National Prejudice

I have both experienced prejudice and I am still prejudiced but trying to deal with what causes my prejudice or uncomfortableness. My brother is developmentally disabled. In the 1940’s, when he was born, they labeled him, ‘retarded’. The use of labels can be symptoms of prejudice. I have been with my brother in the grocery store’s aisle when another person entered the other end of the aisle and upon seeing us, they turned around to enter a different aisle. Did they turn around because they had entered the wrong aisle or did my brother’s presence make them uncomfortable? Prejudice seeks comfort; not challenges to our expectations or the status quo. I am fearful that underneath the desire to ‘Make America Great Again’ is really the desire to ‘make America prejudiced again’ so we do not have to deal with our personal and national prejudices.

A Disquieted Soul

It is one of the Biblical words that speaks in a visual manner and says so much with only one word. Writing about the soul, the question is “Why are you disquieted within me?” (Psalm 43:5, NRSV) Disquieted, that is a visual description of those times when my soul, my essence, personality, etc. is worried, anxious, confused, fearful, alarmed, etc. In other words, “disquieted”. I seem to have a natural talent for a disquieted soul. For example, I can worry about what to say and after I have said it, I then worry about if the other person heard correctly what it was that I wanted to say. A disquieted soul is much like a dog chasing its tail; there is no ending. The Psalmist doesn’t give us a simple step by step process of quieting a disquieted soul. The Psalmist follows the question of a disquieted soul with “hope in the Lord.” Perhaps the lesson for a disquieted soul is to do what seems best at the time and then leave it alone or, in other words, not be so attached to my plans and desired outcome that I am controlled by them.