As I type this, my siblings have been exchanging pictures and videos of my Mother. Today would have been her 100thbirthday. She left this world not quite two years ago, and I wish you could have known her – a remarkable lady!
100 years. A Century. An amazingly long span of time. And yet, it passed so quickly – too quickly.
Throughout most of human history, 100 years would pass and virtually nothing about human life would change in any significant way. For thousands of years, farmers did the best they could, utilizing the strength of animals to help. Travel was done almost exclusively on foot, and so, most people died essentially in the same place where they were born. Technology was virtually non-existent – if you can believe it, people played golf with sticks or hickory-shafted clubs, and used golf balls made from feather-stuffed pieces of leather for hundreds of years before things finally began to improve. [And no, I am NOT old enough to have played with a “featherie”, thank you very much!]
Beach And Atlantic House Hotel, Nantasket, 1920
Yes, for most of human history, time appeared to move slowly. But that is no longer the case, and it may never be that way again. Think of how the world has changed since my Mother was born in 1920. The ways people travel, the ways they work, the ways they communicate, the ways they think, and more – all of that is different now. My Mother witnessed astounding changes in her lifetime. And now, things still continue to change at breakneck speed.
But not everything changes quickly. My Mother was born just a couple of months after the passage of the 19 Amendment of The Constitution which finally gave Women the right to vote. Can you even imagine a world in which this was not possible? My Mother was part of the first generation to have never known a time when Women could not vote. And yet, for over 144 years in the USA, Women not being able to vote was simply the way things were.
This change did not come easily or quickly. There was much opposition over the course of the years leading up to 1920. Sadly, some of that opposition came from Religious Leaders who, while straining to force a few difficult-to-understand passages of Scripture to fit into the world of modern American Politics, had failed to recognize the timeless “weightier matters” [Matthew 23:23] of Equality and Justice.
I would like to say: “Thank goodness we have moved beyond such poor hermeneutics” [meaning the methods by which The Bible is interpreted]. But, wouldn’t you know it, back in May of this year, a story hit the News about a Mayor of a suburb of Dallas who asked that women be prevented from leading prayer at the public City Council Meetings, because it “goes against the teachings of the Bible”. Apparently, 100 years isn’t long enough to make some things change.
In 1868, 52 years before my Mother was born, the 14th Amendment of The Constitution was passed, guaranteeing equality to all regardless of race. But this change did not come easily or quickly. There was much opposition over the years. It was nearly 100 struggling years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus in 1955, before Ruby Bridges had to be escorted by Federal Marshalls to school in New Orleans in 1960, before Governor George Wallace had to be forced out of the doorway to the Auditorium on the campus of The University of Alabama to allow black students to enter the school in 1963. Sadly, some of the opposition came from Religious Leaders – not in fighting against equality as they had on the issue of Women’s right to vote, but in saying that the timing for equality was not right [see the amazing “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Dr. King in 1963, addressed directly to these Religious Leaders]. Apparently, almost 100 years wasn’t long enough to make some things change.
And yet, by the grace of God, I believe things have been changing since those sorrowful days of the 50’s and the 60’s. The “weightier matters” of Equality and Justice are continuing to become more and more a part of who we are now as a people. I realize that we have not yet fully arrived. The struggle “to form a more perfect union” is a journey, and we are still on that journey.
At least, that is how I see it through the eyes of a nearly 63 year old white guy, who was taught by his Mother that everybody is the same, and that all must be treated with dignity and respect. As in most things, there have been times when I haven’t lived up to her teaching, and for that I am truly sorry. But things have gotten better in my lifetime, both for me and for our Nation. I pray God will help me do my part to concentrate on the “weightier matters” of Equality and Justice. Maybe by the time my 100th birthday comes, it will have been long enough to make everything change.
Ambrose K. Ramsey III
Shepherd
