It is Time to Grieve

Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

I am sad. I have very few words to describe how I’m feeling about this supreme court nomination and then turn that our world has taken over the past few years. I think it is obvious that I am coming from a very specific standpoint and think very specific things about various topics. I will not deny that. And while many are celebrating the fact that this is the fifth woman ever in our history to be elected to the Supreme Court of the United States, I am not excited.

Thinking of the theory of intersectionality shows that intersections of oppression are everywhere. Just because a woman is in the Supreme Court does not mean that women and other marginalized groups will be safe. She has the power, supposedly, of representation however she is representing a very specific group that is harming people that I care about. That is not something I’m willing to stand by and watch happen.

I want to use my platform to break down barriers and help people engage in dialogue together, without it turning into a fight. And this is a moment where we need to talk about what is going on. We can’t sit idly by and let these things continue to happen. If that makes you want to argue with me and you won’t listen to my side or the side of any other person who disagrees, there’s some work that needs to be done.

But again I want to state that I am simply sad. I can’t fully understand how we have gotten to this point and I can’t bear to think about what this means for the future. I am scared. And I think what we need to do at least for today, maybe even the next few days, is to grieve. We need to allow ourselves to sit in our feelings, to sit with it, to feel it, to understand why this is how we are feeling, and then we need to get to work.

I listened to a fellow colleague preach this morning and the word he brought was fantastic. He talked exactly about this, about the grieving process we need to allow ourselves to go through but that this can not stop us from the work of justice. There are people hurting and there are people that are going to be hurt by the decisions that are being made right now. If we cannot open up and talk about this, if we refuse to see the sides of other people and understand their grief, how are we supposed to move forward?

I realize that many of the people who read this blog are coming from conservative backgrounds. They will not like much of what I have to say and they have not liked much of what I have said. But that is okay. Disagreements are normal, conflict can be one of the healthiest things people can go through. But I am stuck on the fact that a lot of these disagreements are centered on the denial of someone else’s humanity. 

One day when I’m less scared I will talk about how legal abortion does not encourage more abortions, it just provides safe ways for women to make decisions about their own body. This is similar to how comprehensive sexual education reduces teenage pregnancies, people wanting to have sex at a young age, and even combats abortion. I will also talk about how homosexuality is actually not in the Bible and that our views of same-sex relations are just destructive and hurtful and cause more harm to the church then if we actually loved people, regardless of who they love.

But I’m not ready to talk about those things yet because I am not ready to receive the backlash from those who are not willing to have an honest dialogue. But I will say these issues are what is on the line. And I don’t view it as just issues. These are people’s lives.

And this is why I am so sad. I look at those around me, the people I serve in my ministry context and I wonder how they are going to make it through. Because it feels like everything is working against them and I am powerless to stop it. And at this moment the only thing I can do is grieve.