Living in the Light - Remembering Jonathan
Jonathan Myrick Daniels was arrested today.
Six days later, he took a bullet intended for a sixteen year old girl and was killed instantly.
Then Jesus said to him, 'What do you want me to do for you?' The blind man said to him, 'My teacher, let me see again.' Jesus said to him, 'Go; your faith has made you well.' Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. - Mark 10:51-52
We remember the young priest, Jonathan Daniels who was killed by a deputy sheriff in front of a local shop in Haynesville, Alabama in 1965.
I was eleven years old when this happened. I wish I could say that I remember it, but it was an event that wasn't even in my field of vision at the time. We didn't talk about it in school or pray about it in church. We were blind and didn't know it.
It must have been reported in the news, along with all the stories of the marches in Selma and elsewhere. We were certainly aware of Dr. King and his speeches. We had questions.
Why do people hate each other? Do they really force them to use different bathrooms, and sit in the back of the bus? Why do they do that?
Today we like to think we are beyond all this, that we have gained our sight and followed the light, but bitterness and hatred lingers in the hearts of many.
Some claim that racism is so engrained in our society that it cannot be eradicated. It is woven into our fabric, built into our institutions, like original sin, permanently ingrained.
But I think we have to have faith in the light. What good is it to ask God for our sight and then to close our eyes?
Like Jonathan, each of us can step into the line of fire when someone, anyone is being persecuted, abused, denied rights, spat upon, or shot at.
If we don't, we are acting as though Jonathan's life was not worth the sacrifice he made.
I read that Jonathan told a story of a young policeman who admonished him for pulling a young black woman to the front of the crowd, not because she didn't belong there, but because he was literally dragging her through mud and into an ankle deep puddle.
Jonathan apologized to the girl and to the policeman, and the crowd prayed for him.
The lives of those who stood face-to-face in those difficult conflicts and managed to care about each other matter. They are examples of living in the light.
Jonathan did not expect the policeman to care. I'm afraid all the rhetoric is blinding us to the possibility that some, if not most, do.
The blind man said to him, 'My teacher, let me see again.'
Let's follow the examples. Let's try to see again.
More to come...