What do you think of when you hear the term “affirmative action”?
When I asked this question, most people often include “racial equality,” “racial justice,” “racial discrimination,” “racial preferences,” or “quotas.” Rarely do people mention gender. So it comes as a surprise to many to discover that white women have benefited more from affirmative action programs and policies than any other demographic.
It’s not an accident that conversations about affirmative action tend to center on race as opposed to gender. Instead, it’s a predictable outcome of a campaign by well-funded and organized opponents of race-based civil rights programs in response to legal changes that resulted from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
THIS is brilliant and brought me to tears!!! Your heart and wisdom is always awe inspiring!!!! I LOVE your insight and contemplative words!!!!
There’s a temptation to think you’re finding your way into a realm of divinity or inner peace or healing, removed from the brokenness and sadness of this world, which is really then to betray the path. We did not come here to breathe the rarified air beyond the suffering of this world. We came here to carry the suffering of the whole world in our heart.
“On earth as it is in heaven.” In other words, heaven’s economy is to be made manifest in creation. And what is heaven’s economy? It is shalom, “peace”.
Shalom is who the Creator is- God, dwelling in harmony, mutuality, and deference toward one another and the creation.
Shalom embodies wholeness, completeness, and love. It is “harmony,” which emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependency of all things, the need for balance, and the primacy of community.
An ego response is always an inadequate or even wrong response to the moment. It will not deepen or broaden life, love, or inner peace. Since it has no inner substance, our ego self is always attached to mere externals. The ego defines itself by its attachments and revulsions. The soul does not attach, nor does it hate; it desires and loves and lets go.
What the ego hates more than anything else is to change even when the present situation isn’t working or is horrible. But Ken…Pastor Ken…Brother Ken- YOU die to your flesh- ego- the world…DAILY. You die deeply in fires, self-evaluation, fervent study, fervent prayer, open scaleless eyes, and a heart so pure and open that I can hear the angels rejoicing.
What a beautiful journey of removing fig leaves and the cloak of belief and blindness that once held you captive.
YOU opened your own prison gates- and you open them for all of us. You are truly an example of “setting the captives free”.
You will be criticized and judged and scrutinized, like Jesus was, for pushing up against the establishment that God chose you to tear down. The cup you drink of will be bitter but it will not pass by without you taking the drink your soul promised to God you would take when you called out, “here am I…send me!”
I love you and thank you for your courage and your climb.
What do you think of when you hear the term “affirmative action”?
When I asked this question, most people often include “racial equality,” “racial justice,” “racial discrimination,” “racial preferences,” or “quotas.” Rarely do people mention gender. So it comes as a surprise to many to discover that white women have benefited more from affirmative action programs and policies than any other demographic.
It’s not an accident that conversations about affirmative action tend to center on race as opposed to gender. Instead, it’s a predictable outcome of a campaign by well-funded and organized opponents of race-based civil rights programs in response to legal changes that resulted from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
Thank you, Piper!
THIS is brilliant and brought me to tears!!! Your heart and wisdom is always awe inspiring!!!! I LOVE your insight and contemplative words!!!!
There’s a temptation to think you’re finding your way into a realm of divinity or inner peace or healing, removed from the brokenness and sadness of this world, which is really then to betray the path. We did not come here to breathe the rarified air beyond the suffering of this world. We came here to carry the suffering of the whole world in our heart.
“On earth as it is in heaven.” In other words, heaven’s economy is to be made manifest in creation. And what is heaven’s economy? It is shalom, “peace”.
Shalom is who the Creator is- God, dwelling in harmony, mutuality, and deference toward one another and the creation.
Shalom embodies wholeness, completeness, and love. It is “harmony,” which emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependency of all things, the need for balance, and the primacy of community.
An ego response is always an inadequate or even wrong response to the moment. It will not deepen or broaden life, love, or inner peace. Since it has no inner substance, our ego self is always attached to mere externals. The ego defines itself by its attachments and revulsions. The soul does not attach, nor does it hate; it desires and loves and lets go.
What the ego hates more than anything else is to change even when the present situation isn’t working or is horrible. But Ken…Pastor Ken…Brother Ken- YOU die to your flesh- ego- the world…DAILY. You die deeply in fires, self-evaluation, fervent study, fervent prayer, open scaleless eyes, and a heart so pure and open that I can hear the angels rejoicing.
What a beautiful journey of removing fig leaves and the cloak of belief and blindness that once held you captive.
YOU opened your own prison gates- and you open them for all of us. You are truly an example of “setting the captives free”.
You will be criticized and judged and scrutinized, like Jesus was, for pushing up against the establishment that God chose you to tear down. The cup you drink of will be bitter but it will not pass by without you taking the drink your soul promised to God you would take when you called out, “here am I…send me!”
I love you and thank you for your courage and your climb.