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Kicking the Darkness Until It Bleeds
by Pete Terpenning
October 21, 2007
Luke 18:1-8, Jeremiah 31:31-37, “God Bless the Grass”
A friend of mine who visited Israel told me of visiting the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. As you exit there is a quote from Jeremiah 31 on the wall; “A voice is hear in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children”. Beneath the quote is a huge pile of children’s shoes, collected from Concentration Camps around Germany and Poland. Finally, as one walks past and out into the sun, you are facing the plain of Ramah, where Rachel supposedly wept.
Chapter 31 of Jeremiah is the transitional chapter, in which Jeremiah moves from despair and predictions of death and exile at the hands of the Babylonians, to hope in the midst of suffering. He begins to offer words of promise that the bad times will end, and God will still be in charge, and the people will rebuild Judah; “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people”, “Again I will build you…and you shall plant vineyards”, “with weeping they shall return here and with consolations I will lead them back. I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they will not stumble”, then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry”, “I will turn their mourning into joy”.
These words tell of a new covenant God will make with the people; a covenant that will be written on their hearts and all will trust God and know the laws and what is required of them, for it will be within them. Jeremiah is teaching of a God who will bring relief and justice, we are to wait, have faith and trust.
The passage from Luke about the widow is also about trusting God. The widows in Jesus’ time were in trouble, for they could not inherit anything from their husbands. It went to the male heirs, the sons or brothers. The widows were completely dependent upon the generosity of the male relatives and sometimes this meant they were left destitute with their children. It is assumed by most commentaries that Jesus was telling of one such widow who is in a dispute with her male relatives for support from her husband’s estate. Judges at that time were arbitrators. Their function was to help bring justice in cases such as this. There were no juries and the Judges words stood. This widow is stuck with an amoral judge who does not care what happens to her, only about his own welfare and prosperity. But this widow is persistent. She does not give up, but goes back again and again to the judge demanding justice. Finally, he is so sick of her, he grants her justice in order to get rid of her. Jesus’ says that that if the widow can get justice from this lousy judge, how much more can we trust God with our requests, for God is compassionate, fair and good. Never give up on God, and continue to pray.
Considering this story I thought of another widow who is persistent in her struggle with injustice. Aung San Suu Kyi, the now famous woman (who happens to be a widow) of Myanmar is still under house arrest by the repressive, military government of Myanmar (Burma). She has spent the last 19 years working for democracy non-violently and has spent 12 of those years in house arrest, seeing only her maid and the guards who are continually changed so they will not be influenced by her Godliness. She, like the widow in our story, is persistent in seeking justice. She tries not to give into hate, she said, “I’ve always felt that if I really started hating my captors, hating the SLORC and the army, I would have defeated myself.” “To forgive, I think, basically means the ability to see the person apart from the deed and to recognize that although he has done that deed, it does not mean he is irredeemable.” She teaches that the democracy movement should not give in and use violence, because then Myanmar would be caught in violence forever. The way out or the present violence and injustice is to steadfastly hold to compassion and non-violence. In this she sounds very much like Mohandas Gandhi.
To persist in prayer against all the silence, to persist in non-violence despite the violent, death dealing army, to persist in seeking justice for widows and orphans and the poor and oppressed, to persist in forgiveness of the enemies of justice and compassion wherever they are; this requires radical trust in the movement of the world toward justice. Martin Luther King, Jr., famously is quoted, “the moral arch of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice”. Is this true? The witness of Jesus and Aung San Suu Kyi and many others is that it is true.
I watched two movies this past week or so as assigned by Jim Gilbert for the class he lead on Just War Theory, Why We Fight and The Fog of War. Both are excellent and I recommend them as ways to begin to understand the Military Industrial Complex and just war theory as it relates to US wars of the last century and today. But I have to admit it was pretty depressing. I felt quite hopeless for a day or so as I considered the mess we are in as a nation and in Iraq in particular. However, these scripture spoke directly to me that despair is not an option for a person of faith. Bruce Cockburn, a musician, in his song, “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” tells us to “keep kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight”. This is my witness to you today.
I love Malvina Reynolds song, “God Bless the Grass”, that we heard read. Look at again, “God bless the grass that grows through the crack, they roll the concrete over and try to keep it back, The concrete gets tired of what it has to do, and it breaks and it buckles and the grass grows through, and God bless the grass. God bless the truth that fights towards the sun, they roll the lies over, and think that is it done, it moves through the ground and reaches for the air and after a while it is growing everywhere, and God bless the Truth.” Laura and I have turned our yard and garden into a Xeriscape garden with low water plants. It seems to me that xeriscaping is just finding weeds that grow well in low water, but picking ones you think are pretty. We planted this Rabbit Bush and I swear the less you do for it, the better it likes it. The worse the soil, the hotter the sun, the less water you give it, and the bigger it gets. I confess I really like this Xeric plants. I have a grudging respect for how they slowly spread and take over from the weak mid-western flowers we have imported. They like the Mustard Plant that Jesus liked. It was really a nuisance to gardeners in Jesus time, for it would take over the garden where you put it. Jesus said faith was like that Mustard Plant. You can’t keep it down, it just keeps spreading. One seed goes a long way. And grass, well… Who among us has not looked with respect at the lonely tuft of grass pushing up in the middle of a dry, inhospitable parking lot? That is our hope, that is God’s truth, that is justice that can’t be crushed.
God’s justice is like the grass and the Rabbit Bushes, Mustard Plants and
Sedums. They grow no matter what you do to keep them down. God’s truth will come out in the end. The moral arch of the universe does bend toward justice. Do not give up hope, do not despair, we have to keep writing letters, and marching, and voting and praying. Keep kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight!
