, ignoring the fact that we did not grant true equality to our black- and brown-skinned fellow citizens.
Such unconsciously inherited attitudes need a healthy dash of humility to be right sized in our global context. While we push the idea of democracy as the best option for everyone around the world, we need to recognize how we have also exported our arrogant racist attitudes.
In what areas of your life do you need to use a humility shaker? What could benefit from a fresh dash of perspective?
I like the image – and agree that we need to examine our superior attitude and keep in check some sense of national pride vs superiority. (I am just beginning to read Red State Christians (by Angela Decker) and understand more deeply how distorted nationalism has become.) The salt shaker is often overlooked on our table, however: it’s there but we don’t see it or use it. I wonder what kind of image or event will wake us up to a new and more just perspective?
Yesterday I got this message from one of my friends at the Benedictine Monastery here in Pittsburgh:
“The world needs salt. It needs each one of us–to be salt of the earth and the light of the world. Do not let that hope die! We must stake our lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son.” –St. John Paul II
How can we be salt of the earth? How can we become the image of God?
Good to think about. Thanks for the seasoning you offer!
Thank you, Joyce, for your reflections and for sharing this quote. I imagine that there are many images and events that can wake us up and invite us to shake salt on the world–in a good way! It’s like the salt shaker on your table–we are invited by God to pay attention to more of what is around us, day by day.
You’re so welcome! I’m glad you find my seasonings helpful.
Peace,
Shirin
A very Good day to you Shirin (and renewed health to your charming Henry!)
As usual, you add the salt that always accents what’s missing … flavor to every topic.
Let’s add a sharp knife to cut away any grizzle unrecognized within us and filet down to the special piece of soul!
Thank you, Mo, and blessings on your day as well! I like your addition of the knife to the table…there is much that could be trimmed away in each of our lives…with careful discernment!
Peace,
Shirin
My first spontaneous thought about… arrogance….” burned on the pyre” is too brutal. Speaking for myself from my nonagenarian view- befriending my arrogance has led me through a pathway of healing, changing my vision, and embracing that troublesome person…opening my eyes to civility….
Oh, Adeline, thank you for this important addition to the humility shaker! What a powerful and important reminder for me…and so many others, I expect. I am grateful for your nonagenarian viewpoint!
Peace,
Shirin
This Octogenarian as well has learned how to listen better with 2 ears and be silent with 1 mouth! Age does have its benefits 😊.
Ha! I hear you, Mo. We do learn a lot as we age and accumulate experiences….
Peace,
Shirin