I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town… …But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back, Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black. (Johnny Cash, Man in Black)This year I discovered another resonance to the Good Friday tradition of wearing black for the day, as my husband asked me if I was aiming to look like Johnny Cash, who famously wore black as a constant reminder to all who saw him that not everyone had riches or fame to rely on.
His song was in my head all day, and got me thinking about how fasting and mourning can help us to connect with those who are on the edges. On the day which Jesus died, it seemed all hope was gone. Evil had triumphed, the authorities had had their way and fear and injustice was all you could expect if you happened not to be rich or powerful. So this seems like an appropriate theme for Holy Saturday: Even if by definition hope refers to the future, for the Bible it is rooted in the present. Anne Lamott puts it like this:
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don’t give up.”
So will we take up the challenge? Will we learn to lament the state of the world as it is, where the powerful usually triumph and the poor are forgotten?
Will we weep that in the 6th richest country in the world, one million people (including 300,000 children) were deliberately made destitute last year by our own government as punishment for the crime of being poor and slightly late for a meeting, or the disabled people who are disproportionately affected by the bedroom tax and forced to either move from homes that have been specially adapted for their needs or to pay money they can't afford? Will we tell their stories and make sure that justice is done?
Will we weep that in the 6th richest country in the world, one million people (including 300,000 children) were deliberately made destitute last year by our own government as punishment for the crime of being poor and slightly late for a meeting, or the disabled people who are disproportionately affected by the bedroom tax and forced to either move from homes that have been specially adapted for their needs or to pay money they can't afford? Will we tell their stories and make sure that justice is done?
And further afield, will we pray and fast with the poorest around the world to help us connect with those who are now hungry and struggling to feed their families due to erratic weather patterns? I wrote earlier this week about how fasting helps me to deepen my commitment to living simply and calling for justice for the sake of personal friends in Malawi.
And will we sing with Johnny Cash and keep talking about these things even when others would rather forget, and keep at it until things change, until God's Kingdom of justice and peace has come?
Well, there's things that never will be right I know,And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,You'll never see me wear a suit of white.
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black
Lyrics (c) Johnny Cash
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