From: The Rev

Rev. Donald L. Wilkinson    

Listening Gracefully: St. Ignatius on the Shirley Sherrod Affair

A few weeks ago very few people knew who Shirley Sherrod was.  Today, very few do not.

Mrs. Sherrod, who is African-American,  was caught in the cross fire of political gamesmanship when excerpts of a speech she had given were spliced together in such a way to portray her as a racist.  The great irony is that the actual topic of her speech was her personal journey of transformation.  Mrs. Sherrod’s father had been murdered when she was a child and the white culprits were never brought to justice.  A cross was burned in her family’s yard.  These events understandably embittered her.  When, through her work with an agricultural cooperative in Georgia, she was found herself helping a white farmer save his land she was forced to confront, and eventually overcome, her own racism.

The video hit the Internet, went viral, and she was forced to resign her position with the USDA without being given an opportunity to defend herself.  As the truth of her story came to light we soon discovered that both the political Right and Left were willing to assume the worst about Mrs. Sherrod.  A few words, taken out of context, were all that was needed to begin the process of public humiliation and shaming our culture is so quick to dispense.

In his classic The Spiritual Exercises St. Ignatius writes, “It should be presupposed that every good Christian ought to be more eager to put a good interpretation on a neighbor’s statement than to condemn it.  Further, if one cannot interpret it favorably, one should ask how the other means it. If that meaning is wrong, one should correct the person with love; and if that is not enough, one should search out every appropriate means through which, by understanding the statement in a good way, it may be saved.*”

In other words listen gracefully.  Assume a posture of grace toward the words of your neighbor.  Do not assume the worse.  If something is said that cannot be interpreted favorably ask for clarification. Do everything you can to understand what they are saying in a positive light.

Jesus, in John 13:34-35, says, “I give you a new commandment, love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  I believe listening is an act of love.  To truly listen to a neighbor, to hear their story of trials, tribulations, and triumphs with grace, compassion, and love is to give one of the greatest gifts one person can give to another.

But it must be done with grace.  We have all said things we did not mean.  We have all said things that, if taken out of context, could be interpreted to mean exactly the opposite of what we were actually saying. There is not one among us who always “says what they mean and mean what they say.”  We all need grace.  

Our calling as a church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  One way the transformation can begin is by each of us surrendering our ears to the Lordship of Jesus and  committing ourselves to listening gracefully.

Grace and Peace

Rev. Donnie

*The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius: A Translation and Commentary by George E. Ganss, S.J., pg. 31