The More You Know…
It had been 20 years since the home renovation project tweaked a shoulder. The man with the shoulder–let’s call him “Jim”–noticed the occasional twinge, but never really paid much attention to it. Normal activities were affected, to be sure, as flexibility gradually waned and pain flared from time to time, but nothing seemed to warrant interrupting a busy, active life for therapy or surgery. Everyone has pain, stiffness, and limitations, especially as they get older; right? No big deal.
Until it started to interrupt sleep and make more of daily life into a grind (so to speak). Then it was time to see an orthopedist. And what Jim learned was that underneath the minor annoyances all those years was a huge problem. Bone-on-bone friction had worn away a good bit of the shoulder socket, along with some of the ball on the upper arm bone. The doctor said, “This is really serious and needs more complicated surgery.”
Hard as it was for Jim to hear that, at least he finally knew the real story. He now had a way to stop the pain and deterioration and get on with a fuller life.
In the biblical story of King David of Israel, the king’s adultery sets up problems that he resolves by murdering his lover’s husband. And life goes on past the speed bump. Then comes a confrontation with the truth in a meeting with the prophet, Nathan. Nathan tells a story about a powerful, abusive man and the weaker neighbor whom he victimizes. When David pronounces judgment on such sinful behavior, Nathan retorts: “You are the man.” It was a difficult thing for David to hear, but the real story of his sin and his confession allowed him to move on with a fuller life. “God has put away your sin,” said Nathan; “you shall not die.” (See 2 Samuel 11-12 for the full story.)
These two stories come to mind as we come today to the national observance of Juneteenth. 160 years ago today in Galveston TX, the Emancipation Proclamation was read–2-1/2 years after it had been issued–and the slaves there became the last ones to learn of their freedom. More than a celebration in the Black community, which it certainly is, Juneteenth is an encounter with reality that can heal long-standing wounds and enrich our lives.
God offers the forgiveness that “puts away sin,” which we come to know only when we get the real story of the sin in which we live. For all Americans, that sin includes 2-1/2 centuries of chattel slavery and decades of Jim Crow discrimination, with the dehumanization, physical suffering, generational trauma, and deprivation of wealth that they entailed. In addition to the direct pain inflicted on slaves and their descendants, we live in a society that has been shaped economically, culturally, conceptually, and even religiously by that legacy. It is hard to hear, particularly when we weren’t personally involved in writing the story. But it is real, and we are all affected. Taking the opportunity of Juneteenth to learn the truth of the diagnosis is what can lead to healing and a fuller life. That is God’s promise in the story of David and Nathan.
St. Paul’s Cinema & Spirituality film series happened to screen the Spike Lee film, Malcolm X, this month. The film will have an encore screening at the church on Saturday morning, July 19, with a luncheon discussion following. Two good books to explore are Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me (2015) and James Cone’s Martin & Malcolm & America (1991). As the PSAs say, “the more you know…”.
