Recently, I went into a local store where
it is possible to accumulate “rewards” over time that can result in a discount
at the cash register. As I was making
my purchase, the woman behind the counter said, “You can use your rewards today
to have $5 taken off your total! Would you like to do that?” I said yes, and on the screen of the credit
card scanner, this message came up for me to press (or not): “Confirm
redemption!”
There I was, standing at this counter a few
days before the beginning of Passover, which retells the story of the Israelites
being redeemed from slavery. I was
being asked to “confirm my redemption!”
I would guess that this message would resonate with Christians at this
time of year as well, whether the word is “redemption” or “salvation.”
So I thought about how I can really confirm
my redemption. What it is that will
redeem my work, my life, my community and the world?
I believe that we can confirm our
redemption if we consider the values that lie at the foundation of what we do.
I recently participated in a series of
discussions about raising the city minimum wage at Las Cruces City Hall. These talks were facilitated by the local Great Conversation organization. Concerned citizens, organizers, business owners,
minimum wage workers and a faith leader (yours truly) engaged in three 90-minute
sessions to consider issues from a wide variety of perspectives on the need for
and effects of an increase in the minimum wage.
In the second of three sessions, I
presented this list of values for the workplace that apply to both employers
and employees: dignity, respect,
responsibility, learning new skills and abilities, commitment, dedication,
showing hospitality and congeniality, caring between employer/employee as
people, recognizing each person’s individuality, approachability, ability to take guidance and constructive
criticism, patience, fairness, support, affirmation and appreciation.
I was surprised that some members of the
group saw this list as a form of judgment against their approach to their
business. My sole intention was to create a
lens through which we could talk about how wage and values come together. It may be that practicing this entire list of
values would create such a sense of well-being and camaraderie in a workplace that wage would be but one aspect of the feeling of community generated within the work
environment.
Due to fear of the negative effects of
proposals on the table for increasing the minimum wage, this values list became secondary, if not
totally submerged, within the “legislative” discussion of the details of one
proposal or another.
Confirming our redemption will not come only
through legislation. 50 years ago,
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. We know that it made a major difference throughout
our country. We also know how easy it
is, unfortunately, for individual communities and states to undo such
pioneering policies. That is happening
right before our eyes. For some
Americans, changing the law did not change their perspectives at all. Prejudice, arrogance and bigotry still loom
too large in our nation.
That does not mean, however, that we
should give up on stating and restating values.
The Bible states the basic golden
rule, “love your neighbor as yourself” and adds “love the stranger – someone who
is not exactly like you – as yourself” as well. Scripture declares many moral standards that
apply to all people, including many statements about taking care of workers and
the poor, the fatherless, and the widow.
The Rev. Jim Wallis, in his book On
God’s Side, reminded us that we enhance the greater good when we show concern
with the “least of these,” the people who may never share in even momentary economic improvements,
much less growing prosperity.
In
Jewish terms, “confirming our redemption” means repairing the world (Tikun
Olam) and doing righteousness/justice, tzedakah,
for our fellow human beings.
That is one of the great lessons of
Passover. Do we want to be like Pharaoh,
hanging his head on one side of the sea, realizing that hardening his heart
against the humanity of the Israelites working for him led him on a path of
self-destruction?
Or do we want to be like the Israelites who
were rejoicing on the opposite shore, having overcome their fear to cross the
sea that would only part when they, themselves, took the first steps?
We have the power to confirm our own
redemption through how we view and treat each other. We are all created in the divine image. Every one of us is here to be loved,
appreciated and valued. Recognizing
everyone’s dignity and showing respecting will bring those gifts of
consideration back to us.
The Haggadah, the prayerbook of the
Passover meal, calls Matzah, the unleavened bread that serves as a focus of the
meal, the “bread of affliction.” a bread
that did not rise as the Israelites hastily escaped slavery in Egypt. This special prayer continues, “Let all who
are hungry come and eat. Let all who are
in want share the hope of Passover….now we are still in bonds. Next year may all be free.”
Even a lowly bread that did not rise, a
bread with little taste, a “bread of affliction,” is the centerpiece of telling
a story of how a people left slavery and confirmed their redemption and
freedom.
Even
a small change of heart can enable us, now, to confirm our redemption together as we
realize the joy that can come from eating at the same table and truly being one
community.
May we strive for such unity and understanding
within our community and our world every day!
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