On Facebook, Diana Butler Bass shared the following words of pastor Jeremy Rutledge:<\/p>\n
A black man lay<\/p>\n
at the side<\/p>\n
of the road<\/p>\n
and we looked<\/p>\n
the other way<\/p>\n
passed by<\/p>\n
like a priest<\/p>\n
with somewhere<\/p>\n
else to be<\/p>\n
walked on<\/p>\n
like a Levite<\/p>\n
who had<\/p>\n
an appointment<\/p>\n
with indifference.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t<\/p>\n
happen<\/p>\n
to us<\/p>\n
we thought<\/p>\n
but someone else<\/p>\n
in Ferguson<\/p>\n
Baltimore<\/p>\n
or Baton Rouge.<\/p>\n
A police officer lay<\/p>\n
at the side<\/p>\n
of the road<\/p>\n
and we looked<\/p>\n
the other way<\/p>\n
passed by<\/p>\n
like a priest<\/p>\n
callous to<\/p>\n
the sacrifice<\/p>\n
walked on<\/p>\n
like a Levite<\/p>\n
with something<\/p>\n
else on his mind.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s his job<\/p>\n
we thought<\/p>\n
he knew<\/p>\n
the risk.<\/p>\n
A gay woman lay<\/p>\n
at the side<\/p>\n
of the road<\/p>\n
and we looked<\/p>\n
the other way<\/p>\n
passed by<\/p>\n
like a priest<\/p>\n
walked on<\/p>\n
like a Levite<\/p>\n
What can we do?<\/p>\n
we asked<\/p>\n
It couldn\u2019t<\/p>\n
have been predicted<\/p>\n
we pretend<\/p>\n
not in a country<\/p>\n
overflowing<\/p>\n
with guns<\/p>\n
and anger<\/p>\n
deeply dehumanizing<\/p>\n
rhetoric<\/p>\n
and our worship<\/p>\n
of individual<\/p>\n
whims<\/p>\n
and prejudices.<\/p>\n
A child lay<\/p>\n
at the side<\/p>\n
of the road<\/p>\n
a schoolteacher<\/p>\n
lay there<\/p>\n
a moviegoer<\/p>\n
a shopper<\/p>\n
a veteran<\/p>\n
a retiree<\/p>\n
a brother<\/p>\n
a sister<\/p>\n
a friend<\/p>\n
a colleague<\/p>\n
lay at the side<\/p>\n
of the road<\/p>\n
and America<\/p>\n
looked the other way<\/p>\n
passed by<\/p>\n
walked on<\/p>\n
failing to imagine<\/p>\n
it differently<\/p>\n
failing to believe<\/p>\n
in something better<\/p>\n
failing to revere<\/p>\n
the lives<\/p>\n
we are given<\/p>\n
and the life<\/p>\n
of every last<\/p>\n
one of us.<\/p>\n
Weekly<\/p>\n
we pass them<\/p>\n
on the way<\/p>\n
to church<\/p>\n
where we tell stories<\/p>\n
and ask<\/p>\n
the question<\/p>\n
whose answer<\/p>\n
we already know:<\/p>\n
but who is<\/p>\n
my neighbor<\/p>\n
if not every<\/p>\n
black man<\/p>\n
and police officer<\/p>\n
and child<\/p>\n
we see?<\/p>\n
And what is<\/p>\n
my response<\/p>\n
if not to stop<\/p>\n
looking<\/p>\n
the other way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Facebook, Diana Butler Bass shared the following words of pastor Jeremy Rutledge: A black man lay at the side of the road and we looked the other way passed by like a priest with somewhere else to be walked on like a Levite who had an appointment with indifference. It didn\u2019t happen to us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":35315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,79],"tags":[2666,4063,5140,5651,8693,9896,13213],"class_list":["post-35314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morality","category-racism","tag-diana-butler-bass","tag-good-samaritan","tag-indifference","tag-jeremy-routledge","tag-parable","tag-racism","tag-update"],"yoast_head":"\n
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