Where Everyone Is Welcomed and Valued For Who They Are

This past week I was able to attend a webinar with one of my dear mentors and teachers, Vikki Reynolds. Vikki is a therapist and supervisor in Vancouver, BC, and has for decades been engaged in street level work supporting peers and workers responding to the opiate crisis and other harm-reduction efforts on Vancouver’s lower east side.

First off, Vikki frames her work as an “anti-perfection project” and says from the get-go that whatever she’s talking about is stuff she’s aspiring to and has not necessarily mastered. Secondly, she is quick to name and elevate work that other people are doing that has informed her work – making visible the deep interconnections of knowledge and skill that any one of us possesses. Finally, she helps workers to rethink what has come to be named “burnout” (in the helping professions) by acknowledging that it is not the workers themselves that are falling short. It is, in fact, the systems that we’re working in that make it impossible for us (as individuals and even organizations) to address the harm that is happening to people.

Contrast that to what we hear in today’s gospel reading from Matthew.

Jesus has a few choice words for the scribes and Pharisees who, as leaders, teachers and mentors, do pretty much the opposite of what Vikki does. They make people feel inadequate for not being “perfect” like them. They make people feel less-than because they don’t know what the Pharisees know about the scriptures (or do it in the “right” way). They put the blame on the individuals and leave the systemic factors invisible.

Jesus gets so frustrated with them that he calls them frauds, roadblocks and arrogant and ignorant people.  Ouch!

At this point it may be worth pausing and asking, “What leaders, mentors and teachers do you respect and why? How would you describe their leadership and influence on you?”

One thing that I love about Jesus is that he always wanted to work with people right where they were at. He never starts by saying to people, “You’re not good enough…” or “You don’t know enough…” or “You haven’t done the right things…”  Nor does he say, “You don’t know what I have come to know, so what you know is not valid…”

He just starts with where they are at. No shame. No inadequacy. No failure. Just invitation. (Mind you, he won’t leave you where he finds you! But that’s where he starts…)

In many ways, Jesus’ approach to theology reminds me of the principles of popular education. In essence, popular education acknowledges that we are all “teacher/learners” (a phrase that I was introduced to through the work of the great Brazilian educator Paolo Freire) and strives to build spaces where everyone is welcomed and able to participate. Furthermore, these spaces dedicate themselves to acknowledging and breaking down oppressive power dynamics, attending to the different ways that people learn (or express themselves), and helping people learn from their own experience and from each other (and not just a recognized “teacher”).

In Popular Education theory, they have what they call the “Popular Education Spiral.” This spiral says to start with people’s experiences, look for patterns between those experiences that can highlight shared struggle, add new information/theory, practice skills, strategize and plan, take action to change the world, reflect, and return to the beginning of the spiral![1]

Go back and re-read the steps in the spiral again. Does that not sound like what Jesus does throughout the gospels? Is that not what he seems to invite us into through his teachings?

I remember Fr. Jim preaching many years ago about saints. He said that “a saint doesn’t show you how good they are, they show you how good you are.”

I think Jesus did this. He did not come to show us how good he was. He wanted to show us how good God is and how much God loves us. Jesus’ life tried to bear witness to our own goodness as well and then he encouraged us to do that for each other – and especially those who are told that they are “no good.”

For anyone who has lived with some form of oppression, shame, trauma or harm, hearing of their own goodness and being accepted for who they are (and as they are) is such a foundational move towards healing and belonging. And then to hear someone like Jesus say that their experience and knowledge of the world is worth something takes it to a whole new level. In fact, Jesus flipped the script by saying that it is those who are excluded and disregarded by the world are the ones who hold truths that everyone needs. I think Jesus gets so frustrated with the Pharisees and scribes not because they were bad people but because they started from a place that was critical of people and furthered exclusion.

If we were together for this reflection, now would be a great time to ask, “What does this conversation get you thinking about?”

And if we followed the popular education spiral further, we might ask questions like:

What leaders, teachers or mentors were helpful to you and why? What did they notice about you or affirm?

In what ways did they help you feel a sense of belonging or welcome and what difference did that make?

Have you taken up this practice in your life somehow – of noticing, affirming and welcoming others and valuing their experiences of the world? In what ways or circumstances do you try to do this (work, school, family, etc.)?

How is it that so many people face rejection, criticism or discrimination in our world? Who has decided who or what is welcomed or unwelcomed? How did they get to decide that? Are you Ok with that?

How do we confront people who seem to be leaders, mentors and teachers that do not welcome everyone or perpetuate oppressive power?

And the list could go on!!!

For today, perhaps we can sit quietly and hear Jesus’ voice say to us that we are loved and good – just as we are. Furthermore, we can hear him say to us that what we bring to this world – with all the particularities of our experiences and identities – is really important and valuable. And I hope we also hear him say, “Go and do likewise…”

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[1] This comes from the work of the Highlander Institute – one of the most recognized popular education schools in the United States that rained some of the best civil rights leaders we have seen. They have a beautiful little booklet online that describes popular education that you can access here: https://highlandercenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/methodologies-EN-color-1.pdf