Those among us who have experienced the most trauma in their lives and communities are now the ones most deeply re-traumatized by the events of last week and this year. But it is precisely because they have known trauma, that it is in listening to their voices that we must now do, and God forgive us for not doing so sooner. It is the women in our Christian communities who have known trauma but have too long been sidelined, that we must look too now to remind us of how one finds hope, how one rebuilds, and how one moves forward in a dismantled and traumatized church of offer shalom to a broken world. It is among our brothers and sisters of color, who have long found ways to declare hope and life and in the midst of oppression, who know how to build and dance and sing in the face of evil, and who have long offered shalom though shalom was the last thing anyone was offering them, that we must now turn to for guidance and help and direction.
For the rational, clean, predictable, professional world built by those in the center, those with power, is tottering, leaning, and unlikely to lead us toward the new heaven and the new earth. For good reason our Lord promised that "the first will be last and the last will be first."
RNS news release
Walter Brueggemann has been writing for the American church for six decades and continues to produce four to five books a year. His biography has finally been written by Conrad Kanagy of Elizabethtown College, PA. Amazon currently offers a 45% discount bringing the paperback to 13.80.
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