"Partiality"

Yesterday on talk radio a man was bewailing African American financial woes. I do not know who he was, but he sounded like a college professor or researcher (he was Black). The point he made was in the Black community every dollar spent was spent, on averge, one more time in the Black community. In the Asian (seven) and White (six) the rates are much, much higher. This, he said, was a factor in the continuing financial challenges which Blacks experience. Blacks are not benefiting Blacks the way other communities were, he said.  He then said that mortgages are a major part of that and that there are no Black mortgage banks.

I am not indifferent to the special challenges which Blacks face, nor am I naive enough to think that racism has no impact. On the other hand, I also think behaviors and choices need to be factored in. I know that, around here, the government is an employer of a large number of African Americans. If you work for the government you get certain benefits. Owning banks is not one of them. So the solution to Black unemployment (i.e., the government) creates a new problem (no Black businesses).  The radio man was not railing against government jobs.

Today is the feast of Bishop Charles Quintard. He was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1824. He became a doctor, worked in Athens Georgia and ended up in Memphis. He became a priest in 1856 and was elected the second bishop of Tennessee in 1865. He served 33 years in this position. During the Civil war he was both a Confederate chaplain and a surgeon.

After the war he was instrumental in reconciliation and outreach to Blacks. In the prayer for today we prayed in thanksgiving for his example ("who opposed the segregation of African Americans in separate congregations and condemned the exclusion of poor people"). We did not focus on his medical work, his role in the military, he efforts on behalf of the University of the South, or any number of things with which he was occuppied in his long life. [side note, he donated the windows at St. Andrews, the parish I serve.] It was striking to me that the person writing the prayer was obviously motivated by a very particular agenda. It is an agenda which the Episcopal Church very publicly embraces (and this is not a critique of that point of view) so that is why I am able to notice it.

How the church chooses to remember him (five paragraphs on one page and a prayer on the other) is but a partial summary. That is the challenge. How do you summarize an entire life by a few words or a major social situation in a few minutes. Reality is much more complex. Whatever we say must be nuanced. We must remember that much is left unsaid. Yet, how can we say everything about everything? We need to summarize and need to use few words. Our hope is that while incomplete, the summary is still accurate.

I wish I was better at keeping that perspective. I wish I alwasy remembered that there is always more to the story. I have struggled with being wider and deeper on issues the last few years. It is not easy. I am not smart enough, nor educated enough, to get beyond pretty simplistic thought in almost everything (there are a few areas where I am okay!). Being aware of agendas and perspectives is important. It is valuable if we are to find the truth (rather than impose it). It takes more humility and hard work than most of us want to muster.

We live in a big world and we only see 'parts and pieces.' We are all "partialists." Everyone needs to hear the rest of the story. Jesus is the Truth. We know and love Him. He is our hope for someday grasping (and being grasped by) Truth. In the meantime we need to keep both eyes open and constantly ask the question, "what more is there to this." It does not mean giving up convictions and speaking out strongly. It does mean doing so with humility and care.