Living Out Loud: I don’t care

By Rev. Renita Green, Columnist

I don’t care.

Homelessness. Poverty. Crimes of poverty.

The criminalization of poverty.

The incarceration of the poor.

These realities make me not care.

The regular, consistent, persistent harassment of our children by the police.

Systemic racism shaping the minds and hearts and practices of the police.

The white police turning on the police of color and ethical police.

Young people charging, “F**k the police.”

These realities make me not care.

Broken healthcare systems.

People put out of hospital rooms.

People dying in hospital emergency rooms.

People self-medicating to stay out of hospital rooms.

People in prisons who need hospital rooms.

These realities make me not care.

Capitalism.

White collar crime.

Preacher collar crime.

Rape. Incest. Abortions forced and denied. 

False holiness. Self-righteousness. Apathetic prayerfulness. 

These realities make me not care.

I don’t care about institutional religion.

I don’t care about what I am supposed to be.

I don’t care about political correctness.

I don’t care about decorum, decoration, or rituals.

I don’t care about being proper or being perceived as being holy.

The realities of this world make me not care.

I care about the divine soul that is struggling to stay alive in this harsh and cruel world.

I care about those we have dismissed, not seen, left out, and put out with our religiousisms. 

I care about the sins of injustice that are perpetuated against our neighbors by our distance.

I care about the silence and absence of our religious institutions—collectively and individually.

I care that we’ve made ministry a career profession and not a profession of our faith. 

I care about who we could be if we weren’t being who we aren’t supposed to be.

I care about our feigning godliness while denying the power thereof.

I care about the power that is greater in us than the powers we bow to in this world.

I care about the light that will drive out darkness.

I care about the darkness.

All this other stuff? 

I don’t care.

“What does it profit a Church to gain the whole world and lose its soul?”

The Rev. Renita Marie Green, M.Div., has served as a pastor in the AME Church for the past 16 years. Pastor Renita has contributed writings to the Huffington Post, The Christian Recorder, CNN, St. Louis American, and the local patch.com blog site. Her favorite role in life is being a mom to Chrissi and Darren (Danielle).