Death by Paperwork

Jesus said to the crowds, “[The scribes] tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.” – Matthew 23:4 (NRSVUE) 

I spent 3 hours I’ll never get back in the windowless, Kafkaesque waiting room of a state disability office. On medical leave after surgery, the state would graciously pay a fraction of my salary if only I completed the right paperwork.  

I’d tried to do it online, but got locked out of my account after failing 3 times to answer the security question I didn’t remember setting up: “What was the first award you ever won?” Neither “kindergarten perfect attendance” nor “ninth grade spelling bee” was it. The phone maze I called for a password reset failed every time. 

Desperate, I went to a local office, where I had to take a number in order to take a number (this is not hyperbole). The waiting room was thick with people more permanently disabled than me, their grim weariness telling a story of how hard they had to fight for a little money from our wealthy state. At my turn, I told the equally weary guy behind the foggy plexiglass, “I had to come in person because the phone system didn’t work. Maybe you want to tell someone.”  

Without making eye contact he answered, “They know,” and sent me on my way. 

They know. They know how much work it is for poor and sick folks to do the paperwork just to register as humans in need. Legislation now moving through Congress would make it even harder, adding paperwork requirements for Medicaid designed in such a way to deter people from applying. Many will die while trying. The (cruelty of the) paperwork is the point.  

Jesus warned us about religious authorities who strangled their people with overwrought rules, and the dynamic in the public sector is the same. Some even say that in a world of exponential-factor authentication, the paperwork is intentional busy work so we don’t rise up. We can’t even get out of it by dying, which just begs more paperwork. 

Prayer
You who are called the Word, help us turn the page on a culture that wants to kill us with paperwork. Free your people from this tyranny.

About the Author
Rev. Molly Baskette is the lead pastor of First Church Berkeley UCC and the author of books about church renewal, parenting, spiritual growth and more. Sign up for her author newsletter or get information about her newest book at mollybaskette.com.