“I did not realize how much anxiety I was carrying.”
“I can finally let my shoulders down.”
“I don’t have to be afraid to wake up anymore.”
I heard each of these statements from congregants in the last couple of days. And many more similar sentiments.
Many of us have been carrying too much anxiety in our bodies, for too long. The results of the election, for most of us, mean that we can put some of that anxiety down, that we can relax at least a bit. Perhaps we can even begin to discover questions and yearnings that the depth of the anxiety prevented us from knowing. Feeling able to put some of that anxiety down is a good thing.
There is still much that is unclear as our nation moves forward, and there is certainly still good cause for some anxiety to remain. But at least I can look forward to a day soon when I will no longer need to be embarrassed by our national leaders, when their representation of us does not make me cringe. I think of Van Jones weeping on screen as he spoke of how hard parenting has been for him and for so many of us these last years.
Representation is important. The image of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris striding purposefully in front of the shadow of Ruby Bridges, the child who courageously integrated the New Orleans public schools more than 80 years ago communicates so much.
Kamala speaks eloquently of how she stands on the shoulders of so many who made possible her success: her mother first but also all those who have courageously paved the way for persons of color and women and immigrants. Kamala embodies, on many fronts, the hope for a vibrant, pluralistic future for our nation and our world.
Recognizing her debt to “the ancestors” in no way takes away Kamala’s dedication, hard work, drive or skill. But it brings forward strength from the past and highlights the ever present need to resist those forces that would make any of us less than fully human, with the inherent worth of dignity of which our faith speaks.
Representation means a great deal. It is not everything. Remember that Clarence Thomas was one of the Supreme Court justices who enthusiastically gutted the Voting Rights Act. The image of Ruby Bridges above is from a Normal Rockwell painting. It highlights the vulnerability of the cute child, rather than HER determination or that of her mother who died just days ago, and who accompanied Ruby to that all white school before the federal troops intervened.
Representation is rarely perfect. Kamala’s stride is decidedly able bodied. And her gender identity is definitely “cis.”
But representation can be transformative.
I remember my daughter, at age 6, having her eyes opened when she saw her first woman minister in the pulpit. She realized that there were worlds of possibility open to her that she had never imagined. That minister, by the way, was Rev. Marilyn Sewell, who served as Interim Minister at my home church in Cincinnati before she was called to begin her distinguished service here at First Unitarian.
In this interregnum, knowing that there will be issues to deal with galore before we reach January 20th, I am holding onto the hope that our vision for Beloved Community offers. And I am remembering not only the ancestors on whose shoulders we stand, but the persistent voices that continue to offer us representations of what can be if we remain committed and purposeful.
“Let us see the fractions, the spectrum, the margins.
Let us open our hearts to the complexity of our worlds.
Let us make our lives sanctuaries, to nurture our many
identities.
The day will come when all will know
That the rainbow world is more gorgeous than monochrome,
That a river of identities can ebb and flow over the static,
stubborn rocks in its course,
that the margins hold the center.”
Amen.
Bill