Hello –
This is the fifth of five descriptions of the sessions of Transcending Contempt, which begins Saturday, January 6th at 8:30am. I’ll send a description of the last session after the first of the year.
Session Five: Countering Scorn through Listening; Exploring the Works of Simone Weil and James Baldwin
The contempt we may express for a boss we disdain feels different than the contempt we express when we pass a homeless person on the street and secretly (or not) think of them as less than human. In this next to last session we consider our contempt toward those we consider beneath us in our worldly and false human hierarchy. In a profound, cosmic, sense, we are all of equal value and dignity in God’s eyes. The point of this seminar will be to get our perception of other people to conform to God’s perception.
Our vocabulary for understanding the dynamics of our contempt, which I’ll call “scorn,” we will take from Simone Weil, a great and eccentric French philosopher and activist from the middle of the 20th Century. Born Jewish, she was deeply drawn to the Christian faith yet, even though she could only say the Lord’s prayer twice a day because its power overwhelmed her, she was never baptized. She took her role of being an outsider so seriously she chose to stay outside the faith so she could have solidarity with those outside the faith. We’re going to explore three words she uses in unique and powerful ways. By understanding the words “force,” “slavery” and “affliction,” and the ways she uses them, we can generate fresh and powerful compassion towards the least among us.
James Baldwin will be our lens for viewing the dynamics of scorn in America. Baldwin was an American prophet who died in 1987, yet his words and perspective seem more truthful and relevant each year that passes, as more and more of the uncomfortable dynamics and injustices of American culture become apparent. Baldwin is the perfect guide to help us widen our vision so that, alongside others on what Baldwin calls the “underside,” we can begin to see the whole truth of who we Americans are. The truth, and the power of the gospel to change lives, go hand in hand.
I will be sharing some of the things I’ve learned from my four and a half years of being a weekly companion to poor teen mothers and what I’ve learned through being a monthly and now weekly companion to Death Row prisoners. The mothers and the prisoners have been my teachers. The final practices have to do with attending to people, to looking them in the eyes. As contemporary Black thinker Christina Sharpe puts it, “regard is a habit of care. It is appreciation and esteem. It is the right of repair.” Learning to see people as they are is the final and greatest expression of our core practices of Wonder, Attention and Gratitude.
I hope you will join me on this pilgrimage toward a life without the evil habit of contempt.
This session February 3 in Duncan Hall of St. Paul’s on 1123 Court Street, San Rafael. Hospitality begins at 8:30am and the sessions are from 9 to 10am. Register at www.stpaulssanrafael.org.
Blessings, Christopher
p: (415) 456-4842