Reversals
...They shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!
If only this vision could come true. If only all of us who truly love peace, who are truly committed to non-violence, could do enough, individually and collectively, to make this prophesy true.
The most beautiful image, I think, is the image of changing the use of a weapon into a tool used to nourish, to feed the hungry. I am thinking today about reversals, about how we are most often blocked not by what we actually have but by how we view--and then use--what we have.
A student interviewed me this week about teaching basic writing. She asked me what I thought of the stigma attached to the course. She wanted to know if I could think of a name other than Fundamentals of Writing for the course that might have less stigma, or if I had any thoughts about why we now fill two sections when at one time we could only fill one. Did this mean we were lowering our Admissions standards?
My answer, I think, may have surprised her. I said the problem was not about how many people were in the class or about the name of the class, but instead, about the way education, writing, college, are understood in our culture. Why shouldn't we recognize that not everyone has the same gifts--that some people will need a bit more help with math, some with writing, some with science--and that this is actually a blessing, a reason we are all called to work together to create positive changes in the world? Why should we think of education as something to be earned rather than a basic right, and then work to ensure that everyone has the skills and knowledge they need to contribute to our society? Why can't students with learning disabilities be admitted and enter a college culture that truly includes them, truly recognizes the ways in which disabilities can also be gifts in that they have taught students how to find new ways to think and to learn? Why do we live in a world in which where one lives determines how many educational resources that person has?
I've been thinking about reversals for another reason, too. Recently someone I knew fairly well was in some trouble, and she kept reaching out, albeit in not particularly appropriate ways, to the people in her life. We realized she needed help, and we all tried to respond in ways that would be respectful but also helpful. During the time when several of us were trying to sort out how to get her the help she needed, someone suggested we ought to just shut off our phones, stop responding to her messages. It was her responsibility, this person argued, to get help, not our problem. In a way, she was right--we're all ultimately responsible for getting the help we need, and we can't expect others to do that work for us--but at the same time, compassionate people will find ways to reach back, at least enough to provide options, safety, hope. Compassionate people will keep the door open, even if at particular times it's necessary to say, I can't talk now; you haven't followed up on the advice I gave you yesterday. I hope you'll be OK today; I'll still be here tomorrow.
We are in need of a culture change across the board. We live in a world in which blame is the norm--war, violence, lack of preparation for college, people in need of help are not our problem; someone else is to blame. We live in a world in which exclusion is the norm--if someone does something a little off, if someone appears to not fit in in some way, we shut them out, close the door--and we feel like this is OK because, after all, we're Americans, and in America, the land of independence, people are supposed to take care of themselves.
But if we truly believe in the vision in today's Old Testament reading, we know we are responsible for being a part of a great reversal. We may not see peace in our lifetime. Those of us who have spent significant time and energy organizing against the war in Iraq, the threat of war with Iran--those of us fighting to bring soldiers home, and, in the meantime, to provide them with what they need to be safe--often feel discouraged, like our voices don't matter, aren't heard. But in the end, we can only do what we can do each day to create reversals in our own lives and others--open the door more widely, question everything, see what can't easily be seen: like the gifts a struggling student possesses, like the promise a person in trouble has of contributing later if she survives this trouble--like the spear that, with some work, can be turned into a pruning hook.
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!
If only this vision could come true. If only all of us who truly love peace, who are truly committed to non-violence, could do enough, individually and collectively, to make this prophesy true.
The most beautiful image, I think, is the image of changing the use of a weapon into a tool used to nourish, to feed the hungry. I am thinking today about reversals, about how we are most often blocked not by what we actually have but by how we view--and then use--what we have.
A student interviewed me this week about teaching basic writing. She asked me what I thought of the stigma attached to the course. She wanted to know if I could think of a name other than Fundamentals of Writing for the course that might have less stigma, or if I had any thoughts about why we now fill two sections when at one time we could only fill one. Did this mean we were lowering our Admissions standards?
My answer, I think, may have surprised her. I said the problem was not about how many people were in the class or about the name of the class, but instead, about the way education, writing, college, are understood in our culture. Why shouldn't we recognize that not everyone has the same gifts--that some people will need a bit more help with math, some with writing, some with science--and that this is actually a blessing, a reason we are all called to work together to create positive changes in the world? Why should we think of education as something to be earned rather than a basic right, and then work to ensure that everyone has the skills and knowledge they need to contribute to our society? Why can't students with learning disabilities be admitted and enter a college culture that truly includes them, truly recognizes the ways in which disabilities can also be gifts in that they have taught students how to find new ways to think and to learn? Why do we live in a world in which where one lives determines how many educational resources that person has?
I've been thinking about reversals for another reason, too. Recently someone I knew fairly well was in some trouble, and she kept reaching out, albeit in not particularly appropriate ways, to the people in her life. We realized she needed help, and we all tried to respond in ways that would be respectful but also helpful. During the time when several of us were trying to sort out how to get her the help she needed, someone suggested we ought to just shut off our phones, stop responding to her messages. It was her responsibility, this person argued, to get help, not our problem. In a way, she was right--we're all ultimately responsible for getting the help we need, and we can't expect others to do that work for us--but at the same time, compassionate people will find ways to reach back, at least enough to provide options, safety, hope. Compassionate people will keep the door open, even if at particular times it's necessary to say, I can't talk now; you haven't followed up on the advice I gave you yesterday. I hope you'll be OK today; I'll still be here tomorrow.
We are in need of a culture change across the board. We live in a world in which blame is the norm--war, violence, lack of preparation for college, people in need of help are not our problem; someone else is to blame. We live in a world in which exclusion is the norm--if someone does something a little off, if someone appears to not fit in in some way, we shut them out, close the door--and we feel like this is OK because, after all, we're Americans, and in America, the land of independence, people are supposed to take care of themselves.
But if we truly believe in the vision in today's Old Testament reading, we know we are responsible for being a part of a great reversal. We may not see peace in our lifetime. Those of us who have spent significant time and energy organizing against the war in Iraq, the threat of war with Iran--those of us fighting to bring soldiers home, and, in the meantime, to provide them with what they need to be safe--often feel discouraged, like our voices don't matter, aren't heard. But in the end, we can only do what we can do each day to create reversals in our own lives and others--open the door more widely, question everything, see what can't easily be seen: like the gifts a struggling student possesses, like the promise a person in trouble has of contributing later if she survives this trouble--like the spear that, with some work, can be turned into a pruning hook.
Comments
I've been reading for over an hour (I had a lot of catching up to do) and have been hanging onto every word. When are you going to blog some more???
xoxo,
Jo