PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

December 11, 2022

SEPARATE BUT CONNECTED

In Jesus’s story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) we have a glimpse into two different worlds that existed in the Holy Lands in the 1^st Century.  On the one hand, there was the world of the rich and well to do with all of their fine linens, sumptuous food, and grand homes.  On the other hand, there was the world of the least, the last, and the lost who struggled simply to make it through each day.   For the most part, the world of Lazarus went unseen by the world of the rich man even though they physically existed side by side.

In his novel, Harlem Shuffle (Doubleday, 2021) Colson Whitehead gives us a glimpse into black Harlem in the 1960’s. In a discussion about Negro travel guides for segregated America Pepper tells Carney, “It was a map of the black nation inside the white world, part of the bigger thing but its own self, independent, with its own constitution.  If we didn’t help one another, we’d be lost out there (Harlem Shuffle, p. 283).”  A little later Colson applies Pepper’s insight to Harlem, “The black city and the white city: overlapping, ignorant of each other, separate and connected by tracks (Harlem Shuffle, p. 287).” Not much has changed since the time of the rich man and Lazarus.  We still live in a world of separate but connected worlds.

One of my first glimpses into a separate but connected world from my own here in Indiana was when I was the pastor of the Westville United Methodist Church.  During my pastorate the congregation bought the house which was just east of the church.  The church rented the house for a number of years and then tore it down to build an addition to the church.

One of the families who rented the house was a couple with two elementary aged children.  They were friendly and more than willing to talk.  In talking with them I discovered that they would rent a house, run up bills, and move on.  One year their children had attended three different schools.  Their world included friends and relatives who shared their approach.  When they left after six months, they left furniture behind.  The couple operated in a world that had much different rules than my own.

Most of the churches I served had a pastor’s fund.  Some had food pantries.  People would come by the church seeking help.  Most of them operated in a separate but connected world that was similar to the couple at Westville.  They had a very definite plan they followed to provide food for their families and other necessities of life.  They had developed skills that allowed them to function in their world.

Another group who live in a world that is separate but connected to the one with which I am familiar is the homeless.  A number of years ago I attended a workshop about the homeless.  The presenter asked us to identify what skills the homeless had that allowed them to survive in their world.  Rather than looking at their faults he asked us to look at their strengths.  If truth be told, many homeless have skills that I lack.

Colson Whitehead’s book invites the reader to enter the world of black Harlem in the 1960’s to discover how that world operated.  Hopefully, as one looks at the main character, Carney, one does it not from one’s own perspective but from the perspective of the logic of black Harlem.  In his parable Jesus suggested that the rich man should have paid attention to the world of Lazarus and should have tried to see life from his perspective.  All around us we have people living in worlds that are separated but connected to our own.  Have we taken the time to notice them and try to understand them from their perspective?