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For Such a Time as This

April 2009

by Mary Nelson

My 78-year-old mother, Ruth Youngdahl Nelson, stood before a judge and pleaded guilty to breaking the law. She had stationed herself in a little boat in front of a Trident nuclear submarine, a vessel five football fields long with enough nuclear warheads to destroy entire countries. It was the late 1980s. My mother said she was following God’s law. With her body, she said no to weapons of mass destruction and yes to life. In the months leading up to her act, she had written letters and spoken out, but finally felt compelled to join a group of protesters near the submarine.

At the courthouse, reporters asked why she, an American Mother of the Year,  had committed civil disobedience. Without a moment’s hesitation, she replied, “I did it for the children of the world.” Because of her travels, she personally knew people in countries the nuclear weapons were aimed at. She felt that she was called to take a stand for a better, more peaceful world.

Like Queen Esther and my mother, we sometimes find ourselves in situations that call for faithful disobedience. We remember the people who have dared to speak out, march, and sometimes defy courts for the cause of justice. We remember the mothers who stood at the mines, beating their baking pans with spoons to bring attention to the injustice of the miners’ conditions at the turn of the century. We remember the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, giving silent witness to the injustice of the disappeared who had been snatched from their midst during the years of military dictatorship in Argentina.

Taking a stand

For many of us, such dramatic action seems heroic, far away, and disconnected from our everyday lives. We are often unaware of the injustices around us. We live in sheltered communities and churches that racially, socially, and economically reflect us. Understanding and fighting injustice takes more than an occasional visit or Christmas basket. Understanding beyond our comfort zones takes repeated real exposure to the issues. As parents and grandparents, we should expose our children and grandchildren to the injustices of our society.

For example, the struggle of women coming out of prison and the counterproductive way our justice system works becomes real with a name and a story. Books like Couldn’t Keep It to Myself by Wally Lamb move us to want to help change women’s prison and post-prison situations. The reality of inadequate education on the future of inner-city youth becomes injustice when one knows a child and the dismal hopes for his future as described in Jonathan Kozol’s books. The tough times for women working minimum wage jobs as waitresses, nursing aides, and retail clerks, poignantly shared in Barbara Ehrenrich’s book, Nickel and Dimed, makes one want to work for change.

Taking risks

The list of justice issues is long, and yet we know so little of them. Relationships push us to stand alongside people left out and left behind, and sometimes, to take risky action. We have opportunities to bridge these gaps with partner churches by coming together around common causes, by becoming part of wider justice movements. We can make a difference. Silence and inaction are unacceptable; God calls us to be part of the action.

“Let justice roll down like waters,” says the prophet Amos (Amos 5:24). Micah asks, “What does the Lordrequire of us but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8).

I have been arrested several times, joining groups of Christians protesting governmental budget cuts or actions contrary to what I deemed God’s justice for us all. But, sometimes the action is as small as speaking out when racist or demeaning things are said or done in our presence. We often become aware of injustices and the need for more radical disobedience in the midst of smaller steps of action.

Taking responsibility

Several years ago, the U.S. Congress was voting on a budget that would cut $50 billion from foster care, college scholarships, Women Infants and Children (WIC), and such programs, while at the same time giving $60 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest 10 percent. Sojourners organized a demonstration. The night before the protest, we gathered in a church for prayer and stories of the budget’s impact, and recommitted ourselves to non-violent civil disobedience the next day. Over 100 Christians sang and prayed on our knees in front of a Capitol building entrance; we were arrested one by one for “incommoding”—blocking a government entrance.

The Sojourners group included church leaders and other people of all ages and races from all over the United States. We had tried writing letters, visiting congressional offices, and seeking meetings with the president. Finally, we felt that only the act of prayerfully breaking the law at a Capitol entrance would dramatize the immorality of taking funds from the poor while giving tax cuts to the wealthy.

Our arrests got a lot of press and did have an effect on Congress. In addition, we experienced community as we acted together for justice. When we do civil disobedience, we must be prepared to take responsibility for the consequences of our actions, even if it means jail or fines. We were held for a day, fined, and released.

Taking action

A lot of steps are needed before taking such action. First steps include learning about issues through personal exposure and reading and discussing them with a wide variety of people. The ELCA’s advocacy office provides a lot of information, as do groups such as Bread for the World and Sojourners. Part of this phase is to begin to understand people and points of view from another perspective and to broaden knowledge of the issues.

Sometimes our steps for justice may simply mean speaking up for another point of view, offering new information, telling a story that illustrates the injustice. Though we might disagree with someone about the issues, we must not explode or treat another with anything but love. South African Bishop Desmond Tutu shares his father’s wisdom: “Son, don’t raise your voice; sharpen your argument.” We can understand other points of view and share our witness for justice in prayerful and loving ways.

Next, take action by e-mailing or visiting the offices of your state representatives, governor, congressional representatives, or president.

Taking courage

The current Lutheran Woman Today Bible study about Daniel, Ruth, and Esther has set the scene. Mordecai was a truth-teller for Queen Esther, helping her understand the gravity of the situation. We all need truth-tellers, people we respect and listen to. Once Esther understood the situation and what she needed to do, it took courage to take dangerous action. Her preparation included getting many people to fast and pray for guidance and wisdom. We need the prayer warriors, too.

A preacher friend uses a story from the Gospel of Mark to show the various gifts needed for action. In Mark 2:1–5, people brought a sick man to Jesus but were turned away because of the crowd. Finally, they cut a hole in the roof and lowered the stretcher down through the hole so Jesus could heal the sick man.

It took a team of people to make that happen: the thinkers whose idea overcame the obstacles, the investors who provided the resources for the stretcher and the cutting tools, the intercessors who prayed the effort through, and finally, the implementers who cut the hole in the roof and lowered the sick man for Jesus to heal. There are opportunities for each of us to use our gifts and talents for justice action.

Once Esther understood what God’s justice compelled her to do, she used her womanly smarts to move into action. She got all dressed up and perfumed and made her approach to the king. When the king received her, rather than blurting out what she wanted, Esther invited him to dinner. Twice she did this, not in a hurry to make her request, using suspense and skill to set the scene.

Sometimes we, as women, might use our cooking skills, our smarts, our other non-confrontational ways to move toward justice. Sharing a meal together is a great starting point for getting to know others.

Most important, though, was Esther’s courage and willingness to take a risk for the sake of her people. God gives us the courage we need when we feel God’s call to work for justice.

Taking the challenge

We are living in challenging times: financial worries and insecurity, global warming, budget shortfalls, rising crime rates, and a high prison population. These have made us worry more about ourselves rather than care about the poor.

Many of us are like Esther—we live in better situations than most of the rest of the world and we forget. Our awareness of poverty, hunger, and injustice is dulled by our own concerns. Yet this is a time when Christians should work even harder for the common good. We can’t do it alone, but we can be voices for justice together.

Christian women have the tools, the heart, and the smarts to make this world a better place. When my mother, two years after her civil disobedience, got the word that she had invasive cancer and not much longer to live, she wrote these words:

“I love life, Lord, and if you should give me more time, I would want to be about your business. I want to challenge my beloved country to put its trust in you, not in weapons and war. I want to challenge people everywhere to be stewards of what you’ve given them . . . and for those of us who have been given so much to share our skills and resources and love with those who have so little. What a world that would be—the kind you meant it to be.”

Can we, as God’s people, move beyond our self-interest and private concerns to see that it is for such a time as this that we are called to be about the work of justice and community? Harry Emerson Fosdick’s hymn is our prayer, “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of these days” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 705).

Mary Nelson, a Sojourners board member, is president emeritus of Bethel New Life Christian Community Development Association in Chicago. Bethel New Life was started by Bethel Lutheran Church in the 1970s to fight poverty and hopelessness.