Image Description: A very long, brown table with brown chairs with red table settings. The table is located in a room with white, cinderblock walls and a large number of windows. Florescent lights are hanging above the table. Public domain image.
This week, I’m creating blog post reflections based on Psalm 23.
Part 5:
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
We’re all at the same table right now, so to speak.
And… maybe that metaphor doesn’t work fully since we are quite literally spread out and quarantined. But this collective experience impacts us all. We are all disrupted in various degrees.
And those degrees are… yes, varied. There are some among us that are particularly vulnerable. I think about people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. I think about those who have very few resources, and thus, very few choices. Some are homeless. Some are living on SSDI. Some are incarcerated. Some are in immigration detention. These people matter, and we need to do what we can to protect and support them.
I also think about about my Asian-American friends who are experiencing multiple fears at once. We are hearing racist rhetoric blaming Chinese people for this coronavirus. This is not the Chinese Virus or the Kung Flu. It is the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. This is a worldwide pandemic. We are quick to blame, scapegoat, and label people as ‘enemies’. It’s racist, and it’s wrong.
It’s also leading to violence. My Asian friends and colleagues are afraid to be out in public right now in the rare moments that they are outside. Some have had racist epithets yelled them. Yesterday, a colleague shared that her Dad’s tires were slashed at a store. This is racist, and it’s wrong.
We need to support Asian and Asian-American friends. And we need to support the local neighbors we’ve never met. Shop at their local grocery stores. Send kind words. Ask friends how they’re doing in this social climate.
We’re all in this together, but yes, impacted differently and uniquely. We need to show up for each other.
Smuggling Grace 