I am writing this on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. The practice of so naming this day is rooted in the meaning of the word maundy, which comes from the Latin mandatum, “command.” The command celebrated is one that Jesus gave to His friends on the night before He died. He tells them of his impending death and the betrayal of two – Judas and Peter.
His words to the disciples at that last supper are the key to ending racism. Every thing Dr Meeks writes of focuses on the pain and deaths resulting from the practice of racism, a practice often spread through evil interpretations of the Christian faith. The pain should not be denied but it must be put in the past if we are to move forward. Healing cannot focus on the pain of yesterday but on the hope of a better tomorrow.
What I disliked about this book was the emphasis on the negative and the lack of references to faith. Faith drives us all, regardless of how we identify it. It might be Faith in an entity called God, Allah, G-d, or any of the other hundreds of names for a Great Spirit. It might also be a misguided sense of self or egotism. The concept of Manifest Destiny is a good example of this, a concept widely adopted without scientific basis that has fueled generations of hate resulting in racism.
The man Jesus, however, has already given us the answer to racism : “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). This was his last conversation with his disciples and one lost in the subsequent actions and his crucifixion. Instead of living the way of love described by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry who wrote the foreword to this book, generations have dwelled on the pain and many have co to use that pain in anger. We have not followed the last words of the man Jesus, words that defy racism of any kind.
As we celebrate Easter, we need to commit to living those final words – “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”. Instead of denying based on color, we should live for, encourage, and be willing to sacrifice for those different than us. It really can be as Jesus commanded that Thursday night so long ago….”Love one another”.
n2myhead 