I Am Because You Are

In my early 20's, I read a book called The Hidden Wound by Wendell Berry, who has become one of my favorite authors. In the first chapter, Berry writes, "If the white man has inflicted the wound of racism upon black men, the cost has been that he would receive the mirror image of that wound into himself....This wound is in me, as complex and deep in my flesh as blood and nerves." This thoughtful, reflective book (really an extended essay) helped me give words to some of what I had seen and experienced - certainly growing up, and also in my college experience in Arkansas and my time in Boston (which is more segregated than many of us would like to admit).

I find Berry's thoughts also echoed in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., from Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? "From time immemorial men have lived by the principle that 'self-preservation is the first law of life.' But this is a false assumption. I would say that other-preservation is the first law of life. It is the first law of life precisely because we cannot preserve self without being concerned about preserving other selves." This is also the South African principle of Ubuntu, as Desmond Tutu writes about: "I am because you are."

I am because you are.

We, as human beings, are interdependent on all others and also on the earth and all her creatures. We are because they are, because she is, he is, it is. And ultimately, we are because God is.

This Sunday will be my final Sunday with you, and I'm so glad that it is also the Sunday when we celebrate the life, ministry, witness, and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In many ways, I am the person and the pastor I am today because of the person and the pastor he was. And I am because you are. In the time we have shared together, we have shaped each other's futures. Join us this Sunday as we reflect on our time together, the work of justice, and my fervent hope that you will continue to expand and live into God's extravagant welcome - a welcome that breaks down barriers and builds up the self by affirming others.

Love and blessings,
Manda

Texts For This Week:
Psalm 36:5-10
John 2:1-11