Misdeal

Occasionally in card games, when dealt such a terrible hand, a misdeal can be called and in order to be a little more fair, cards are dealt again. When I'm dealt a terrible hand in spades or hearts or euchre, either during the round or after, I need to at least make it known that my terrible performance had everything to do with getting terrible cards. Perhaps to save face, I want everyone to know that my ability to play the game was impeded by some bad luck. On the other side, when I absolutely trounce an opponent in cards, it is so easy to then feel like I bested them with endurance of wit and will. My competitiveness gets amped up especially when a game relies less on luck and more on skill. I'd say sports are a good example of this. However, imagine playing a game where time after time, the worst cards were dealt you, but after awhile, it no longer seemed like bad luck, but it seemed the people playing the game have it rigged for you to fail and themselves to succeed. Now imagine that quitting the game to find something else to do wasn't even an option. You have to sit there and take the loss game after game. The winners puff up and say, "If only you knew strategy better, you'd win like us," and yet you know that their smarts had little to do with their advantage in the game. Imagine telling everyone the game is rigged only to be met with accusations of being a complainer. You shout and no one listens to you. Pretty soon, saying anything becomes useless, knowing that it will fall on deaf ears. In my silence, I start to wonder, "Maybe I can't play as well as them? I won't win anyway, so why should I try?"

Enter in, the Black Lives Matter movement.  Birthed out of an outcry for justice in how they've seen the game rigged against them. Police brutality, racial profiling, and racial inequality in the criminal justice system are at the very heart of this cry.  No, not all cops are bad, but when these unfair dealings happen often enough and lives are destroyed, I'd get worked up in a frenzy if I felt nothing was changing. Any opposition to All Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter is not disagreeing that they matter, it's just seen as an excuse to not see the injustice for what it is.

Enter in, Colin Kaepernick. He sat during the National Anthem. Later in an interview, he stated that it was because he felt like in the United States, certain issues needed to be addressed, stating police brutality as one of these things. In future games, he would kneel (at the suggestion of a previously offended veteran who had an open dialogue with Kaepernick). My, if there was ever a backlash, here it came. If you're familiar with people wearing headphones, you probably have witnessed them talking annoyingly loud. It's like these people come out of the woodwork (a phrase I don't entirely understand) and refuse to understand Kaepernick's purpose of kneeling while pushing back with things like "I can't believe he'd disrespect the colorful rectangular fabric like that," or "He should protest in a prayer closet so we don't have to see it on sacred football Sunday." (I may have exaggerated). We live in a country where the majority of black people we see is on our favorite sports teams, maybe on a TV show that we channel-change past, or maybe even a mug shot on the news here or there. Unfortunately, ain't no professional athletes or celebrities in Brentwood (I almost said Jacksonville, but the Jags have a team this year) and the rest of the people are not criminals. There are so many amazing kids, amazing parents, amazing neighbors here that have the worst cards in their hand day after day.

Here's a video on how God makes a fair game.

For the past six or seven years, I've been in the unique position to live in a poverty-stricken neighborhood and yet have a middlish-class white suburban upbringing. The way I live greatly differs from those who have been in generational poverty. I might not be stressing about whether or not I'm eating today or if I'll have water, electricity, a house, etc. I have the luxury to look forward to things in the distant future, a holiday vacation for instance. I'm not so near-sighted as to wonder how I'm going to fill my belly, or much less, the bellies of my family. Parenting is hard. Parenting alone is more than twice as exhausting I feel. The fact that many families in the hood are matriarchal, single mothers taking care of the family, I marvel at their perseverance despite their circumstances. They are some of the hardest workers I've seen.

As this justice video suggests, we are all guilty of injustice. Before I reveal my own, I would have you ask yourself, "In what ways are you unjust? In what ways are you turning your face away from those less fortunate? What possesses your gaze and your attention that you ignore God's call to love the poor?" Please take a moment and consider these questions, right now.......

Did you do it? Was it easy or hard to answer? I find it difficult to answer because one, I don't want to be convicted of something that I may not be doing, and two, it's hard to pinpoint such a broad question and nail down my exact lack of action. For you, maybe it's proximity. Out of sight, out of mind so to speak. Maybe it's the realization that like in Mark 14:7, the poor we will always have with us. What help can I do? Here's my answer. I confess that although I live in this neighborhood, I have more and more quieted my voice for them. From the video, Proverbs 31:8-9 says, "Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." I grow tired of having what I say fall on deaf ears. To tell people of the importance of justice, the dignity of these people and get a ho-hum response, "Oh, that's nice," and yet no action gets frustrating. As I've written this blog, I've taken more of a cautious step in what I write as to not offend or cause unwanted disagreements from people who clearly care more about being heard than listening. I have not been the voice of the poor out of foolish fear of any push back from who this community may consider blind or apathetic.

In my experience living in the city (Milwaukee, Jacksonville), I have to start with the observation, "Why are there so many black people in the city? And why are so many poor? Why do white people have more money?" The answer has nothing to do with working hard, or being more qualified, or having a higher education; it has everything to do with injustice. Where injustice may be the simple answer, the more complex one has to do with centuries of darkness in regards to how black people have been treated (slavery, segregation, lynching, mass incarceration, systematic failures, food deserts, lack of jobs, neglect, the list goes on in more details than I can even wrap my head around). I recently heard in an interview on TV that the opposite of poverty is not wealth, but justice. Imagine a country, a world where there actually was equal opportunity, no prejudice, and lots of humble people putting others before themselves.

So how do we get there from where we are now? The first thing I will say is that apart from Christ you can do nothing. (John 15:5). Christ's whole life was about reaching the unreachable, crossing racial lines, loving the marginalized, the broken, the sick. I'd start with prayer, asking God what he may have for you to do. God's convicting me to be more vocal about the injustices I see but also the untapped brilliance of some in Brentwood that may otherwise go overlooked. If you can't give your time and presence, you can always give your prayers.  If you want your heart to be more for the poor, Matthew gives us a helpful hint in the sixth chapter and twenty-first verse. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." If you treasure your time, give your time. If you treasure your comfort in resources, give of your resources. 2nd Mile Ministries would love to partner with you in seeing God restore lives not just spiritually, but mentally, physically, emotionally, educationally, economically, and in so many other ways. As we enter the holiday season, consider thanking God for all he has done for you and given you, and thank someone, love someone less lucky.  By investing in the ministry, you are helping the youth of Brentwood gain the leadership skills, vocational skills, and knowledge of spiritual, physical, and emotional health. You can click 2nd Mile Ministries and check out all that is going on. "Like us" on facebook, but also like us in real life. If you want to hear more, email me at lilvollmer@gmail.com. I'd love to call and have a conversation.

Have a great Thanksgiving and time with loved ones!

(Obligatory Max pic) How Max feels about injustice