Wasichu: not for the faint of heart

you’ve been warned

Nothing I can say can set this up, moving, powerful, challenging,

and not enjoyable at all….

well worth watching.

 

I don’t know what the appropriate response to this is, I don’t know if their is an appropriate response.

It surprises me what we are capable of.

It blows my mind what we have done to other people throughout history, in the name of God, the pursuit of wealth & peace.

 

It blows my mind that we still do it.

 

Hindsight leaves me speechless.

Speechless that 900 yrs ago Christians thought the crusades were a good thing, & that on the way to slaughtering Muslims they thought it a good idea to slaughter Jews – blaming them for Christs death.

I’m speechless, that the majority of the church in Nazi Germany didn’t bat an eye when the Jewish people were taken away, I’m speechless that it took the rest of the world so long.

I’m speechless that it takes us so long to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples &  so long to apologize for the wrongs… to right the wrongs.

I’m speechless that some churches used to teach that Blacks weren’t human & had no soul, that we used to think slavery, segregation & racism were ok.

I’m speechless that today we can still do that, that we can consider a people group nothing more than terrorists.

I’m speechless that we can go from the teachings of Jesus & end up with burning the Qur’an, water-boarding & pre-emptive strikes.

 

Wasichu,

“the one who takes the best meat for himself”.

 

This isn’t too far removed from how a lot of people live their lives, “i’m out to get mine!”

So if this is how we are on an individual level why should we be surprised that we are capable of this on a larger scale, as a people group.

 

I wonder what they’ll say about us in 100, 500, 1000 yrs?

That we view poverty as acceptable?….

because we had so much wealth & did so little with it, throwing chunks of change like band-aids, doing little to address the greed or systems of cause.

 

This struck me like a slap to the face: The fix may be more difficult than,

“a 50 dollar check, or church trip to paint some graffiti covered houses, or a suburban family donating a box of clothes they don’t even even want anymore”.

Wasichu… even in our charity we keep the best for ourselves.

 

What if we gave away our best.

What if charity became a lifestyle, not an occasion.