find who's missing
Creating solutions without the input of those harmed is a hallmark of privilege. How might you invite people into conversation today? How might you notice who's missing and remedy it?
Acts 6:1
Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.
We see a crack in the early church, a division that impacted the most vulnerable of the Greek speaking Christians, the Hellenists, among the Aramaic speaking majority.
The rest of the text will devote itself to how the problem was solved by the men of the early church, leaving out the women. We get one sentence to focus on the women impacted. Many of us can cast our own experiences in the single sentence we are given.
Do you see any conditioning of modernity in this: The people with the shared background and most power creating solutions without the harmed party’s involvement?
I have participated in creating such “solutions” countless times and ignored the opportunity to do deeper work. I have had this enacted on my behalf as well.
What are ways we can shift our attention to the origin of the disparity? Including those who are harmed in the finding of solutions is a necessary struggle to stepping away from our privilege.
How might this reveal other opportunities to heal through relationships?
—Dax Franklin-Hicks