tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14060533.post8868044482895048746..comments2023-09-15T05:44:11.537-06:00Comments on thought gently whispers...: "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet..."Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05929053604299123547noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14060533.post-76132221146173483352010-05-07T15:13:38.929-06:002010-05-07T15:13:38.929-06:00I am sharing this note I received from my dear fri...I am sharing this note I received from my dear friend and "sister" kate who lives in South Africa, it is compelling and thought-provoking...her questions and insights are wisely and humbly shared: <br /><br />Dear Kate: I read your blog today about Desmond Tutu – very beautiful in itself – but I found myself feeling a little defensive. Not because I am of the oppressor generation but more because of the reality of SA now. We have gone from whites oppressing blacks to blacks oppressing whites… not in the apartheid way but the implications are there. In that I mean: The focus has changed from ‘being oppressed’ to ‘being entitled’.<br /> <br />When Desmond Tutu says ‘if these people wanted to keep us oppressed, they should not have given us the bible’ I think we need to look deeper there – in that, by their very culture – perhaps blacks were an oppressed nation (spiritually)? Perhaps white dominance was the very catalyst the black nation needed to truly liberate themselves. We *brought* them the bible…<br /> <br />Was that not the ultimate liberation? Did we oppress them or is that where we found them? Yes, whites oppressed (physically) an already (spiritually) oppressed nation. I think that when we look at it stripped bare of the physical picture, this becomes clear.<br /> <br />I’m not by any means condoning the method or the process ‘white supremacists’ followed – I absolutely am against the fact that whites came here and opportunistically oppressed the natives but when, as a nation, do black people take responsibility and realise that whites took advantage of what was already there? And acknowledge the ultimate gift? I honestly believe that if and when they do, they will not find it necessary to ‘do the same’ – they are not turning the other cheek (not that I blame them) but I really do think that *true liberation* will come when we all let go of the process (and human picture) and look more deeply into the (universal, spiritual) outcome.<br /> <br />I know that saying “be grateful” is a mammoth leap and that each one feels the human need to ‘be heard’ and ‘apologised to’ but at the end of the day a mammoth leap *of faith* is ultimately needed. And I’m also aware that this may, again, sound like mental supremacy but that is again something that we need to be very aware of – not falling back into the human (ego) trap of – in essence I see it like this:<br /> <br />When the ‘bible carriers’ arrived here (on God’s command) they did distribute and share the bible with the ‘non-believers’ and in doing that, felt supreme and jumped straight into the human / ego trap of carrying that out literally!! What a shame! But WHAT a lesson!! If only we would SEE it and learn from it!!<br /> <br />Has this same oppression not been acted out all over the world? I think we (South Africa) just made the ‘mistake’ (or actually non-mistake) of giving it a name! I’m glad we gave it a name – so that we could be called up on it – turn away from it – overcome it – and on behalf of countless other nations who don’t have a name for it. So, to my mind, apartheid was the catalyst for a very great, ultimate, (spiritual) liberation.<br /> <br />An afterthought – our nanny is a frustration to me – while I admire her for the beautiful woman she is: kind, tolerant, patient, loving, long-suffering, etc I am frustrated by her insistence on perpetuating the ‘oppression’ – she has a native name but will not allow me to call her by it, she has a voice but will not speak out, she has opportunity that she does not take advantage of… all these things I cannot understand – unless it is her own ‘comfort’ in that place? And I can encourage her as much as I want but ultimately need to respect her choice to stay there? I see myself doing the same – God sees me as whole and perfect – He KNOWS this of me but do I choose to look at myself the same way? Tricked by ‘circumstance’ / the human picture?<br /> <br />Anyway – your article has opened up a whole window into physical / human picture trickery for me!! So thank you AGAIN!Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05929053604299123547noreply@blogger.com