St.
John’s Convent, December 29, 2016
Sr.
Constance Joanna
“You is kind. You is smart. You is
important.”
These are the theme words that are
spoken in the beautiful 2011 film The Help. It takes place at the
height of the American Civil Rights Movement in 1963 in Jackson,
Mississippi – ostensibly the worst of all the states for its
mistreatment and persecution of African Americans.
Aibileen, the black housemaid for a
prominent and wealthy Jackson family, says to the toddler she looks
after, in her southern black Creole dialect: “You is kind. You is
smart. You is important.” She makes the child repeat the words. And
when Aibileen is later fired because she has spoken out against the
injustices to African Americans, she speaks these words to the child
again, and again makes her repeat them. “You is kind. You is smart.
You is important.” As she leaves the house, the toddler screams
after her, “Aibileen, don’t leave.” Aibileen is the only person
in her life who has made her feel special, who has taught her that
she is loved.
The words are in strong contrast to the
institutionalized racism of the south. Somehow Aibileen must have
grown up hearing these words from her own mother – how else could
she possibly have survived the verbal abuse she received from her
white employers? Particularly the “you is kind” part.
But would this white toddler that she
looks after grow up to teach her children that they were special and
loved? Or would she simply interpret the words as an expression of
her own sense of entitlement? Would she be kind as well as smart and
important? That is an issue at the heart of today’s readings.
In the gospel, Mary and Joseph bring
their child to be presented to God in the temple, and they make the
customary offering required of a poor family – a couple of small
birds. They did what many young couples did at the time. But there
was something special about this child and this event. Simeon, known
to the people in Jerusalem as a holy man who prayed for the coming of
the Messiah, took the child in his arms and praised God in the words
we have come to know as the Song of Simeon and which we sing at
Compline every night:
He could now die rejoicing because his
hope had been fulfilled:
Lord, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32)
How that song must have warmed the
hearts of Mary and Joseph – and most likely the child as well. Even
at 40 days old, a child knows when he or she is loved; a child can
feel the meaning of the words “you are special, you are kind, you
are smart.” Even if they can’t yet process the words
intellectually, they know they mean “you are loved.”
And Simeon’s song was not the first
time that Mary and Joseph had heard words about their special child.
Mary heard them from the angel Gabriel. Joseph heard the message when
an angel spoke to him in a dream. Mary heard it again when she
visited her cousin Elizabeth and the child in Elizabeth’s womb
leapt for joy, Elizabeth responding with the words “blessed are you
and blessed is the child in your womb.” They both heard it on the
night of Jesus’ birth, from angels and from shepherds. This child
is special, holy, loved. He will also be kind, and smart, and
important – not self-important but important because he is God’s
beloved and important to salvation history.
And – Simeon now adds when he blesses
Mary and Joseph – “he is destined for the falling and the rising
of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the
inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce
your own soul too” (Luke 2:34)
This holy and special child has come to
teach that every human being is holy and special, and that message is
going to threaten the establishment – as it did 2,000 years later
in Jackson, Mississippi. And as it is doing now in Europe and North
America.
Writing nearly 100 years after Jesus’
birth, and with the hindsight of the events of Jesus’ life, death
and resurrection, someone in the community of St. John wrote:
Whoever says, “I am in the light,”
while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever
loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person
there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer
is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way
to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness. (1 John 2:9-11)
This is a really strong reminder that
while God has created each of us to be unique, special, holy – to
be God’s beloved – we have also been created to share that love,
to love others as God loves us.
The toddler’s mother in the movie
declares “I am a Christian woman” and yet she has no respect for
either the lower classes of white people she calls “white trash”
or for black people. But Aibileen demonstrates a love for her own
children and her own people as well as for the rich white children
she looks after and for the ostracized “white trash.” Her love is
universal, and like Jesus it drives her to work for justice.
Aibileen is clearly a follower of
Jesus, and she lives out Jesus’ teachings. She is also a kind of
Simeon who can raise up a child and say “you are special.”
May you be kind, sharing Jesus’ love
with all.
May you be smart – smart enough to
know how desperately others need your love.
And may you know you’re important –
not with the self-importance that can cause us to treat each other
unkindly, but with the importance that comes from knowing we are
God’s beloved and are meant to share God’s love in every way we
can.
