February 25, 2002

PIED BEAUTY AT ABC

We have celebrated Black History month in several ways, and each experience has enriched us. The main reason we need a time to emphasize the unique journey of African-Americans is that most of our history, sociology and philosophy courses have been taught from a thoroughly European-American perspective. "Western Civilization" is taught in our schools as the only culture that has achieved anything significant, and it is mainly a chronicle of the history of Caucasian societies. So we need to begin our journey outward by making a conscious effort to focus on America's African roots.

This will fill in only part of the blank area in our perspective on God's world. We need also to study Native American culture, history and values. And we will still not understand ourselves as a nation and society unless we become familiar with our deep Mexican-American roots. Our kaleidoscopic vision will be further enriched by becoming familiar with Asian cultures, religions and history.

For African-Americans, it's important to affirm "black pride" as an antidote for the poisons of slavery, segregation and institutional racism. But hopefully, none of us will remain stuck on our own ethnic or cultural roots to the exclusion of others. This myopia will leave us narrow-minded and impoverished.

The greatest vision for American society is not that it can be a melting-pot, where all distinctions are lost in a humanity-stew. Better pictures have been suggested—a quilt made up of varied patches, a mosaic tile wall with thousands of bright-colored pieces.

Here is an insight from a nineteenth-century English poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89), that relates the variety among his creatures to the very nature of God:

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things–
   For skies of couple-colour as a brindled cow;
      For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches wings;
   Landscape plotted and pieced-fold, fallow, and plough;
      And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things, counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
   With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
      He father's-forth whose beauty is past change:
                  Praise him.

Some of us are black, some brown, some white. Some of us are "couple-colour."

Some of us are "sweet," some "sour." Some are "fickle" and some "freckled." But all are children of God.

Hopkins saw this as bringing glory and praise to God. I agree. So join me and the crew of "counter," "original" and even "strange" folk who have gathered as the congregation of ABC in saying "GLORY BE TO GOD FOR DAPPLED THINGS!"

Like us.

 

–Pastor George Van Alstine