Where is the language of pain?

I have recently been reading a story about what has been termed, "The Jena 6", who are six African-American youths and I say youths, not because they are under sixteen, but because they are teenagers, who have been charged with an assault against a white teen in Jena, Louisiana. The reason that the African-American teens assaulted the white teens is due to he and his friends hanging three "nooses" on a tree; a tree which has an unspoken rule that it is only for "Whites". One of the black teenagers asked the Principle if he could sit under this tree, whereby the Principle stated that he could sit anywhere he wanted to sit it is "free country". The African-American youth sat under the tree and the rest is history.

It seems to me that the Principle has a responsibility to be aware of what is taking place at his high school. Was the Principle aware of this "rule", was he aware of the racial tensions? We have such an individualized culture that when these African-American youths reacted with rage and anger, (which I am not condoning), at three "nooses" being hung from the tree, after the African-American youth sat there, we can not understand his reaction. We in white suburban America say, "He should have contacted the Principle, he should have contacted the police." The Principle is the one who told him to sit there. Did the Principle set him up, knowing what would happen? Is that too far fetched? It is so difficult for people to understand how human beings function from a physiological perspective (adrenaline, tunnel vision) and from a historical perspective (slavery, dominant white culture), that when these situations do take place, we think it seems so "inhumane".

In our higher education institutions, i.e. Academic Universities and Colleges, there are numerous professors who will teach classes aimed at understanding the African-American experience, Western Culture, and Religion, yet in high schools, these classes are definitely lacking. We are not cultivating humans to develop a language in order to express grief, doubt, fear, anxiety, of which were all feelings associated with this situation, on both sides. Our culture has created humans to react with anger, rage, contempt, and violence, then when they do, we wag our fingers at them and act with disdain that they reacted violently. The U.S. reacted extremely violently after 9/11, this situation is NO DIFFERENT!!!! We expect individuals to react differently than this Nation, but in reality God believes forgiveness is for individuals and for Nations. The hanging of the "nooses" IS a violent crime, because violence does not have to be something which is actualized, it can be something which only creates a violent reaction in another. (Uh-Oh, that means that the white students "need" to be prosecuted in this case).

The goal of reconciliation to remember rightly, and remembering rightly surely needs to be done in this case. We need to remember that the Principle told him to sit under the tree, that at other points in the African-American students' lives they had been ridiculed, insulted, and possibly suffered assaulting themselves. In order to remember rightly we also need to know the story of Jesus Christ. Dr. Ray Anderson of Fuller Theological Seminary has said that the fullness of Jesus' humanity and Deity was found when he cried out on the Cross, "Eli, Eli, Lama Sabacthani?", "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Why are we as Christians not developing this language in other humans? Probably because we don't have this language ourselves. The Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King, Jr. was exactly that, to form a language which had not been know before. It is in the heart of God for humans to finally speak about what is in them, it frees us from bondage.

Jesus forgave because it is in the heart of God to forgive and offer this gift of forgiveness to all humans, all nations, the entire cosmos. Through this offer of forgiveness, we are then brought to a position of stability, forming our identity in the one who has deeply loved and given himself for us, therefore calling Jesus followers to do the same for others. Reconciliation is part of the world to come, when God will "set right", the injustices done against humans, why not do it now?

"Remember" to Reconcile

This is the longest time between two posts, since I started blogging. I have been writing a paper on Forgiveness and Reconciliation, but in the midst of writing the paper, I took a break and watched The Bourne Identity. There were so many aspects to this movie which I missed the first time I saw it. I never truly understood that the reason Jason Bourne could not remember anything in the movie was that he had to forget his life in order to be able to function. I have been thinking about remembering, since I also read a book entitled, The End of Memory, by Miroslav Volf, who talks about how and why we need to remember rightly in order to be healed and reconciled. I have known through my own experiences that this is true, because without proper remembering, the past recreates itself in my present, dictating what my future will look like. I also sent an e-mail to Miroslav Volf at Yale and he responded within one day, so I gained more respect for him than I had before, which was difficult, because I have much respect for him and his writing.

When I became a follower of Jesus, after about the first six months, I started to look at my past, and realized that I wanted to reconcile with people to whom I had offended. Jesus had removed the shame from my life, so that I was able to look at my past and understand that not everything which I had done was my fault. I myself had been a victim of oppression, anger, and violence, which robbed me of my innocence to violence, and created me in the image of violence.

When God appeared in the midst of the depression which encompassed me, he freed me from the power that evil held over my life. It was through this encounter with Jesus that enabled me to feel again and at times I was overwhelmed by the emotion that forgiveness brought.
At some point though, my faith became institutionalized and I no longer had to remember rightly, forgive, or reconcile, because following Jesus became only about attaining a 'spiritual' perfection, i.e. "living rightly".

Forgiveness needs to be social, if for nothing else, because when forgiveness is received by another human to whom we have offended, and we are reconciled, it gives me the ability to see clearly that I am truly forgiven by God. Unless we have reconciliation with other humans, forgiveness with God will always be questioned.