About Safety Pins and Fishes

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:  4-7, ESV).

PICTURE THIS: Last year my apron strap broke and instead of fixing it I pinned it with a large safety pin. I’ve grown accustomed to pinning it up and don’t think too much about it…until yesterday.  Yesterday the pin slipped out of my hands, fell  to the floor, and slid  under the kitchen table. The very table where a diverse group of humankind have dined and laughed, played board games and talked. People labeled by society as drug users, gays, blacks, whites, mixed, red necks, religious nuts, Hispanics and even a German or three…but in our home, we simply call them friends and family.  I used my “Evans’s monkey toes” to move the pin closer and picked it up, such a simple move. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that should motivate a blog post…but then again, God tends to  use simple things to get our attention.

IT MIRRORS THIS:  Recently there has been a movement for the LGBT and other minority individuals to identify with a safe person. Ideally, if someone feels in danger, if they see someone wearing a safety pin, the pinned person is someone to turn to for help or inclusion. And to be honest, when I first heard about this, I shook my head and mumbled out loud about how silly that seemed to me – please keep reading, how this ends will surprise you – and that we should all just get along as human beings without some silly proclamation…and then God…

A LITTLE HISTORY: Did you know that Christians used the ICHTHIUS Fish as a safe symbol during times of Roman persecution? Back in that day, followers of Christ would draw half a fish with another individual completing it. This was indicative of a safe place for like-minded folks to safely gather…in other words, it was their safety pin.

REFLECT ON THIS:  Almost daily, I wear a cross necklace. I cannot say for sure why I wear it but I catch myself toying with it when I'm talking or simply listening. But now, I have to ask myself what others, especially non followers of Christ, may think when they see me do this. Are they thinking that they need to be careful of what they say or how they act? Do they think I’m showing off my faith or judging them? I wonder if they feel safe or cautious, loved or rejected by me? 

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THE WAY I SEE IT: Finally my point and a question: Why are we wearing safety pins or displaying fish symbols? What does this mean to the people we are around on a daily basis?  Our neighbors, folks like our coworkers, the Walmart sales clerk, our spouses, to the LGBT or religious human next door?

IF we are flaunting these safe symbols for their intended purpose, a symbol of unity and a place of safety, why in the world is there so much hatred and exclusion in the world?  Why is it so hard for us, all of us, to treat one another with respect as people first and foremost? For us Christians, maybe we’d do well to remember that the same Jesus who sat at supper with the sinners of that day  was the same Christ who was nailed to a cross by the religious brass. Do we fail to love others because we fail to see people like Christ saw them? Rejected and despised  is the phrase found in Isaiah 53 that describes how He was treated by His neighbors. They did it to Him and we are doing it to each other. 

Now for those outside the religious sect: how safe are folks like me around you? Would you exclude me for wearing my cross instead of your safety pin? How likely are you to label me without knowing me as a person? How safe am I with you?

Folks NOW is the time for a new perspective. A perspective that views life and all people as precious. A perspective that recognizes the deep diversity that runs within our America.  A perspective that We the People need to learn in order to see our Neighbors as people without labels. To see one another as living, breathing, flawed, unique, scared, proud, individual PEOPLE.  And I don’t care if we choose to wear a safety pin or a fish: if we are wearing our beliefs on our chest we need to ask ourselves why. Is it  to let all humankind know they are safe with us? If so,  then by all means, we should continue to do so…BUT if it is a symbol of exclusion, then we ought not own any of the above…let alone put them on. 

Personally, I think it's time for all of us to take off our self-righteous, hypocritical cloaks and expose our skin of humanity. It's time for us to stop making life about safety pins and fishes and more about loving our neighbors as we love  ourselves.

In Christ with love and compassion,

Coach Kelly

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