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Mzungu Syndrome, I began to call it. A sort of coping mechanism perhaps. It became my term for the terrifying tendency that I encountered and perpetuated during a brief visit amongst the Giryama people on the east coast of Kenya. I was alarmed as we drove through the countryside - past a large group of children outside their cinder block school. “Ciao!” “Ciao!” They yelled with their hands raised as they ran after us longing for the candy that was supposed to come sailing through the windows. However, the reality of this syndrome penetrated most deeply as I talked with Christian Ministers in the area. They would often describe their difficult living conditions and then turn towards me. With a hint of a sparkle in their eye they would say, “If only I could be in America…” Flustered, I would scramble to defend their way of life and point out every American foible that I could think of while sharing all the good that I saw around me. Still, their pain was often too deep and the “good life” that I proclaimed by my presence was too tantalizing. This presence, despite my counter desires and efforts, tended to bring attention to their lack rather than their wholeness. It tended to point out their communal brokenness rather than their communal health. It tended to mark them as inadequate rather than God’s chosen people. Simply because I had the ability to be there for a short time.
Let’s make a VERY rough parallel and meditate for a few moments on the incarnation of Jesus. What does it mean for Jesus to “pitch his tent among us?” What does it say about who God is? What does it communicate to us, you, me, and the rest of creation?
God’s material, physical entrance as Jesus could not help but point out the difference between Himself and Creation. After all, God was the one who made the move. However, Jesus was determined to break through this false chasm between Creation and God. In Matthew 20 James and John come to Jesus asking to sit at his right and left in the kingdom. One could say that they wished to move to America as reward for the difficulty of life in Judea following Jesus. However, Jesus responds by calling on his disciples to become servants and slaves. After all, he didn’t take advantage of his equality with God. Rather, by his own humanity and his service to creation, he spoke to its goodness. He moved for its wholeness. We are reminded of this today each time that we take the mundane and earthy elements of the Eucharist – bread and wine. It is this world that God entered. It is this world that God served. It is this world that God works to redeem. And he calls all of us into participation in that activity. In so doing, he reminds us that we are all made in his image, and all of creation is good.
Now, I did say that this was a rough parallel! Our identity and action is far from that of God’s; unfortunately, in our world the movement can be interpreted similarly by some.
So, as we visit our sisters and brothers in El Salvador, may we seek relationships that affirm rather than critique. May we in our language, action, and attitude acknowledge wholeness rather than lack. In so doing, may we travel together as we all learn to more fully embrace God’s claim that we are His children, made in his image, loved, valued, and valuable.
Barrett Smith
Carpenter's Church
Lubbock, Texas
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