Hotashi

I recently have been making the effort to read my Bible before I go to sleep. It’s not much, but I want to become a better servant. From this, I have been thinking about two things that I came across recently. The first is Matthew 5:5 which states, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” What exactly is that supposed to mean? It can’t mean that those who are humble will come to power, because that is far from true. Those who are humble in this world get trampled on. Those who are weak are crushed and taken advantage of. Those who are seen as benefitting society are ignored and demonized. And if this verse refers to the earth as in land, then that doesn’t make sense either. Since everything is privatized now, it is hardly the meek who inherit land. You have to fight for it, and take advantage of an exploitative system in order to step on others to gain a place of privelege to be able to own land. So what exactly does this verse mean?

A second line that I’ve been thinking about is a lyric from the song Be my escape by Relient K. It states, “But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” This is a really interesting statement, and it’s true. Grace is not equal. Why are some people spared their lives while others die from terminal illnesses, unfortunate circumstances, or freak accidents? Why are some people born into poverty and others are born into wealth? None are worthy of a better life than others, really. It is by mere grace how lucky our circumstances are. And no, I do not believe in the myth of meritorcracy. Anyone who has ever acheived anything through their hard work has also cut others of opportunities and exploited others (usually through the use of an existing exploitative social and economic structure). I cannot stand here today and say that I am where I am because of the hard work I have done. Sure my hard work has contributed to it, but I am not so foolish to think that I was placed in a position of privelege where I could afford my education, my food, my shelter, etc. And this place of privelege is based on a system where profit is gained off of the exploitation of workers. Sorry, I digress.

Life is not fair. I am blessed by the grace of God who has given me the access to many places of privelege, but I am also disadvantaged in many ways because of my gender, my race, my ethnicity, my stature, etc. Should I sit back and accept these disadvantages claiming that God has not given me the grace to have such privelege? I know some people would interpret some scriptures this way, which I think is bullshit. I don’t think God applauds social injustice or passivity towards it. Yes, God’s grace does not make life fair, but that doesn’t mean we should accept the unfairness of life. We should try to make this world a better place for everyone because none of us are worthy. Nobody is perfect, so why should we accept that some have the right to privelege while others don’t?

That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately…

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