Some of the situations I deal with
every day are ratchet. They are. They just ARE.
Ratchet is a urban slang term derived
from the older, more formal English word wretched,
and meaning exactly the same thing: bad,
pitiful, deprived, depraved, miserable, etc., etc.
Does that mean that the circumstances are ratchet or that the people in the circumstances are ratchet? My days are a mix of both.
I deal with some the most noble,
generous, hard-working people I’ve ever met---- some of whom are homeless. I also encounter some of the most selfish,
profane, predatory, and arrogant people I’ve ever seen----- some of whom are in
junior high school (and I don’t mean teachers).
When you walk into wretched, it’s
there. Whatever your political leanings,
no matter what your position on the relevant social issue, the situation is
what the situation is. The choice of
adjectives doesn’t alter reality.
Jesus said: For the poor you will have with you always; but Me you do not have
always. (Matthew 26: 11; John 12: 8)
We usually stop quoting and thinking
after the poor you will have with you
always. At which point we throw up our hands in holy resignation and
declare, “It is what it is. Let’s go
home.”
Hold on there, Speedy. Cross-reference and also read Mark 14: 7.
Jesus’ full statement was: For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good;
but Me you do not have always.
It is what it is; but whenever you
want to, you can do something about it.
You can either say, “Dang, this is
so ratchet. Somebody should do
something,” and then pick up your bag and leave.
Or, you can say, “Dang! This is so ratchet. I’m going to do something to help,” and open up your bag and get to work.
Especially if you claim to be a Christian, if you choose the first option----- that’s wretched. That’s you being spiritually ratchet.
Or, you can say, “Dang! This is so ratchet. I’m going to do something to help,” and open up your bag and get to work.
Especially if you claim to be a Christian, if you choose the first option----- that’s wretched. That’s you being spiritually ratchet.
Because
you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not
know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelations
3: 17)
I know how bad it is where I
go. I’m fully aware that many of those I
want to see healed are suffering from self-inflicted wounds. I’m conscious of the fact that I’m diving
into an ocean of generational curses trying to save one drowning family at a
time. I see the hundreds of years of
history and billions of dollars in economic interests with vested interest in
the continued exploitation of people I’m trying to empower.
It’s wretched. I know.
It’s wretched. I know.
So I do what I do every day. I pray and then I open up my bag and get to
work. That’s what Jesus told me to do
for them. That’s what Jesus did for my
wretched/ ratchet soul.
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community
organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership
development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of
the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership
development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry
at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .
You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .
If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry.
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541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
