History Is Now
23 And the LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23)
Who am I and where do I come from? At this time of national, racial, and cultural contemplation some are looking to the past in an effort to construct reasonable and rational explanations that can frame and direct our path forward. But, while our past informs our present, it need not necessarily define our future.
The story that continues in Genesis 25 tells us of the personalities of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah - Jacob and Esau - and also the cultures of two communities. During her very difficult pregnancy, God told Rebekah that the children she carried (and the people they represented) would be divided, and that societal norms - like the elder son being given greater inheritance rights - would be reversed. Esau is thought to be the patriarch of the people of Edom, and Jacob the patriarch and namesake (after his name is changed in Genesis 32) of the people of Israel. Because the rights of the firstborn were particularly fraught in the case of twins, the people of Israel saw Jacob as the underdog who used his cunning to get what had been arbitrarily given to his brother.
Our society today is built on systems of hierarchy that seem - and often are - designed to keep one person or group of people oppressed while another is advantaged. We do not have to live bound to the caste systems we have created. Our history is tied to both Jacob and Esau, but our legacy doesn't have to be. We can choose to live justly - to create systems of equity where no one has to take the gifts of liberty which belong to all of humanity. When future generations look back at this time, what story will they tell?
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. 111 Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. (Psalm 119: 110-112)
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