"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, 'What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him'" (KJV Mark 4:37-41)?
I was a precocious child to say the least. Yes, it's true. I know that might be hard for some of you to believe, but I have to be honest, I was a bit ahead of my time. So it should be no surprise to you that as a child and blessed with preadolescence naivete', when I would hear stories like this about Jesus, I was absolutely fascinated by them. I, too, like the men in the vessel accompanying Jesus, would marvel at what I had determined had undoubtedly occurred was an amazing magic trick. I was so moved that I would offer to sweep the floor, take out the trash and do the dishes for a couple nickles so I could go to the corner store and buy a magic kit that would show me how to duplicate the same trick. It was magic pure and simple! Once I realized they didn't have a magic kit powerful enough to control the weather, I would pout and kick rocks all the way back home. Then I would see something on TV where somebody was able to move objects with their mind! I thought "What? I could have done that without doing all that work for a couple of nickles?" That did it. I was off, waiting for the next storm to show up so I could run outside and fix my mind on the wind and make it settle down before it tore up somebody's house! As soon as I saw the clouds forming, and tumbleweeds running down the street trying to get away from it, I would rush outside barefooted - cause Jesus was barefooted most of the time - and I would look that storm in its face and fix my mind on it! If that didn't work, I would squint my eyes at it so it would know I was serious about this thang and meant business. But, you see, um, in Texas, uhhhh yeah, Texas has dust storms and um, well... Uh, I couldn't concentrate because of the dust beating against my skin and getting into my eyes. Or, Mama yelling at me from the window, "DORINDA! Get your little narrow ass back in this house!" So... I figured, you know, I didn't have enough time!
Okay, okay, not to be outdone, I decided I was gonna do the "Walk on water" trick. It was hot. I couldn't swim and since no one was available to watch me, Mama wouldn't let me get in the water, so, I reasoned, "I'm a little girl and Jesus had to have weighed more than I do, so if the water could hold him, I know it can hold me!" There I went. And.... There I went - under water. Thankfully God takes care of fools and babies and there was always someone close by who heard or saw my shrieks and shrills of panic or Mama running toward me screaming, "Lawd hammercy! Help me Jesus! Jesus! Help me!" By the time they got me out of the water, and Mama started whooping me, I stopped trying to be Jesus and started calling for him myself - "Jesus! Jesus! Jeeessssuuuusss! Help me Jesus!" Fortunately and unfortunately that was my last attempt at trying to recreate the miraculous events and circumstances that were attributed to that Jewish Mediterranean peasant called Jesus. Fortunate because I stopped scaring the life out of Mama. Unfortunate because I began to think all of it was a lie.
As Christians, many, most, if not all of us are indoctrinated into our faith with these fanciful, magical and unexplainable occurrences associated with Jesus the Christ to the point that we fail to acquaint ourselves with Jesus the Nazarene. All too often we get caught up in the magnificent or the Magnificat and dwell on the beautiful and the glorious wonder of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" without walking along side this man as he daringly confronted the winds of religious arrogance and intolerance. We shy away from the man as he stands in solidarity with the women, the sick, the poor, the homeless and "disinherited" of the earth. We don't know that man! We pass by like sleepwalking witnesses of his message of inclusion, love, honor, respect and responsibility to and for all humanity. We run on to the end without standing by his side as he got caught up in the storms of lies, conspiracy, deceit, rejection and persecution. No, we have no idea of the man whose death is falsely placed at the feet of the Jews - we just hate the Jews! And why? Because rather than introduce us to a person, the source of our faith as a revolutionary, a liberating "spirit person" - endowed with the same internal energy and availed access to the same external forces that we too share in - it was socially, sexually, economically, culturally, politically and theologically expedient for us to be infected with hatred, disassociated, unaffected and thus in-effective in the lives of others suffering.
That and more is the crux behind this bible study series, "Who Is Jesus?" and, "What manner of man is this?" I hope during this time together, walking along the dusty and perilous roads of change, we will be convicted to walk hand in hand, side by side, fully awake and conscious of our individual and collective responsibility to "lift as we climb." It's our modern day miracle of presence, compassion, love and acceptance that will cause others to stand in awe and be so marveled by our works that they say one to another, "What manner of wo/man is this?"
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!
Ya, know. I was always facinated by the miracles (magic tricks) that Jesus would do as well as a child. What child has not attempted to walk on water if they just focused and concentrated real hard on the task at hand? Just as many little boys thought or even wished and attempted to fly like Superman!
ReplyDeleteI recal an episode of "Good Times" when JJ painted a picture of his interpretation of Black Jesus. How much controversy this episode caused in the Evans family and in black america as a whole?
It was not until my mid to late 20's that I began to realize there were black people in the bible and they were not all white. Here lies my lightbulb moment when my curiousity started to take hold of me and I began to question the truth about the bible! Hmmmmm? I'm sure many of us were taught not to question God nor the bible!!!!
Even in my 40ish days, I still question what is written and how the bible is interpreted and used to hurt, enslave and deminish people. Why would I want to be a part of a religion that does that? Why would I want to follow a man who represents hatred?
Questions? Questions? Questions?
I've missed you! I remember that episode of "Good Times." And you're right we, black people and America in general had a very difficult time with that episode. It just speaks to how good/bad a job has been done on us that we would take exception to the Divine looking like a reflection of our natural self.
ReplyDeleteBut to your questions, which are great, unfortunately, much of what we have gotten by way or our oral/aural tradition has been passed down to us by people who could and could not read, those who had no formal training in the interpretation of the sacred text and yes, by enslavers who used the "Word" to justify, and perpetuate chattel slavery - and whose very existence and status required the enslaved to acquiescence and accept their earthly plight with joyful heart for their reward was in heaven - over and up yonder!
As I said in my post, the man we say we follow, in my opinion, doesn't represent hatred. Rather it is a significant percentage of those who identify as "Christians" that engage in establishing differences among us that make a difference and therefore give way to a litmus test as to what and which "differences" is "good" or "bad."
I've said it before and I'll say it again - Christianity would have a chance if Christians would get out of the way.
So glad to hear from you again... Peace!