All God’s Children
Ruby Sales in a conversation with Krista Tippett on On Being September 15, 2016 talked about her experience in the Southern Baptist Church. She says:
“I grew up in the South. I’m from three generations of Southern Baptist preachers. My father was a Southern Baptist preacher and a chaplain in the Army. And I was bred on black folk religion. It was a religion that combined the ideals of American democracy with a theological sense of justice. It was a religion that said that people who were considered property and disposable were essential in the eyes of God and even essential in a democracy, although we were enslaved. And it was a religion where the language and the symbols were accessible, that the God talk was accessible, to even 7-year-olds. As a 7-year-old, I could sing 50 songs without missing a line. And everybody in the community had access to the theological microphone. So as a little black girl growing up in the South, I was deeply influenced by this black folk religion.”
Her experience of the Black Southern Baptist Church was totally different than my experience in the white Sheridan Road Southern Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma where I joined folks such as Anita Bryant who later became famous as a singer and the orange juice lady who was so adamant about the sin of the homosexual person. Her stance on homosexuality and her general emphasis on the sinful behavior of some of us humans was in keeping with what we heard in that church on Sheridan Road. To be fair, what I heard was surely influenced by my ‘knowing’ deep inside that I was different. It would be many years before I was able to admit, even to myself, that my preoccupation with sex was related to my fear that I might be one of those homosexuals. As a teenager and even when I got married I just knew that I was not one of God’s chosen because I was of such a sinful nature that I could never be included in the rapture. The white Southern Baptist church was not designed for the disenfranchised, the “disposables,” the less than. Although it was clear that we are all sinners, sinners referred to those who were potentially worthy of redemption. One can be sure that those who were homosexuals, transgendered or blacks otherwise “less than” were not eligible to be among the chosen.
Until Ms. Sales talked about this subject with Krista I had not thought about the fact that a church which existed for those who had already been discounted as disposals would hear the call of Jesus much differently. Although as I have often had the experience of feeling more at home in the African American Church I knew, even there, as a gay man who was not repentant about his gayness, I was not one of the chosen. Since I was and am white, I did not have the experience which Ms. Sales describes and, yet, when I became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church I firmly believed that “all God’s children” meant all people. Ms. Sales came to the same conclusion. This is why, as I have briefly discussed in another blog, she thinks that we need to attend to the pain of those who are attracted to the Donald Trumps; to all those who feel disowned and disenfranchised by the “establishment.” God’s children, whatever our concept of God/higher being/Allah, includes the terrorist who wants to know he or she has a sacred purpose. It includes the differently abled, the person suffering from a life-sucking addiction, the person who feels compelled to make the choice to get an abortion, the person who is existing on the lowest of the Maslow hierarchy, the person with whom I am so frustrated because it feels as he or she is not doing the job they are hired to do; the person who gets rich at the expense of others. In short all God’s children means all of us.
The Southern Baptist Church Ms. Sales attended may be one of those who heard the same message that Martin Luther King seemed to have heard. Yet, many African American Churches are just as exclusionary when it comes to certain groups such as those who are part of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community.
I soon found out that the Presbyterian Church, as a whole, did not mean “all God’s Children” although they have since enlarged their understanding to include even minsters who may be part of “those hom o sex uals.”
I am not sure any church, as a national organization, has come to the understanding that God’s children include those identified as terrorist or those who Hitler made to feel important and worthwhile which was the opposite of the message that the Allies gave them following World War II. Frankly I have a difficult time accepting that I am one of God’s children today after being grumpy, short and unkind when someone did not do his job the way I thought he should be doing it. Yet, just yesterday, I was reminding a friend that he too deserved forgiveness – that we all deserve forgiveness It is so much easier to accept the humanness of others than it is of myself. Yet..
What if Ms. Sales and her experience of the Black Southern Baptist Church could be accurate? What if Martin Luther King was accurate? What if all God’s children mean all God’s children?
The words of the African American Spiritual contain the essence of what we all want to believe no matter what our concept of God(s) or what our belief in what gives meaning to this life:
ALL GOD'S CHILLUN GOT WINGS
I got a robe, you got a robe All o' God's chillun got a robe When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my robe I'm goin' to shout all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n, Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to shout all ovah God's Heab'n
I got-a wings, you got-a wings All o' God's chillun got-a wings When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my wings I'm goin' to fly all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n, Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to fly all ovah God's Heab'n
I got a harp, you got a harp All o' God's chillun got a harp When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to take up my harp I'm goin' to play all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n , Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to play all ovah God's Heab'n
I got shoes, you got shoes All o' God's chillun got shoes When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my shoes I'm goin' to walk all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n , Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to walk all ovah God's Heab'n
Written September 19, 2016
Ruby Sales in a conversation with Krista Tippett on On Being September 15, 2016 talked about her experience in the Southern Baptist Church. She says:
“I grew up in the South. I’m from three generations of Southern Baptist preachers. My father was a Southern Baptist preacher and a chaplain in the Army. And I was bred on black folk religion. It was a religion that combined the ideals of American democracy with a theological sense of justice. It was a religion that said that people who were considered property and disposable were essential in the eyes of God and even essential in a democracy, although we were enslaved. And it was a religion where the language and the symbols were accessible, that the God talk was accessible, to even 7-year-olds. As a 7-year-old, I could sing 50 songs without missing a line. And everybody in the community had access to the theological microphone. So as a little black girl growing up in the South, I was deeply influenced by this black folk religion.”
Her experience of the Black Southern Baptist Church was totally different than my experience in the white Sheridan Road Southern Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma where I joined folks such as Anita Bryant who later became famous as a singer and the orange juice lady who was so adamant about the sin of the homosexual person. Her stance on homosexuality and her general emphasis on the sinful behavior of some of us humans was in keeping with what we heard in that church on Sheridan Road. To be fair, what I heard was surely influenced by my ‘knowing’ deep inside that I was different. It would be many years before I was able to admit, even to myself, that my preoccupation with sex was related to my fear that I might be one of those homosexuals. As a teenager and even when I got married I just knew that I was not one of God’s chosen because I was of such a sinful nature that I could never be included in the rapture. The white Southern Baptist church was not designed for the disenfranchised, the “disposables,” the less than. Although it was clear that we are all sinners, sinners referred to those who were potentially worthy of redemption. One can be sure that those who were homosexuals, transgendered or blacks otherwise “less than” were not eligible to be among the chosen.
Until Ms. Sales talked about this subject with Krista I had not thought about the fact that a church which existed for those who had already been discounted as disposals would hear the call of Jesus much differently. Although as I have often had the experience of feeling more at home in the African American Church I knew, even there, as a gay man who was not repentant about his gayness, I was not one of the chosen. Since I was and am white, I did not have the experience which Ms. Sales describes and, yet, when I became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church I firmly believed that “all God’s children” meant all people. Ms. Sales came to the same conclusion. This is why, as I have briefly discussed in another blog, she thinks that we need to attend to the pain of those who are attracted to the Donald Trumps; to all those who feel disowned and disenfranchised by the “establishment.” God’s children, whatever our concept of God/higher being/Allah, includes the terrorist who wants to know he or she has a sacred purpose. It includes the differently abled, the person suffering from a life-sucking addiction, the person who feels compelled to make the choice to get an abortion, the person who is existing on the lowest of the Maslow hierarchy, the person with whom I am so frustrated because it feels as he or she is not doing the job they are hired to do; the person who gets rich at the expense of others. In short all God’s children means all of us.
The Southern Baptist Church Ms. Sales attended may be one of those who heard the same message that Martin Luther King seemed to have heard. Yet, many African American Churches are just as exclusionary when it comes to certain groups such as those who are part of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community.
I soon found out that the Presbyterian Church, as a whole, did not mean “all God’s Children” although they have since enlarged their understanding to include even minsters who may be part of “those hom o sex uals.”
I am not sure any church, as a national organization, has come to the understanding that God’s children include those identified as terrorist or those who Hitler made to feel important and worthwhile which was the opposite of the message that the Allies gave them following World War II. Frankly I have a difficult time accepting that I am one of God’s children today after being grumpy, short and unkind when someone did not do his job the way I thought he should be doing it. Yet, just yesterday, I was reminding a friend that he too deserved forgiveness – that we all deserve forgiveness It is so much easier to accept the humanness of others than it is of myself. Yet..
What if Ms. Sales and her experience of the Black Southern Baptist Church could be accurate? What if Martin Luther King was accurate? What if all God’s children mean all God’s children?
The words of the African American Spiritual contain the essence of what we all want to believe no matter what our concept of God(s) or what our belief in what gives meaning to this life:
ALL GOD'S CHILLUN GOT WINGS
I got a robe, you got a robe All o' God's chillun got a robe When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my robe I'm goin' to shout all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n, Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to shout all ovah God's Heab'n
I got-a wings, you got-a wings All o' God's chillun got-a wings When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my wings I'm goin' to fly all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n, Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to fly all ovah God's Heab'n
I got a harp, you got a harp All o' God's chillun got a harp When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to take up my harp I'm goin' to play all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n , Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to play all ovah God's Heab'n
I got shoes, you got shoes All o' God's chillun got shoes When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my shoes I'm goin' to walk all ovah God's Heab'n Heab'n , Heab'n Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere Heab'n, Heab'n I'm goin' to walk all ovah God's Heab'n
Written September 19, 2016
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