2019 – Keeping our Eye on the Prize

As we enter 2019, we will keep our attention on the focus the community has called us to…the presence we bring as a community of dedicated women and men, and as a vital part of that presence, to purify it from any unconscious stench of racism that might cling to us.

To help us reflect on this task, I’m going to tap a treasure. You may have read the apostolic exhortation (which means it’s a kind of  “ cheer-leading” document…!) of Francis called, Rejoice and Exult in English. Its subtitle is “On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World.” Make no mistake, this is much more than a pious-preach. The letter is a solid strategy for authentic discipleship in today’s world, and it fits you and me, whatever our lifestyle. What might it offer to us as a community, as we enter the New Year with a way of being present and anti-racism on our minds?

Francis begins by assuring us he has no intention of just giving us definitions of holiness. He will be offering practical suggestions, what I am calling a strategy for authentic discipleship for today. In other words, what does it look like to walk around as an authentic disciple of Jesus in our time? It seems to me, this is another way of talking about how we present ourselves wherever we are.

First, we are to look around us at very common people who are living lives of uncommon patience and endurance, quietly and without fanfare. Francis insists this call is to every one of us. It is not a membership in an elite club. It is a call issued to everyone, in and outside the Church. It weaves in and out of the most ordinary daily activities, and echoes often in very small ways. With this Francis assures us that holiness is not somewhere “up in the clouds,” but right in the midst of the flow of everyday. It is not a separate aloofness, but a distinctive way of being very human. Watching the evening news with this in mind reveals it popping out everywhere.

This assurance removes the notion of separateness from the call, and locates its distinctness in the presence or witness we each carry with us as we live moment to moment. This is where our efforts on racism might come in. We have long ago rejected conscious racism. We have intentionally turned away from it. Then why is racism still lingering in our hearts and in our nation? The enemy is unconscious bias. We can’t be intentional about what we are not conscious of. So how do we spot this and deal with it?

Bias comes in four subtle and sneaky forms. First, there is the dramatic bias that clings to us because of the influence of a person or event. It’s a scar on our psychic memory, and whenever we’re in similar circumstances, it will operate whether we want it to or not. Then there is individual egoism: “This is the way it is, and nobody is going to tell me otherwise.” My way, or the highway. Or worse, this unconscious tendency goes corporate: “This is the way we do it around here.” Finally, there is plain old general bias: “I don’t want to hear any more about this stuff. I already know enough about it.” These attitudes are sneaky and often not intentional. They are just there. What to do? Bring them to the surface. Admit them. Once they are conscious, we can monitor them! We all have work to do…our presence, our witness, depends on it.