Brokenness—Our Commonality

Much of the funding that supports the center where I work at a university comes from grants.  Grants keep our doors open and provide jobs.  Because of this we are always looking for grants to fund us.  Most of the grants we look at cover a variety of areas, but specifically around disabilities.  In the past year those funding searches have been broaden to include something I hadn’t thought about but was marginally aware of—“intersectionality”.

Intersectionality was born out of liberation movement of women, racial discrimination—civil rights theories, sexuality and gender issues—a whole gamut of life circumstances that experience inequalities and injustices just because of who they were.  One source puts it simply: “. . . intersectionality is the concept that all oppression is linked.”  The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”  Thus, intersectionality is the acknowledgement that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression and we must consider everything and anything that marginalize people—gender, race, class, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. (Womankind Worldwide).

 

This fascinating concept is something my whole has been centered on—the basis of my theology in ministry—the foundation of over 40 years of preaching.  We all intersect as people—but how?  We are all unique and special creations in the hands of the Holy . . . so how do we connect?  What is the commonality that binds us one to the other?  We are not all the same as our life experiences are different.  So, what makes us one?

 

It is true.  We are all different.  My experience as a male is different than that of my wife who is female.  It is also different than that of my friends who are gay . . . disabled . . . non-white . . . you name it.  We are all different and not surprisingly we land in more than one category.  On the surface we have little if anything in common that pulls us together as one.  We are different.  Yet I would argue that we are bound together . . . that we all intersect . . . that we all have a commonality that binds us together.

 

Our brokenness.

 

In our brokenness we find common ground.  We have all experienced brokenness.  We have all been broken.  There in that brokenness we find the foundation from which we can work together to accept our uniqueness and differences to make the world a kinder, safer place for all.  In our brokenness we can acknowledge this universal thread of woundedness that brings our hearts together with a unified goal of acceptance and healing.  In our brokenness we are one . . . one creation . . . one family.

 

Of course, who wants to admit to being broken?  Of being damaged goods?  I know that I do not.  In fact I am quite certain that I have fought against this acknowledgement most of my life.  It goes against the tough guy façade we Americans hold tightly.  Our Joh Wayne act.  Brokenness is seen as a weakness.  No one wants to be viewed as weak.  With that knowledge we practice America’s number one pastime—denial.  That is how we survive.

 

At times I think of myself as poetic.  In that vein I recently had this moment of waxing poetic:  In the movement of time, like waves upon a beach, smoothing the rough edges of memory, creating a shiny façade of nostalgia . . . that is how we survive.  Another way of saying it is . . . the older I get, the better I was.  Think of Bruce Springsteen’s song Glory Days.  However, it is viewed . . . however it is phrased, it is still denial.

 

The bottom line is that we are all broken.  We have been hurt.  The reasons and experiences may be different, but the brokenness is the same.  Life is fragile and none of us escape it without some brokenness.  The tough part is acknowledging and accepting it . . . claiming it.  It is a part—an important part—of who we are.  A necessary part that opens us to others and allows us to see and know our commonality as holy creations.  Worthy of love . . . worthy of respect . . . of acknowledgement . . . of belonging.  It is there that the healing begins.  It is there where we relate.  It is there where we begin.

 

It is through our brokenness that the light gets in . . . that the holiness, the love . . . comes to all of us.  Leonard Cohen in his classic song, Anthem, said it best: “Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”  For those of you of the Christian faith . . . it is through the brokenness of Jesus that we relate to him and to one another.  In the words of institution around the table we hear: “This is my broken for you . . .”  In the brokenness our commonality is exposed revealing the light of the holiness that makes us one.  It is where we all intersect.

 

We live in a broken world.  No one can argue against that because we have all experienced it.  It is real.  In setting aside the denial that we live in a perfect world . . . have perfect lives . . . that everything is all right, we can begin to see our commonness . . . our brokenness.  It is here where change will begin.  It is here that we must begin.  It is the only hope we have that will allow the light to come crashing in and heal us all. 

 

The birds they sang

At the break of day

Start again

I heard them say

Don't dwell on what has passed away

Or what is yet to be

 

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack, a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in

 

That's how the light gets in

That's how the light gets in

 

Since When?

The governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, vetoed State Bill 1062.  Bill 1062 was called a “religious freedom” bill that would allow business owners in Arizona to refuse service or business to any person who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender based on their religious beliefs.  Shortly after the governor of Arizona did this the state legislature in Ohio removed their version of the same bill from consideration.  Though I was not surprised by the governor’s veto, I was surprised that it had even gotten to the governor’s desk in the first place.  It was stupid.

It just did not make much sense to me.  How were they going to determine the gender of someone who walks into their business or restaurant?  Were they going to have people fill out forms before seating them or doing actual business?  Were they going to use stereotypical profiles of the various genders to determine whether or not someone should be allowed in for service?  Or were they going to ask for a credit card, hold it up to their foreheads, and declare the individual acceptable like Carnac the Magnificent?  How exactly were these businesses and restaurant owners going to determine the gender of the people using their businesses?  Was Arizona going to start requiring people to wear badges declaring their gender?  I understand money is what makes the business revolve . . . and, money does not care what gender the spender is.  It all spends the same way.  So, what does gender have to do with doing business or eating in a restaurant?  Doesn’t this go against the real religion that governs our lives and the world around us—economics?

Besides, this sure did not sound much like the United States of America.  Using one liberty to take the liberties of others away.  Nor does this idea of religious freedom sound much like the teachings or ways of Jesus . . . I don’t remember him excluding anyone from his presence if they were not of the same faith persuasion as he was.  Nope, he welcomed everyone to take a seat at the table.  So, as I stated above, I was pretty amazed that SB 1062 even made it to the governor’s desk.

I also did not understand all of the ruckus surrounding two athletes—Michael Sam and Jason Collins, who happen to be gay.  Michael Sam is the first highly rated college football player to come out as openly gay before the National Football League draft.  Jason Collins is the National Basketball Association player who came out as being gay at the end of last season, and had been sitting out much of this season until he received a ten-day contract from the Brooklyn Nets.  Since when does one’s gender determine whether or not he or she is a good athlete?  Prior to their announcements about their gender no one seemed to have any problems with them as athletes . . . they had both proven themselves as exceptional on the playing field and court.  It is pretty ridiculous that gender enters into the picture in the first place . . . they are playing a sport.  Making tackles. Setting picks. Scoring points.  What does gender have to do with that?  Not much . . . but you would think with the media attention these pronouncements have generating that it was a big deal.  A gay football player?  A gay basketball player?  Who cares as long as they can play the game.

Since when did the Declaration of Independence, our nation’s founding document, have hidden agendas to keep others out?  Did it not say, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Since when did the Constitution and Bill of Rights have little exclusion clauses when it came to “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”  It seems that we as a nation have had a real difficult time living up to our ideals as presented in the Constitution and Bill of Right.  Our own history plays against us in that arena.

We live in an age of “isms” . . . racism . . . ageism . . . sexism . . . gender bias . . . ability/disability . . . poor/rich . . . religious preferences or no preferences . . . politics . . . and, on and on the list goes.  We have all encountered bias and prejudice in our own lives, even if it has been as simple as being a Bobcat fan in Grizzly Country.  It is never fun to be judged by these so-called “isms”.  But, the sad thing is that we all have our own biases and prejudices even when we think that we do not.  We still have a long way to go as demonstrated by a state trying to pass a prejudicial bill or professional sports having to explain why a person’s gender makes an individual worthy of playing a sport.

If a person can do the job . . . who cares whether or not the person is straight or gay?  Young or old?  Rich or poor?  Black, white, or Indian? Able-bodied or has a disability?  Male or female?  Presbyterian or Jewish?  What does any of that have to do with sitting down in a restaurant to eat a meal or being able to make a tackle on a football field?  And, for that matter, what does any of that have to do with whether or not those people have a place at God’s table? 

I know that there are lots of arguments against what I am saying, but I can handle that . . . after all, we all have our opinions.  Yet, my understanding is that the Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)  Nowhere in that statement or following do I find a list of exclusions that exempt anyone . . . God loves the whole world . . . God loves the diversity . . . and, God desires to be in a relationship with all of it.  Because of that there is one simple question: Who are we to deny anyone a place at God’s table?

God has room for everyone . . . men, women, pirates, acrobats, giants, androids, aliens, ninjas, gamers, gangstas, invisible men, zombies . . . blacks, whites, Hispanics, Indians, and any other race . . . Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims, and any other religion . . . old people, young people . . . rich, poor . . . abled and disabled . . . smart and dumb . . . Republicans and Democrats . . . everyone.  Everyone is welcomed to the table . . . God always has room.

Since when do we allow our biases and prejudices . . . our ignorance . . . to determine God’s will?  Shouldn’t we at least give God’s way a try before we condemn the rest of the world . . . after all, we were all created in the image of God.  That should be reason enough for all of us to love one another.