Table-Turning Gumption
I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. – Amos 5:21-24 (NRSV)
In my restorying imagination, I believe Jesus got his turning-over-tables gumption from this ancestor. Amos and Jesus share an unapologetic knowing that everything claimed as religion isn’t always sacred or holy. If the presence of justice and righteousness is missing, your worship is performative and your praise is shallow.
With the nation being bulldozed by a wannabe king, performative and shallow worship just will not do! With children being zip-tied, families terrorized, and protestors shot with rubber bullets, we have to dig deep and look back to how we’ve overcome before. With the dismantling of healthcare and SNAP, hurting the most vulnerable, we need to claim our faith-full table-turning gumption!
We each have the power to do something in the building up of a new world, while protecting the earth and caring for our neighbors.
In the words of one of my ancestors, Assata Shakur: “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and care for each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
Prayer
Dear Creator, may we heed the words of our ancestors calling us into our power and possibility as kindom builders. Ashé.
About the AuthorMarilyn Pagán-Banks (she/her/ella) is a queer womanist freedom fighter gratefully (though not always gracefully) serving as executive director of A Just Harvest, Senior Pastor at San Lucas UCC, and adjunct professor at McCormick Theological Seminary. She is a joyful contributor to The Words of Her Mouth.