In the Baptismal Covenant the members of the faith community
make promises to God and to one another.
The promises are given with the understanding that we are incapable of keeping
them without God’s help:
Celebrant:
Will you continue in
the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in
the prayers?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People: I will, with God’s help.
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Celebrant: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People: I will, with God’s help.
(Book of Common Prayer, pp. 304-305)
There are days when these promises are put to the test in
very real ways; days when the opportunity to learn about the impact of
discrimination, specifically racism, are laid before you and you have to figure
out how to seek God in the complexities of all relationships.
In my mind, discrimination is not limited to any one –ism. To focus on one only opens the gates to the
others and puts to mind all the difficulties of living in community. To focus on one gives language to the
others. To focus on one gives tools to
deal with the others. While we focus on
racism, focusing on the multiplicities and difficulties and complexities of race
relations, we can learn how to reach further into humanity to quiet the voices of
all discrimination.
I have friends who are discriminated against for any number
of reasons. Their history is both
personal and historical. As a culture,
we do not have systems or language or programs in place that effectively teach
us how to “be” when we are with people who can be described as “other.” We have accessibility issues. We don’t understand someone’s accent. We struggle with understanding why people
love the people they love. We cry with
the oppressed, when we understand aspects of their oppression. We cry when voices are not heard. We cry when we do not know how to
respond. We cry when we try to be in
solidarity, but we fail.
So I am incapable of understanding the broad and narrow
brushes of discrimination, but I try. I
try to be open to the learning opportunities.
I try to listen with my ears, my head and my heart. I know that an individual’s story is often a
part of a collective, and that I cannot ever fully understand the magnitude or
the minutia of their experience. But I
listen anyway. I must.
I try, with God’s help, to respect the dignity of every
human being. I try, with God’s help, to
seek and serve Christ in all of creation.
I try, with God’s help, to persevere in resisting evil. Even when I’m misunderstood, I try.
Dear God, I try so hard to live my Baptismal Covenant, to
continually learn ways to transform unjust structures of society and to be in
relationship with You, and I am not always successful. Please forgive my mistakes, my misspoken
words, my struggles. Help me become a
better neighbor and a better listener.
Help me find the right words to express my understanding of your love in
the world to those who struggle to hear.
To you, the giver of all good things, the One who weeps at injustice,
the God of all. Amen.