There’s an old joke told about three men being asked, “What do you want to hear said about you as you lay in your coffin.” The first wants to hear: “He was a great family man.” The second wants to hear: “He was a great doctor.” The third wants to hear: “He’s breathing!” In this Sunday’s readings, people are given a chance to re-imagine their future. Some either miss or outright reject the chance. They fail to be creative about the new life that could be ahead for them. One recipient of Jesus’ new life invitation typifies this deadly failure, “‘let me go first and bury my father.’ But Jesus answered, ‘Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Community of God.’”
The U.S. has a chance to re-imagine its future and is both missing and outright rejecting the chance. Like the Gospel character, it is failing to be creative about the new life that could be ahead and instead shows a concentration on the morbid, on death. This culture’s movies, for example, especially franchise movies, show the sick concentration, People can see and see again and again the violence and death of Friday the 13th, Scream, Saw, Resident Evil, and, unfortunately, many more. Television shows too let us see and see again and again the violence and death of American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, and, again, many more. U.S. culture has turned violence and death into entertainment. U.S. culture’s politics, for example, especially its franchise racism, shows the sick concentration against ‘the other.’ We see and see again and again the violence done to our brown skinned neighbors to the south. We see and see again and again the violence done to children separated from their families and left to abuse, disease, and death in U.S. concentration camps. We see the death done to Oscar Alberto and his daughter Valeria whose drowned bodies are a testament to the deadly policy of denying lawful entry at the border. Worse than the Gospel character who wants to bury the dead, are those who would produce such dead. U.S. culture is missing and outright rejecting the chance to be creative about new life. It instead devises violence done to human beings, in real life as it does in reel life; as a franchise. Thus, there are people who have seen this franchise of violence and death played out before, for example, Americans of Japanese descent. Many are doing what they can to make sure the violence and deadliness they and family members went through does not continue playing out as a franchise in U.S. culture. Tens of thousands of Americans of Japanese descent once incarcerated in concentration camps are showing up, many with their children, to protest and end what is happening to refugee children. They are doing so, for example, at Fort Sill Army Base where next month President Trump will incarcerate 1,400 children. Fort Sill once incarcerated 700 Japanese-American men as one of 14 U.S. Army bases among 70 concentration camps incarcerating more than 120,000 Japanese-Americans in the 1940’s. Jeff Haozous, a spokesman for the Fort Sill Apache tribe, also knows of this franchise, “My grandfather was imprisoned on Fort Sill for 20 years with Geronimo” Each person of conscience at Fort Sill is giving us a chance to re-imagine our future. We can neither miss or outright reject the chance. We can instead be creative about the new life ahead for us. We can be a living breathing witness to creating a new way.
MILITARY POLICE OFFICER KEYES: Excuse me, people. Excuse me. You cannot protest on Fort Sill. … Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Now. Today! UNIDENTIFIED: We’re not moving. MILITARY POLICE OFFICER KEYES: Apparently you didn’t hear what I said. … You need to move! Today! Now! Right now! Move! MICHAEL ISHII: … we’re not going to move. CHIZU OMORI: I spent three-and-a-half years at Poston, Arizona, an American concentration camp, during World War II. And I’m here to bear witness to the travesty of the American justice system, in that the family separation policy, which is ruining the lives of these children. … And we, the people, have to stand up and protest this. MILITARY POLICE OFFICER KEYES: You need to move. What don’t you understand? It’s English. Get out! MICHAEL ISHII: All of our elders who are incarceration survivors have stated publicly that they are willing to be arrested in defense of the children who are going to be brought here. RENÉE FELTZ: Satsuki, can you please describe what’s happening now? SATSUKI INA: They’re wanting us to — they’re wanting to remove us. We’ve been removed too many times. If that’s what it comes to — MILITARY POLICE OFFICER KEYES: What don’t you people understand? UNIDENTIFIED: We understand the whole history of this country, and we aren’t going to let it happen again. (Fort Sill Oklahoma, June 22, 2019)
Prayer: pirit, move us toward creating a new way of life.
Question: “Never again” is now; what are we doing to change it?
June 30, 2019 Gospel Luke 9:51-62 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time