Enemies of Discernment: Prejudice

Prejudice: You can't live with it and you can't live without it.  That is to say, it's in our DNA.  Everybody is infected with prejudice, to one degree or another.  The prejudice I'm talking about is what the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines this way:

a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge 
b : an instance of such judgment or opinion
c : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics

Spiritual discernment is a process of reaching a decision based on divine guidance.  The prejudice that lives within us clouds our ability to see the person, situation, or object of our discernment with clarity before we ever approach the throne of grace.

I was thinking about this recently when my wife and I were in an aircraft that was making the final descent before landing at an airport.  The clouds were thick and there was some turbulence.  Looking out the window, I could not see the sky above or the earth below.  What lay ahead was not clear.  It was literally "clouded" from view.  And, if I couldn't see where I was going when I looked out my window, I was pretty sure the pilot couldn't see where he was going when he looked out his window either!  Why was I not scared stiff?  Because I was assured that the aircraft had an electronic guidance system and, as long as it was functioning properly, it would guide us safely through the clouds to our destination.

Perhaps this is a pretty simplistic attempt to describe the effects of prejudice and the power of divine guidance in our lives.  But if the divine guidance system is not engaged to help us move through the clouds of prejudice, our decisions can not only be wrong, they can result in a crash!

When Solomon dedicated the Temple, God gave him a vision of a place that would come to be known as "A House of Prayer for All People" - not just a place for God's special people, but a place for ALL people.  That must have been a big surprise and a radical concept to God's special people at the time.  In Solomon's dedicatory prayer, he says, "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name —for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays towards this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built" (I Kings 8:41-43).

When God sent Samuel to Jesse's house near Bethlehem to anoint the one who would be the new king over God's people, David was the last one of Jesse's sons Samuel would have chosen.  The other sons looked to him like really good choices.  But God said, "the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (I Samuel 16:7b).  Samuel had to have divine help to move through the clouds of the prejudice that prevented him from seeing God's choice.

Despite Jesus' numerous attempts to get the point across, Peter still thought the gospel was not intended for Gentiles.  Then, one day, he had this dream about Cornelius and his family.  The experience that followed the dream made it possible for Peter to understand the universality of Jesus' redemptive work.  He blurted out, "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:34)

Jesus was God Incarnate! Yet even Jesus had to face the prejudicial aspect of his humanity.  When a Syrophoenecian woman approached him with the request that he cast a demon out of her daughter, his answer was harsh and laden with prejudice: "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs" (Mark 7:27).  But the conversation continued, as the woman responded, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter" (Mark 7:28-29).  This is the origin of the words of the Prayer of Humble Access, which we often pray, "We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou are the same Lord whose property is to always have mercy" (Book of Common Prayer, page 337). I believe that the woman's response to Jesus caused him to realize that he'd expressed the prejudicial aspect of his humanity and he allowed divinity to sweep the cloud away and treat the woman and her daughter with compassion.  Had he not been able to deal with this pervasive human trait, the Incarnation would not have been complete.
 
Maybe you are prejudiced toward people of a different race or ethnicity.  Possibly you don't like people who aren't as smart as you think you are.  Could your discernment be clouded by your bias about gender, sexual orientation, handicaps, regional differences, wardrobe, socio-economic status, or even tattoos? Whatever prejudice is clouding your spiritual discernment today, I pray that you will stop and face it so that God can help guide you through to the right decision. At the end of the day, in your discernment, have you fulfilled your Baptismal promise to "respect the dignity of every human being?"

Joni Mitchell's 1969 hit song, Both Sides Now, has always seemed to me to a very spiritual ballad about the impact of clouds upon one person's journey.  I confess that I am prejudiced toward Judy Collins' rendition.

 

Bows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

Oh but now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From WIN and LOSE and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all