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I had recently had a conversation about what 'courage' was, and what a 'hero' was. We were talking about people who went to foreign countries and put themselves in front of soldiers as human shields and volunteer peace keepers. I thought that this indeed required a certain amount of bravery, going to a strange country, involving ones self in 'the others' struggle, risking life and limb... But was it the same kind of courage that is required to stand up in your own community/home against injustice? Foreign peace keeping missions allow you to return to your community a hero. But what about the person who stands in their own community and speaks out against the wrong-doing there? Isn't that person shunned, shutdown, locked out? Isn't that perhaps a greater courage? I was having a difficult time formulating my thoughts on the matter until I met John Badertscher. John is a neighbour, a retired minister and professor of divinity. He was over one day telling me about the size of cockroaches that he encountered in a Mississippi gaol, while a prisoner there. I couldn't imagine what a gentleman like John would be doing in gaol. He told me this story: In 1963 churches were segregated. He was part of the movement that, among other things, worked to de-segregate the churches. He and a person of colour would try to enter a church, only to have the doors slammed and locked against them. They would remain standing on the steps until the police came to arrest them. The charges: Disturbing Divine Worship. John is a hero. This is for him. John Badertscher stood on the church steps side by side with his friend but they closed and locked those church doors and would not let him in in 1963 it was a brave move to make to stand on those church steps locked outside of heaven's gate well John and Marvin Armstrong stood in that sunday morning locked outside a white methodist church they were deaf to everyone's warning "John take that boy away, you know you cannot bring him in because this is a place of worship where god judges you by your skin" Oh it's hard and cold in a Mississippi cell when through the bars at night cockroach dance across the floor and play in the pale moonlight but it's harder and colder still in a world you can't come in where the church doors slam against you for the colour of your skin 'Disturbing divine worship ' was the charge that they faced what was worse was John was white - a traitor to his own race 1963 is really not that far awaybut maybe we just learned to disguise those doors differently today Oh it's hard and cold in a Mississippi cell when through the bars at night cockroach dance across the floor and play in the pale moonlight but it's harder and colder still in a world you can't come in where the church doors slam against you for the colour of your skin John now makes his home on frozen Manitoban shores but he still fights those battles against hard, unyielding doors sometimes the enemy is the one we find within but we're god's children, each and every one of us let those loving souls come in cuz it's hard and cold in a Manitoban cell when all thru the night the only comfort that you hold is knowing that you might have done right no doubt the biggest heroes are the ones who stand alone and fight against the war that's found right inside their home right inside our homes on our streets, in our towns, in the churches amen |
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