"Getting Stoned"
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A meditation by Brian Crisp • From Weekend Connections, an e-newsletter from Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC USA
“Brian, you gotta get stoned!” I looked into Monica’s eyes as I tried to stifle the laugh that was catapulting from my gut. I was a bit tickled and nervous that a person in their sixties had just casually referred to drugs. Admittedly, I was also confused. The two of us had spent the entire day together at a teach-in about structural racism where we had dissected the racialized endeavors that were the building blocks of the U.S. Our conversations were intense as we analyzed the history of our country, and we had found shared moments to exchange about our personal lives. As the day was ending, it now seemed that this elder was advocating for my personal use of marijuana.
The blank look on my face was coupled with my inability to respond. This paralysis was immediately noticed prompting Monica’s response. “You’re a person of faith, aren’t you?” I nodded. “You’ve read the stories, right?” Again, I nodded. “You know the story of Stephen. Stephen lived in a deep truth, and it stood in the face of power. It made those in charge nervous and angry. He called them ‘stiff-necked’ because they wanted to contain and commodify grace and justice. Stephen shook things up so much that they threw rocks at him, but his truth and faith were so fortified all he could do was see the kingdom on earth.” My mobility had yet to return before Monica charged, “So, Brian, you and I gotta go be like Stephen and get stoned!”
This week, Monica’s words have lived in me as I have had to bear witness to the ongoing uncertainty and the deep moral crisis decaying our world. We have seen over 200,000 people (that is the approximate population of Montgomery, Alabama) die to COVID-19, while a federal response has yet to be articulated. Five of the six largest wildfires in California history were started in the past two months, a signal that we are in the throes of a climate emergency. And, yesterday, a grand jury in Kentucky failed to indict the police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was shot while sleeping in her bed. These events have me wondering how we fortify ourselves in the face of such antipathy and injustice. When the powers and principalities around use are so “stiff-necked,” how do we get stoned?
Aside from the story of Stephen, I have thought of the other references to stones throughout our sacred texts. Jacob uses a rock to mark the place where he first encounters the divine on earth. The rocks in the Sinai desert are transformed and provide life-giving waters to people in need. During the entry to Jerusalem, Jesus warns that if the people are silenced, then the rocks will cry out and bear witness to the anticipated change needed in an occupied territory. And, we are told that our lives are to be like the stones of a foundation offering support to our world. These characters and stories operate in places of loneliness, famine, rejection, and imprisonment. Faith asks that we look into an abyss and dare to care, create, comfort, craft, cry-out, and construct community for us all. When we do that, like Stephen, we will not be able to see anything but heaven on earth.
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