“Don’t judge a man by where he is, because you don’t know how far he has come.”
– C. S. Lewis
The older I become, the more I realize that I started the game of life on third base but assumed for years I had hit a triple. I was loved by both of my parents. I have never lacked any of the necessities of life. I have enjoyed reasonably good health and had access to the best of the world’s medical care. I do not suffer from any physical or mental challenges. I have had the good sense and fortune of marrying a woman who has loved me into my emotional healing. Our only child is the light of our lives and a living, breathing incarnation of compassion and joy. In a racist culture, the pigmentation of my skin assured me of rights and opportunities that those with other pigmentations could never have. I am a male in a patriarchal society which still harbors elements of misogyny. I entered this world in the wealthiest and most powerful nation in history. And I live in “the blessing and curse” of American Christendom.
As I have aged, I have become more aware of how lucky I have been in this life. I will not presume to count all the above as “blessings one by one.” It irritates the hell out of me when I hear people effusively bear witness as to how God has blessed them. Does God not care one whit about the millions of starving children or those born into abusive families? Does God favor me over those born with birth defects, cognitive limitations, the “wrong” color of skin, or those populations who because of past colonial and present economic exploitation must live (according to the demonic words of #45) in the “shitholes” of this world? Are those who suffer from oppression, violence, poverty, and the schemes of unscrupulous politicians and unbridled economic greed of less importance than I am? Dare I posit a claim, draped in self-serving religion, that God has chosen me over others for a safe, comfortable, and predictable life? Such a claim is ignorantly or willfully blind to the tragic fate of billions of God’s children. It is, in fact, a blasphemous denial of Jesus’ assumption that God’s love is unconditional, indiscriminate, nonviolent, self-giving, and everlasting for each and all on this earth.
The sin and evil of this world dictate that billions are never allowed to play and “come to bat” in the game of life.
A more truthful assessment is that I, along with many others, have been born on third base and assume that we have hit a triple or that God has “graciously” placed us in such an advantaged position. The sin and evil of this world dictate that billions are never allowed to play and “come to bat” in the game of life.
According to Jesus, compassion is the primary characteristic of God we are called to emulate. Compassion demands we put ourselves in the place of others—to feel what they feel—to see, hear, and experience the world as they do—to put aside our assumptions, privileged identities, and more “fortunate” histories, and to enter the alien worlds of others (at least, alien to us). We begin to see the struggles and pain of those who were born into abusive homes; those who are addicted to substances and are powerless to escape their enslavement; those who come to this country, JUST LIKE ALL OF OUR ANCESTORS, to live a better life; those who are discounted simply for the “crimes of being” another color, race, sexual orientation, etc. Those of us who have enjoyed the educational opportunities and ease of life to become “liberals” in this reactionary society might try to understand why “rednecks” are also victims in a world of scapegoating and predation. (I have often wondered if I would have remained a virulent racist had I not been confronted with the educational and spiritual opportunities I have enjoyed over the decades.) We might even begin to have compassion for those committing some of the worst crimes once we learn the backgrounds of their lives.
All this may sound like “bleeding heart,” sentimental, naïve foolishness. But I would suggest that those of us who started on third base in life (and if you had two parents who loved you, you began life lightyears ahead of many others) simply haven’t a clue what mountains of struggles, obstacles, and pain so many people on this planet must surmount even to be allowed a place in the competitive and harsh game of life we humans have been convinced we must “play.”
So how should we respond? A few suggestions:
- Discover (or rediscover) the practice of compassion. I know of very few problems this world faces which could not be addressed through compassion.
- Listen to the stories of others and go outside our bubbles of comfort, presumption, and predictability.
- Rediscover the healing power of a humility which connects us to our deeper selves, each other, creation, and God as the Source of our being.
- Learn to discern the difference between arbitrary luck and the blessings of a God whose love is for all. Too often we mistake divine favor with benefiting indirectly from predatory systems which cruelly distribute power, status, and wealth.
- Nurture a devotional practice which contemplates the example of Jesus. We must relearn what it means to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves,” not to mention what it means to follow our radical Lord in every aspect of life.
- If we must claim to be blessed by God, we should remember that beginning with the first chapter of Genesis, the Bible teaches that we have been blessed to be a blessing to others. In other words, the blessing is not ours to homestead; it is a blessing to be passed on.
- In what practical ways might we become a blessing to others who are caught in a web of injustice, greed, and despair?
- Leave judgment to God. Only God knows how far any of us have gone in life. In God’s eyes, the very person we may be quick to condemn may have travelled light years in his or her journey in life while we, having started life at very privileged places, have barely moved in our own journeys. I doubt if our Creator will be impressed with those of us who were born with “ten talents” and have hoarded or squandered those “blessings” all the while patting ourselves on the back for our “initiative and accomplishments.”
Third base Christianity is spiritually, theologically, and morally bankrupt. It is a narcissistic and presumptuous corruption of the good news of God’s grace and compassion. We need to be done with it as we find our humble places in the family of God.
