Living and Learning (Fall Semester 2009)

I really enjoyed the compilation of reflections from what I had learned in my classes last semester so I'm doing it again. So here it is, reflections from Fall semester (in no particular order):

1) "Every child is my child"--A quote from Angelina Atyam that sunk into me a little deeper from Teaching Communities week. It led me to realize that I became a mother when I became a Christian. This isn't just because of the birth of Nathaniel, my best friend's baby this summer, but because I have deeply come to realize that I may not have my own biological children, but I am a mother.

2) I need the Jews. I need them for a physical reminder of the real life Jesus who was Jewish. I need them to remember that I am a Gentile, grafted in by the grace of God.

3) Although my account of reconciliation is quite orthodox and has grown tremendously over the years, I need to have a theology that can include and deal with non-Christians. If reconciliation is part of who God is, it must also encompass the rest of God's creation. I'm not there yet.

4) We are free to be bound. This is stealing from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove's book title, but I'm speaking of this in terms of Dr. Jennings class on Christian Identity and the Formation of the Racial World. Rather than pulling away from one another for various reasons to bring healing to problems of race, we need to be drawing closer together...becoming free to be bound to one another b/c Jesus is bound to us...even if it hurts. And yes, it will probably hurt.

5) It's ok for me to be a Southern white woman. If I try to get rid of my identity because of guilt then I let myself off the hook without dealing with real problems. Dr. King's dream was so that children of slaveholders and slaves would be able to live together. For this dream to be actualized I need to not throw away my identity and my history. By throwing away my ties to slavery, not only do I loose my heritage, but I cut off my ties to others, the continent of Africa in particular.

6) The resurrection is a sign of hope that the way things are, are not the way they have to be. This is technically a Chris Rice quotation, but I attribute fully coming to grasp with it by studying Luke and Christian Theology. Ok, forget that...all four classes are pretty pivitol for that understanding.

7) Christianity is a "remembering" religion. It is ok for us to forgive and not forget. It is ok for us to let go of the fear that others will forget our trauma and that forgiveness will make it disappear. It will never disappear. It marks our being and becomes part of our identity. But this identity is meant to be one which is redeemed and also marked by hope.

8) Forgiveness opens the way for bitterness to become compassion. Compassion for self, oppresors, and others who cause and experience hurt.

9) "God doesn't give us the friends we want, but the friends we need." --Chris Rice