Don't Let the Numbness Overcome You

Campaign Manager Mike Tate's speech after Wisconsin voters passed a constitutional amendment that bans civil unions and marriage for the GLBT population is a painful, yet poignant sample of the prophetic imagination at work in our world today. Wisconsin is my home state and it saddens me to know that my partner and I are not welcome there. I am reminded of Jeremiah's words, "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not" (Jer 31:15).

At the same time I am haunted by Walter Brueggemann's words: "living in a world where death is so visible, so daily, so pervasive, and so massive, and yet so unnoticed. . . we have no adequate way to relate to death's reality and potential, so we deny it with numbness." (The Prophetic Imagination, p. 43).

Do not become numb - the powers and principalities win when we are numb. Instead, dare to feel the pain. Share your grief. And then, and only then, recall Jesus' words: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matt 5:4).

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