A Word from Laura: Ally

I discovered a new purpose for Zoom this week: Allyship Training.

A few of you may have voted at the presbytery meeting to require allyship training for all of us pastors.  (If so, thank you; you made a good decision.) The vote means that I am going through ten hours of a program meant to help me learn how to use my points of social privilege for the goal of working for shared humanity, for a world where all of us are embraced for who we are and are able to thrive and reach our potential. The allyship training we received from Whitney Parnell and Service Never Sleeps started with marginalization due to race, but it recognizes the intersection with all kinds of ways people are marginalized.

Allyship training helped me to become aware of my behavior and the barriers that cause me to inadvertently discriminate, become defensive when someone confronts me, or try to be a hero when confronted with discrimination. (I’m not proud of it, but I have done all these things in the past.)

Whitney talked with us about certain behaviors, microaggressions, that cause “nicks and cuts” to those who receive them, resulting in emotional weathering, as when waves beat ceaselessly upon a rock. 

In this week’s scripture passage from Mark, Jesus cautions his disciples not to put “stumbling blocks” in front of a person who has been marginalized. While Jesus does not deny the hurt caused by stumbling blocks, for Jesus, the agent of the stumbling block is the one who suffers eternal consequences. The one who causes the problem is the one who actually stumbles. And the consequence for the perpetrator appears to be damnation.

Jesus confirms that allyship is a matter of faith. We’ll talk more on Sunday – both about our own behaviors and about how we find the energy and inspiration to keep going when energy and inspiration seem in short supply.

Allyship training isn’t specifically faith-based, but it’s a way to put our faith to work. 

Let’s be allies – disciples – together.

Laura