Brief Thoughts from Bren: July 29

“Each of us should have two pockets,” the rabbis teach. “In one should be the message, ‘I am dust and ashes,’ and in the other, we should have written, ‘For me the universe was made.’”

Clarence Jordan was born on July 29, 1912, and co-founded Koinonia in November 1942, a few months after he turned 30. Though he died almost 55 years ago, his words and actions still attract people to the community he helped create. He wouldn’t want us to get all silly about his birth, life, or death. He would want us to stay focused on feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, and visiting those who are sick or in prison.

Clarence modeled Jesus’ teachings so well that his example continues to turn faces toward Christ. He worked in the field but always came to the door, ready to welcome the people Jesus was bringing to Koinonia. Clarence went out into the countryside to find and love them. He would want us to do the same with an awareness that we are dust and ashes and that the universe was made for us and every other creature on the planet.

Some ask us, “What would Clarence think of the mess the world is today?” It is impossible for us to know for certain, but we know what guided him:  

“[We work for] a spirit of partnership. The rich woman will sit down at the same table with a poor woman and learn how good cornbread and collard greens are, and the poor woman will find out what a T-bone steak tastes like. Neither will shiver in a drafty house, nor have to move her furniture when it rains. Both will rejoice in the robust health of their children, who are not listless from having too little nor bored from having too much. They will discover the blessedness of sharing, the warmth of compassion, the quiet strength of humility, and the glow of gentleness, the cleanness of honesty, the peace of justice, the ecstasy of love. God’s spirit will let a white man look into the eyes of a black man and see his soul. And they’ll both know it’s the soul of a man. God’s spirit will teach an educated woman and an uneducated woman to walk together in the cool of the evening after a hard day’s work, and both will know that one could not live without the other. One will not ask for more than her share, and the other need not accept less than her share. Each will delight in the skills of her sister, and neither will exploit the other’s weakness. God’s spirit will call the people from the East to join hands with the people from the West and the people from the North to join hands with the people from the South, and all will seek the other’s good. None will smite his brother nor deal deceitfully. They will sing at their labors and be thankful for the fruits of the fields and factories. Their soldiers will learn the arts of peace; their strong men the ways of service …”

I think he would want us to be two-pocket people — though dust and ashes, be integral parts of the universe. He would have us work to bring people together. 

Happy Birthday, Clarence. We will carry on acting accordingly.