Privilege

"Privilege" as defined by the Oxford Living Dictionary is "a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people."

I am white. (Privilege) I am a woman (Second class and subject to all sorts of discrimination). I am educated. (Privilege) I am broke. (Profoundly disadvantaged) I live in North America. (Privilege) I am 55. (Disadvantaged when seeking employment)  I am reasonably attractive. (Advantage) I live with mental illness. (Invisible disability.)

And on and on it goes.

Do I know privilege?  Yes!

Do I know discrimination?  Yes!

I completely understand the "Black Lives Matter" movement and find the objections ludicrous. 

I am not black. But I know injustice and discrimination, and stand against it in all its forms. There is absolutely no question that black people in the United States face a terrible disadvantage that is deep and insidious and all-pervasive. To think otherwise is denying the evidence of generations. To point to one's own "rights" as somehow invalidating the outcry for justice for people of colour says more about the denier of the issue than about the legitimacy of the outcry.

Wow. Just, wow. How ridiculously insecure are these privileged people, and what, exactly, do they think they lose by extending compassion and justice to a greater portion of the human race?

As a way to open my heart to seeing my white privilege, I have been meditating on privilege as: "something which supports me but is invisible because I take it for granted."

This has been tremendously helpful in opening my eyes to all the advantages I actually enjoy. I am realizing how quick I have been to see the injustices in my life but blind to all the advantages. This particular lens ("what do I take for granted?") has cracked open a new way to appreciate all the things for which I can be grateful. I have been blind!

I can breathe. (Some people struggle to.) I have readily available clean water. I have a comfy bed in which to sleep with no bug infestation. I have more than enough food and treats and a bunch of body fat off which I ought to be able to live before I starve to death. I have lots of abilities (if I could just find paid employment...). Best and brightest: I have someone to kiss goodnight and who is with me for the long haul, whom I adore.

I am truly blessed. 

I think as humans we can't help but look for how we can improve our lives. But when I do that too much, I lose sight of how many blessings I already have. Instead, I compare what I have to those who have more. I compare my life to what I EXPECTED it should be at this point in my life, (house paid off, freedom to travel) not to how blessed it genuinely is. I still look at what I want rather than what I already have.

Comparison of my life to what I wish it was leads me to dissatisfaction. Comparison of what I have in relation to those who have more leads me to resentment and a narrative of victimhood.

Why do I do that?

It doesn't serve me at all.

Being grateful for what is serves me far better.  It is a new phase of my spiritual practice to look for all the things I get "for free" and to be grateful. That doesn't mean I am not allowed to notice the injustices. It does open me to seeing ways other people suffer things that I don't simply because of being born into a different country or family or skin color or orientation.

I will continue to support the cry of "Black Lives Matter" just as potently as I stand for women in ministry and loving inclusion of different gender presentations.

"Treat others the way you want to be treated" remains my spiritual cornerstone. 

May I grow in gratitude for the privilege of clean air and water and relative health and safety, even as I fight to see such rights extended to everyone on the planet. 

May I grow in recognition that even the ability to fight for these things is a privilege.