Many don’t acknowledge the reality of systemic injustice because it doesn’t impact them directly. We see these debates raging through our social media feeds and interactions with loved ones. The antidote to the denial of systemic injustice is being in proximity to the impacted community.
It’s easy to say racism and white supremacy no longer exist if we’re not in proximity to those who are on the receiving end of it. Like Ahmaud Arbery, his loved one’s and every black person in the US who didn’t sleep last night.
It’s easy to say Covid19 isn’t really that bad if we aren’t proximate to someone whose loved one died alone in a sterilized hospital. Like so many in New York and other hot spots.
It’s easy to say continue “sheltering in place” until we’re in proximity to those who can’t pay their rent, feed their kids and have no luxury of a stimulus payment. Like so many of our undocumented friends and neighbors.
It’s easy to remain blind to the plight of Palestinians if we aren’t proximate to the families who are the eve of long term separation as Israel plans their US endorsed annexation of parts of the West Bank. Like our dear friends in Bethlehem, Ramallah and East Jerusalem who have tilled the soil and planted seeds in this land since the time of Jesus.
But, proximity is costly and often inconvenient. Whether in story, study or physical connection, proximity requires an intentional decision to suspend our presumptions about our “other” and be willing to change our minds.
This is why it’s so rare and so remarkably profound.
Get close. Stay there. Listen before we react. Study before we diagnose. Grow in empathy. Say we’re sorry. Change our mind.
And then let’s walk together toward our shared humanity and a better tomorrow.
Jon Huckins – Co-Founding Director of The Global Immersion Project
Jon is the Co-Founding Director of The Global Immersion Project; a peacemaking training organization helping individuals and communities move toward conflict equipped to heal rather than to win. He writes for numerous publications including USAToday, Red Letter Christians, Sojourners, and RELEVANT, and has written two books of his own; his latest being Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community. His upcoming book, Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World, releases September 2017. Jon has a master’s degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in theology and ethics. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Jan, three daughters (Ruby, Rosie & Lou) and one son (Hank) where they co-lead an intentional Christian community seeking to live as a reconciling presence in their neighborhood of Golden Hill.
Connect with him on Twitter, Instagram or his personal blog jonhuckins.net