This is the beginning of Chapter 18 from Children's Spirituality: "A Narrative of Children's Spirituality: African American and Latino Theological Perspectives." (pp 284-306) by Karen Crozier and Elizabeth Cone-Frazier. Both of these women are speaking out of personal experience, not just as researchers. As I read the first page, my head is still back at the workshop so let me throw out some semi-related but random thoughts.
On Wednesday Ret Lt Col Kickbusch challenged parents with this - how do we make the public school PTA something other than a white middle class organization? The same challenge presents itself to churches and Christian Education if you live urban. The thing that she felt was most important is to go to the people you want to include, don't expect them to come to you. Go and be a part of the things they're doing. Jesus in the marketplace, Jesus eating and drinking with all kinds of people. She didn't say that, but we're about following Jesus, right?
Although I've had more interactions with a diverse group of people than my parents, I'm not actively participating in the activities of people in other cultures. Our kids did. When we were homeschooling we had a variety of people in and out of our home. The kids also participated in city activities with neighborhood kids (summer rec swimming, the YMCA, Little League, Drum Corps). Then they went to a public city high school and community college. I think each of them came away with friends (some of them close friends) in families and traditions different from their own. They had opportunities to build friendships and participate in the gatherings and festivities of other cultures.
Another thing Lt Col Kickbusch said was, "I don't know what I don't know that I don't know." She was talking about kids that are surrounded by one culture at home (or sub-culture) truly knowing what they know, then entering the world of public school (or any white middle class organization) only to discover that the rest of the world has very different understandings, values, social customs, perspectives, expectations, and assumptions. And they discover all the things that they didn't know that they didn't know.
Though I still feel personally very separated from other cultures, there's a multi-generational change happening. That change in our family's multi-generational spectrum came not only from choosing to live in the city but letting the kids build friendships and relate to the families of the people they cared about. Were I a more social/relational person, maybe this wouldn't be just about my children.
The glitch is that there seemed to be no bridge between the world of church and all these relationships. Respecting their friends, our church community at the time wasn't a place where their friends would feel comfortable. Some of it had to do with personalities, belief systems, some of it cultural differences, the faith community we were part of. The kids were better able to relate relationally to this diverse community than the faith communities they were part of at the time (although they still have good friends that they grew up with in church). If they read my blog, maybe they'd comment...and maybe they'd disagree. These are my observatons. Hind sight is nice, foresight is better. That's why I'm sharing this. But what strength of spirit and Biblical understandings does it take to thrive crossing back and forth across boundaries with others?
Whatever culture we come from it's human nature to gravitate towards those like us. If you're not like that, you find yourself in a very awkward place. Yet somehow, Jesus does it. Ok, He's God, he was also a man.
There are lots of issues here - personalities, families, relating (preferably without an agenda - a pet peeve of mine), cultural identity, individuals and faith communities building bridges, crossing boundaries, sharing life.
Chapter 18 probably isn't about any of this, but these are some of my initial thoughts going into it. I'm not African-American or Latino but this chapter is important. As we look at this chapter and you're willing to share, I'm curious to hear about the diversity of your faith communities and your experiences. This is the lens I'm reading through. How 'bout you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment