Participating in the system and drawing the line – Denia Bradshaw

And:

If your enemy is hungry, buy him lunch!

Win him over with kindness.

For your surprising generosity will awaken his conscience,

and God will reward you with favor.

Never let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.

Romans 12:20-21 TPT

On Sunday, there was talk about how and when do we participate in the systems that exist in our lives in the sermon, To Kneel or Not to Kneel by Brenna Rubio and Bill White. The question posed was: “when do we say no?” The examples that were described on Sunday were about Esther and Mordecai from the book of Esther.

Resisting empire is necessary but can be burdensome. Again, where and when do we draw the line in the sand?

In their book, This Way to Change: a gentle guide to personal transformation and collective liberation, author Jezz Chung writes about decolonization and transformation in the section entitled: Deconstruct without Destroying Yourself. In this part of the book, they describe how white supremacy is interwoven into everything we experience: “We inhale the language, the imagery, the jokes and subtext, and we perpetuate them with our every exhalation” (p. 27). Further describing [that]: accepting this is part of the challenge when it comes to change, and that “without acknowledging this reality, we can drive ourselves mad wondering why ‘the work’ isn’t working for us” (p. 27).

As we reflect on Sunday’s sermon with this section from Jezz Chung’s book, where might you have capacity to deconstruct, and or resist, without destroying yourself? We have a responsibility, and yet where do wedraw the line while remembering, as Jezz reminds us [that] “…it is impossible to personally take on the mission of undoing the damages of a persistently fueled and thoroughly funded system” (p. 27)? Alternatively, where might you have capacity to kneel? Would this be an instance of how we might participate in the system? As Esther and Mordecai did?

One way to change, as explained by Jezz, is to unravel the thread of this fabric of collective consciousness by ways of intention and iteration (p. 27). Too, Jezz reminds us that as one collects resources and techniques in decolonizing, to remember that it is not our sole “responsibility to uphold the most morally sound, anti-oppressive perspective of all time, at all times…” but instead encourages to shift “decolonization into an ongoing series of destinations” to “navigate patiently.” They encourage, reiterate, and conclude by saying: “maintain the vision of the world you want without punishing yourself for not living up to it all the time. Transformation is a process, not an end point” (p. 27-28).

God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart.

Examine me through and through;

find out everything that may be hidden within me.

Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.

See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on,

and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way—

the path that brings me back to you.

Psalms 139:23-24 TPT

This process, along with our capacity, can unfold differently day to day and can vary due to fluctuations in context and the natural ebb and flow of our daily lives.

Let’s continue to invite God into our reflections and ask.

Chung, J. (2024). This way to change: a gentle guide to personal transformation and collective liberation. Chronicle Prism.