BY JULIANY GONZÁLEZ NIEVES
IN SEARCH OF SHALOM
It is difficult to write about shalom
When the blood of our Black brothers and sisters cries out from the ground for justice;
When mothers have lost their sons and daughters to the violence of white supremacy;
When our countries, islands, and barrios have become man-made disaster zones;
And the only response we get is those in power throwing us paper towels.
It is difficult to write about wholeness,
When the already mutilated bodies of our Caribbean and Latin American women and girls
Are shattered by the worshipers of Mammon;
When our forests are burnt down to the ground
By those who benefit from fire and implement their policies and economics of extraction,
Turning to ashes the house Creator provided.
It is difficult to write about completeness
When everything that should be held together
Seems to be torn.
And yet, it is there, in the midst of the life-depriving anti-kingdoms of this world
that He who is before all things;
He who made peace through his blood shed on the lynching tree;
He, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,
Calls us
To leave the comfortable distance of the balcony to follow him on the troubled roads of our countries.
Because in his broken body, he carried the brokenness of this fallen world,
And in his resurrection, he inaugurated the reign of shalom.
In Him, we are now the fellowship of the living,
A company of spec-actors
Rehearsing the drama of God, the Liberator.
We are those who have been threatened with resurrection.
A note from the author:
In the poem/prayer, I give nods to theologians who should be recognized: James H. Cone, and his book The Cross and the Lynching Tree; Samuel Escobar, and his book chapter “Doing Theology on Christ’s Road,” in Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective: Exploring the Contextual Nature of Theology and Mission, edited by Jeffrey P. Greenman and Gene L. Green; Jules A. Martínez Olivieri, and his book A Visible Witness: Christology, Liberation and Participation; and Julia Esquivel, and her poem “They Have Threatened Us With Resurrection.”
EN BUSCA DE SHALOM
Es difícil escribir acerca de paz
Cuando la sangre de nuestras hermanas y hermanos Afro-estadounidenses clama desde la tierra por justicia;
Cuando madres han perdido a sus hijos e hijas a manos de la violenta supremacía blanca;
Cuando nuestros países, islas, y barrios se han vuelto zonas de desastre creadas por el hombre,
Y la única respuesta que obtenemos es aquellos en el poder arrojándonos toallas de papel.
Es difícil escribir sobre la integridad
Cuando los cuerpos ya mutilados de nuestras mujeres y niñas caribeñas y latinoamericanas
Son destrozados por aquellos que adoran a Mamón;
Cuando nuestros bosques son quemados, convirtiendo la casa que nos dio el Creador en cenizas,
Por aquellos que se benefician del fuego y sus políticas de extracción.
Es difícil escribir sobre lo completo
Cuando todo lo que debería mantenerse unido
Parece estar roto.
Y, sin embargo, es allí, en medio de los anti-reinos que privan la vida en este mundo
Que el que es antes de todas las cosas;
El que hizo las paces con su sangre derramada en el madero;
Él, la imagen del Dios invisible, el primogénito de toda la creación,
Nos llama
A abandonar la cómoda distancia del balcón para seguirle en los caminos tortuosos de nuestros países.
Porque en su cuerpo roto llevó el quebrantamiento de este mundo caído,
Y en su resurrección inauguró el reinado de paz.
En Él ahora somos la comunidad de vida,
Una compañía de espec-actores
Ensayando el drama de Dios, el Libertador.
Somos aquellos que caminamos amenazados de resurrección.
Nota de la autora:
En este poema/oración le guiño el ojo a teólogos que deben ser reconocidos: Samuel Escobar, y su capítulo “Doing Theology on Christ’s Road,” en Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective: Exploring the Contextual Nature of Theology and Mission, editado por Jeffrey P. Greenman y Gene L. Green; Jules A. Martínez Olivieri, y su libro Un Testimonio Visible: Cristología, liberación y participación; y Julia Esquivel, y su poema “Nos han amenazado de Resurrección.”
Juliany González Nieves is an Afro-Caribbean Puerto Rican evangélica woman born and raised on the island. She holds a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, and a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Her main area of interest is Caribbean and Latin American theologies at the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender across geographical and linguistic lines. Juliany is also founder-editor of The Mosaic Bulletin and is actively involved with The Paul G. Hiebert Center for World Christianity and Global Theology. You can visit her website Glocal Theology.
Photo by christian buehner on Unsplash