Dismembered Ethics in the Body

“…and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” 1 Cor. 12:13-14

the white eye cannot say to the black hand

i have no need of

(you)r ethics

(you)r wisdom

(you)r history

(you)r suffering

(you)r social lens 

to shape mine

the white head says 

come, stand on our mountain

where the moral air is clear

and serve Christ

but brown feet say,

it is under the persisting weight of your oppression

that we found Him

if one part suffers

every part suffers with it

if one part dismisses the suffering of other parts

then its politics

or doctrine

may be soft as steel

but its ethics,

disembodied

what serves the ends of capitalism 

may deform the means of Christ;

if you’re seeking moral high ground,

heed the consensus 

of indispensable parts

where you find no privilege 

the voiceless and vulnerable parts cannot be protected

with malignant cells;

an unborn life is only as cherished 

as her born life

is afforded the horizon of equity

the problem with preaching from mt. affluent is

the most honored parts below

at the margins 

can’t hear you

or recognize your voice 

as one who has heard theirs

equal concern for each other

requires lowered ears

and hearts of flesh

so eyes can say to hands,

rebuke me!

help me see!

God has put the body together

and Christ has paved the path

of poverty

suffering

abuse

at the hands of empire and religion

as a template

the ethics of the poor

prophesy

to the morally-dressed idols of the rich;

any movement that lays claim to life 

but smears the plight of the oppressed 

is sanctioned by darkness

we don’t need you

says the fellowship of eyes

severed from the Spirit;

we talk to each other

we seek moral clarity

we think

we vote or we abstain

why would eyes ask a consensus of hands how to see?

Image: Dissect, painting by Dan Sproul