In Praise of Troublemakers

This Sunday as part of our Thanksgiving service, I shared the pulpit with our congregation’s religious educator, each of us addressing two things for which we were grateful. This is the first of my reflections…

I find myself thinking about Frederick Douglass. He was born a slave, separated from his mother, then his grandmother, secretly learned to read, finally escaped to the North, and then, and this is the important point, instead of simply trying to put a life together for himself, he started making noise. He pointed to slavery as an evil in American culture, our own original sin, and shouted to the rooftops that it needed to be ended, ended at any cost. As the civil war began Douglass harassed the president, calling him to be bold, and tried hard never to let him simply make expedient decisions, something presidents, okay, politicians, okay, people do. Along the way Frederick Douglass also shouted about how women were treated, which was badly. No doubt, the man was a troublemaker.

And, here today I want to give thanks for troublemakers.

When I mentioned to Cathy that I would like to express my gratitude for troublemakers, she gave me one of those mother looks many of the women in my life can so easily slip into and said, “You do remember, James. Kids will be at the service.” Made me feel a bit like a troublemaker.

But, for the kids here, okay, for everyone: I’m saying how much we need troublemakers, boat rockers, people who don’t just say okay and go along no matter what happens, and I hope there will be times when you’re one of them – this doesn’t mean I’m saying hurray for mean people or cruel people or selfish people. There are troublemakers and there are troublemakers.

I’m talking about, I’m expressing my gratitude for, those who when they see there is something wrong, they object, stand up and speak up, and sometimes, if it is necessary make a great deal of trouble about it. If you get right down to it troublemakers like Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson, and John and Abigail Adams created our country. And over the years it has been made better by troublemakers like Theodore Parker and Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony and Olympia Brown and Martin Luther King Jr. When you think about it, you may notice many, perhaps most of our country’s heroes were troublemakers, boat rockers, people who did not put up with the status quo when that way things are, was wrong. That’s why they’re heroes. Not perfect. Not even always consistent. But, heroes, nonetheless.

What matters is that we try. That we get as much of the facts as we can. And then we try. Makes me think of the Occupy Wall Street movement, made up of people from every walk of life and an amazing wide range of opinions about the world and how best to live in it, all of us agreeing on how things have gotten very bad for way too many people.

A bunch of us stood down there in Burnside Park a couple of weeks ago, holding our signs and joining in songs and chants and listening to pep talks and harangues about the evils of too much money in too few hands. I was so excited at those young people who were taking charge, their energy, their heart, their deep caring. Now, who knows where it will lead? There have been some ugly pictures and videos from some cities of what looks to me like serious police over-reaction.

There’s a cost to being a troublemaker. And, I’m grateful for those willing to pay it. Today, let’s give thanks for those who see the wrong and object. Let’s remember and celebrate the troublemakers.