Himalayan Misunderstanding PT 1
Lord, have mercy upon us as a nation. Let us not take your patience for weakness. We live in a world where there are churches on every block, but the world seems to only grow darker. Oh Lord, have mercy upon us! May we, your children, love with compassion. May we listen with compassion. May we be people of understanding so that we may spread peace and the love you lavish upon us. Please Lord. In your Son’s mighty and awesome Name. Amen!
I plan to make one argument, using three separate posts. View the first post as a preface, that explains the urgent need for understanding and peace and, of course, love. The second post will address miscommunication within the Church and address how some Christians co-opt the Black experience with apathetic connections to pernicious ideologies. The third post will offer my opinion on this entire subject. This is not a post for the sensitive, for the Christian’s apathy and ignorance towards one another, and the embarrassment brought to the Living God will be plainly shown—if the Christian can’t love, what hope is there for the world?
If the Christian can’t love, what hope is there for the world?
Dom Lorenzo Scupoli once said:
"When an idea is presented to you, view it with your understanding and give it mature consideration before you conceive a hatred for it and reject it. When understanding is unclouded by passion, it can act clearly and freely. Then, you will be able to detect the truth and penetrate into any deceptive ideologies or philosophies that subvert the teachings of Jesus. Remember, every teaching either adds or decreases understanding of His teachings. But, if one is first inclined to love or hate anything driven by assumption or with a foggy perception it is impossible to exercise a sound judgement upon it, because their affection is being pulled by a force stronger than gravity. That affection stymies understanding between the idea and the mind; and, prevents a proper view of the idea, inexorably, preventing a proper understanding of the idea. What’s the final outcome? This diluted understanding gives a new, fresh love or hatred that is more vehement than before. This leads only to more stubbornness, and if the idea is a plea of one’s heart, the opposer’s heart grows granite hard.”
Before there can be peace, there must first be compassion.
Men in the North, South, East, and West beg for peace, however, before there can be peace, there must first be compassion. Compassion leads to the yearning of wanting to understand. In other words, a Christian’s only intention is to help. Compassion is the root of understanding, and understanding is needed for peace. Peace is the goal of every Christian’s endeavor.
A Christian’s only intention is to help.
A social image may prove my point for the visual learners. Compassion manifests through listening, even if you don’t agree. Compassion listens to understand. Compassion says, “I can’t help in this manner, but I will help in that manner.” Another social image is one we are familiar with. The government requires us to wear masks to protect the soul’s of our neighbors. Compassion is wearing a mask to make the person next to you safe. If you aren’t willing to be uncomfortable for the safety of a soul, how can you say you love anyone at all? James Baldwin agrees when he writes, ”One can give nothing without giving oneself—that is to say, risking oneself. If one cannot risk oneself, then one is simply incapable of giving.” As we all know, love is a risky act of self-giving. Compassion is the fruit of love. Period. What is a Christian without compassion, better yet, what is a human without compassion?
This is step one. If this is brushed over, there can be no understanding. If there is no understanding, there can be no compassion. If there is no compassion, there can be no love. If there is no love, there is no room for empathy, sympathy, comfort, or help. This is a principle every Christian should live by. For, a Christian’s communication is based on the desire to understand, rather than the desire to prove ourselves right. Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “It is impossible to see courage, and disinterestedness, and the love that casts out fear, without [compassion].” In other words, Emerson believes that compassion steers the moral compass in our hearts that directs us to the land of action.
Compassion steers the moral compass in our hearts that directs us to the land of action.
Again, a Christian’s only intention is to help. If you are willing to listen, then keep reading and may the Lord, our God, bless you for your willingness to understand. For those hiding under the guise of Christianity, yes, launching divisive missiles in the name of my God—I cannot believe you are a Christian! You should not be allowed the Christian name for one moment! For the god you serve is merely one of your own imagination—a counterfeit! There will be a cloud of swift witnesses against you on the day of judgement. And, like the great I AM, I will judge you with justice and swiftness.
I will conclude with this, we live in a society where a color caste system exists. This is an absolute truth. In a world of diversity, a world of vibrant color, a world beautifully and wonderfully made; color is tied into our very being, however, like the line, color has divided us. Has Colored skin psychologically evolved into a warning like the skin of a Poison Dart frog? Has White skin psychologically evolved into a Chameleon’s camouflage, blending in to hide from reality? It’s an embarrassment that morals meant to induce compassion are only skin deep. It’s an embarrassment that Christians are connoisseurs of skin paranoia. It is apathetic when one Christian’s experience is invalidated through another’s Christian’s suspicion and dismissal. And, guess what! The entire world watches and scoffs with front row seats.
It is apathetic when one Christian’s experience is invalidated through another’s Christian’s suspicion and dismissal.
A shallow skimming of the 60’s will highlight this with 4k quality; has this been forgotten in the national amnesia that we call history? Even colorblind people still see the beautiful colors of black and white. Men, women, and children— in America— are judged with the coldness of an executioner based on what they look like. Colored skin in America is the uniform of the enemy. Colored skin is expendable at birth. White skin is needed to rectify this issue. This truth may appear quite impossible to an arrogant person, but quite possible even for a child to understand. When you look at someone the first thing you notice is their skin. Then, and only then, does assumption, prejudice, and stereotypical thoughts bounce in your head like a basketball. You see, this issue is greater than the material— it’s abstract, yeah, psychological. To negate this truth, negates my and other Colored people's experiences. To negate this truth, shreds —we wrestle not against flesh and blood— like toilet tissue. How can we start a conversation about my experiences, when my reality is negated by Black folk’s voices who have more letters behind their name, or Black folk’s voices who speak louder than mine? This conversation has been going on since the birth of our nation, tell me, reader, how can a lie last this long?
Proverbs 31:8-9: Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.
Matthew 7:12: In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.
Philippians 2:3-4: Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years.”
