Where do we put our hope in a broken & wicked world?
This post is a response to the question below based off of the book, “I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness” by Austin Channing Brown. This was an incredible read and I recommend it for everyone who is seeking to grow in their understanding of others and themselves. The excerpt below is a discussion post I wrote for my program. In the book, Brown is honest and sincere, refreshing in the reality of atrocity. She describes herself as owning a shadow of hope, which means, “Knowing that we may never see the realization of our dreams, and yet still showing up”. This was interesting to me, and got me thinking about what hope we really have in the face of all this darkness. Here is my response:
In Ch. 14, Brown talks about hope, the death of hope, and the shadow of hope. What does "hope", as it relates to racial and social justice, mean to you? Make a connection between how you think about hope and how Brown does, including a specific quote from the reading.
The atrocities black people suffer, simply because of the color of our skin is...it drains hope. Everyone has enough of a time trying to deal with the woes, ups and down of life as it is but yet there are even more layers that black people face from an evil that no white person will ever understand in our country. As Brown discussed, believing and hoping for better, then seeing the worst happen can break anyone down. These realities we all face everyday, can drain you. They can make you think that there is no hope to be had, but I love what she said on pg, 173:
"Fortunately, Jesus doesn't need all white people to get onboard before justice and reconciliation can be achieved. For me, this is freedom. Freedom to tell the truth. Freedom to create. Freedom to teach and write without burdening myself with the expectations that I can change anyone."
This for me is hope. My hope is not in man, but in a God, a friend, a Savior, a Father whose very character is the definition of just. Who sees all injustice, understands the weight of it all, and hurts with the broken. Whose anger burns like a wildfire as the innocent are taken advantage of. As people continue to devalue his creation, and tell his beloved that they are worthless and nothing. True love, as Christ is, is "troubled by injustice".
When the world isn't good, I know someone who always is and has been in the midst of darkness and evil--a light that shines in the darkness. The definition of good. The definition of love. The definition of comfort. In man, I cannot trust. the Bible says it over and over again.
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD.”
Psalms 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man.
Psalms 146:3 Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
So when the world disappoints me, I am comforted by the fact that someone feels the depth of my pain. Feels it even deeper than I do. I can rest my weary head there. He understands my anger. He does not shy away from it, ignore it, or say it has no place with him. He understands. I can look to a God that is bigger than all the pain, injustice, and unrighteousness we experience in this world. He is firm and consistent, good and just, no matter what comes, He does not change. He is my rock. He is in the midst and will bring justice, because that is who he is, whether on this side in a way we expect or in eternity.
