“Woke” or “Awake?”



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(Due to a change in my schedule, Skeptical Faith will be published on Fridays instead of Thursdays beginning Oct. 24.)

I was a latecomer to the notion of “woke,” not realizing until a couple of years ago that it had become a politically charged catch phrase for all things liberal.

According to Wikipedia, woke is “derived from African American English used since the 1930s or earlier to refer to awareness of racial prejudice and discrimination…. The term acquired political connotations by the 1970s and … over time, came to be used to refer to a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexism and denial of LGBTQ rights.”

Now, it appears to be a term of derision used by the right to vilify the left. To me, it's all a bit juvenile and silly.

Biblical

The idea of being “awake, if not “woke,” is biblical, used in the New Testament to urge Jesus’ followers not to bury their heads in the sand but to see clearly what is going on in the world and to be ready for Jesus’ return.

The writer of the letter to the Ephesians uses what appears to be an ancient Christian hymn that urges Christians to be “children of the light:” Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

I remember when studying theology years ago learning the distinction between culpable and non-culpable ignorance. The later occurs when we’re unaware of some fact or situation because we have had no opportunity to know about it. The former, culpable ignorance, is the result of choosing to ignore facts that we know we should observe and perhaps act upon.

Sr. Mary McGlone
An example of culpable ignorance is the way in which we who live in the suburbs may choose to ignore the problems of people who live in the inner cities; or the way in which we choose not to read articles or listen to reports about the suffering in Gaza, Haiti or Ukraine; or ignoring legitimate criticism of those in our political party or our favorite politician; or ignoring parts of the Bible or teachings of our church that are at odds with our politics.

This is what I believe being “asleep” means in the biblical sense.

Sr. Mary McGlone, a nun who writes weekly columns about the weekend Scripture readings for the National Catholic Reporter, recently quoted a poem, written in the mid-1800s, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

            Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God;

            But only he who sees, takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck             blackberries.

Referring to the gospel reading from the evangelist Luke about the Samaritan who returned to Jesus to express his gratitude for being cured of leprosy – the only one of 10 who were cured – McGlone writes:

What Am I Missing?

“Today, it’s as if Christ were standing before us, begging us to open our eyes. In response, we can ask ourselves, ‘What is there to see that I am missing – be it on purpose or because of low expectations? Is my hope too limited? Might my vision be too small or overly centered on me and mine...?

“There’s a lot more than blackberries all around us. Seeing more will change us, more of God’s good and suffering world will invade our being. Are we willing to ask for solidarity with Christ to know and share his mercy?”

So, should we be “awake” or “woke,” the past participle of wake, meaning to be or remain awake. In my view, either works.

 

  


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