Seeing with New Eyes

For the past three weeks, I and a colleague have been co-facilitating a reading group, for Leela Saad's challenging book, Me and White Supremacy: How to recognise your privilege, combat racism and change the world by Leela F. Saad.

The third session was last night, and today, the quote of the week, by Marcel Proust, read, "The real journey of discovery does not consist in looking for new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes."

And this book is definitely helping the participants in our reading group (including the two facilitators) to do just that. Chapter by chapter, Saad covers all the multifarious aspects of white supremacy, including white fragility (feeling hurt and defensive if you become involved in a conversation about racism and are criticised), white silence and white apathy (saying and doing nothing in the face of a racist situation) and white exceptionalism (believing that you are one of the good people, and therefore do not need to do this work). The list goes on... Saad gently leads the reader to understand how insidious white supremacy in all its manifestations is in our society, and gives them the tools to overcome it in themselves and become a true ally to people of colour in the battle against racism.

Reading it, working through it, has helped me to see with new eyes. It has made me realise how far I have to go, but I am determined to stay the course. Because if I do not, I will be betraying one of the central Unitarian values, as stated in the First Principle of the Unitarian Universalist Association, 

            "We affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person."

And it is not possible to do that, from a one-up position. 

Being True to Yourself

This week's quotation is by Bettina von Armin: "Find yourself, be true to yourself, learn to understand yourself, follow your voice, only then can you reach the highest."

One of the most useful tools for achieving this goal is the Enneagram. Or at least, that is what I believe. I and the other ministry students at Harris Manchester College Oxford were given a half-day workshop on the Enneagram during our training, and it changed my life.

I have blogged about this before,  and also here. But it is as true then, as it was when I wrote those posts, in 2011 and 2013.

I believe that it is only when we truly know ourselves and learn to love ourselves, flaws, warts and all, that we can be our best selves, and "reach the highest". And it is only when we are true to ourselves and are at peace with who we are, that we can reach out to others, knowing that they too are "unique, precious, children of God" (as the Quakers say).

Because every single person ever born has "that of God" in them, and is worthy of love and respect. So easy to write or say, so damned hard to do.

But at least it can be a gold standard, to which we can aspire. So that every time we meet a new person, we do not judge them by what we see on the surface, but take the trouble to get to know them properly. So that the divine spark in us can reach out to the divine spark in them. We are all human and imperfect, and all need the love and support of others to make our way in the world.

I love the words of Sunshine Jeremiah Wolfe, which I used in a service recently: "We gather in faith in ourselves and those around us. Not a faith that requires perfection or rightness in one another. Rather a faith that in our shared imperfection we may learn to stumble and fall together. Faith that we will help one another to rise and to try again and again."