But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
Maya Angelou
Dangers of Power Imbalance
In Philemon, Paul addresses the relationship between Masters and slaves which is probably one of the riskiest relationships for an abuse of power. When one person has complete control over another person, it creates the psychological dynamic of dominator and helpless victim. Obviously, power equals control and control equals abuse of power.
In the United States before the civil rights movement, the abuses of power were overt and horrific towards slaves. Slaves were beaten, mutilated, raped, tortured, and killed by whites who were considered fine upstanding Christians in their communities.
Of course, the behavior of the SS during the Holocaust was even more horrendous towards the Jews. We so often read the statistics of the Jewish extermination, but don’t quite understand the Jews were not just exterminated, but were tortured including women, children and infants before being killed. One horrific example of thousands of stories:
A railway man named Zabecki observed “One of the SS men who had arrived at the station that day – he was Kurt Franz, deputy commandant of the camp – came out with his dog along the road. The dog, scenting something, pulled the SS man after it into the thicket. A Jewess was lying there with a baby; probably she was already dead. The baby, a few months old, was crying, and nestling against its mother’s bosom. The dog, let off the lead, tracked them down, but at a certain distance it crouched on the ground. It looked as if it was getting ready to jump, to bite them and tear them to pieces. However, after a time it began to cringe and whimper dolefully, and approached the people lying on the ground; crouching, it licked the baby on its hands, face and head. The SS man came up to the scene with his gun in his hand. He sensed the dog’s weakness. The dog began to wag its tail, turning its head toward the boots of the SS man. The German swore violently and flogged the dog with his stick. The dog looked up and fled. Several times the German kicked the dead woman, and then began to kick the baby and trample on its head. Later, he walked through the bushes, whistling for his dog. The dog did not seem to hear, although it was not far away; it ran through the bushes whimpering softly; it appeared to be looking for the people. After a time the SS man came out on the road, and the dog ran up to its ‘master’. The German then began to beat it mercilessly with a whip. The dog howled, barked, even jumped up on the German’s chest as if it were rabid, but the blows with the whip got the better of it. On the ‘master’s’ command it lay down. The German went a few paces away, and ordered the dog to stand. The dog obeyed the order perfectly. It carefully licked the boots, undoubtedly splattered with the baby’s blood, under its muzzle. Satisfied, the SS man began to shoot and set the dog on other Jews who were still escaping from the wagons standing in the station” (The Holocaust, Martin Gilbert).
The SS man’s dog even had some sort of elementary understanding that the baby needed help, and displayed more empathy than its master. Some of the criteria of “Antisocial Personality Disorder” in the DSM-V: “Self-esteem derived from personal gain, power or pleasure. …absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior. Lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others; lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another. …exploitation as a primary means of relating to others…use of dominance to intimidation to control others.”
This wasn’t the behavior of just one man, but hundreds of SS officers and German civilians. How does such a horrific mindset happen to such a large number of people at the same time such that they could ALL be identified as having “Antisocial Personality Disorder?”
There is a well-known research study that demonstrates what happens to personalities when the power balance becomes extremely unequal. In the Stanford Prison Experiment in August of 1971, 70 applicants answered an ad and were given diagnostic interviews and personality tests to screen out those with psychological problems, disabilities or criminal or drug activity. Out of those 70 applicants 24 were chosen to be subjects. The boys were divided into two groups, one group to play guards, the other group to play prisoners. The experimenters used consultants to set up the closest approximation to a prison as they could in the basement of the Stanford Psychology Building. All interactions were videotaped, cells were secretly bugged, and an intercom system was set-up to create a realistic prison environment. The prisoners were picked up by police, brought to the “prison,” made to strip naked, wore uniforms and were referred to by their “I.D. numbers.”
Initially, what the experimenters observed is that the guards began punishing the prisoners by having them do push-ups. Later research revealed that in Nazi concentration camps the same behavior occurred using push-ups as punishment and then escalating to standing on the prisoners backs while they did push-ups. This same escalation was observed in this study. The prisoners rebelled as a result and subsequently the guards became stressed, began cursing, placing prisoners in “solitary confinement” and escalated their intimidation techniques to the prisoners. The aggression towards the prisoners increasingly became worse such that some of the prisoners began suffering from extreme emotional health issues. The psychological conditions due to escalating aggression, humiliation, intimidation, and other negative behaviors from the guards became so bad the experiment had to be shut down after 6 days. “At this point it became clear we had to end the study. We had created an overwhelmingly powerful situation – a situation in which prisoners were withdrawing and behaving in pathological ways, and in which some guards were behaving sadistically. Even the “good” guards felt helpless to intervene, and none of the guards quit while the study was in progress. Indeed, it should be noted that no guard ever came in late for his shift, called in sick, left early, or demanded extra pay for overtime work” (Zimbardo, Phillip; The Stanford Prison Experiment). An inference can be made from this last statement from Zimbardo that the guards were receiving reinforcement and/or reward from having power over other people.
Zimbardo concludes that prison conditions have worsened and there are more Americans in prisons than ever before with over 2 million people imprisoned indicated in a 2005 study. “The worsening conditions has been a result of the politicization of corrections, with politicians vying for who is toughest on crime, along with racialization of arrests and sentencing, with African-Americans and Hispanics overrepresented. The media have also contributed to the problem by generating heightened fear of violent crimes even as statistics show that violent crimes have decreased.”
Excessive Use of Force
There is a worsening problem in our society with the excessive use of force by police officers. According to the ACLU report released June 2014 there is increasing militarization of police forces all over the country. Military equipment began streaming into police departments due to the 1033 program which was implemented in the 1989 as a tool in the “War on Drugs.” There are few limitations and in fact the Federal government compels that those departments that receive military equipment use it within one year of receiving the equipment. Since September 11, 2001 the use of military weapons, tactics and equipment has substantially increased.
There is no oversight, and the use of military style SWAT teams is significantly used more in minority neighborhoods when serving warrants and drug searches. The major problem is that officers are using the SWAT techniques when there hasn’t been any reliable evidence of weapons or threat of violence.
“Militarization of policing encourage officers to adopt a “warrior” mentality and think of the people they are supposed to serve as enemies.” Dr. Peter Kraska, Professor of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University determined in a survey that “…the number of SWAT teams in small towns grew from 20 percent in the 1980’s to 80 percent in the mid-2000’s, and that as of the late 1990’s, almost 90 percent of larger cities had them. He also estimates that the number of SWAT raids per year grew from 3,000 in the 1980’s to 45,000 in the mid-2000’s” (ACLU, War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing).
A typical SWAT team response: A battering ram or “flashbang grenade” is used to enter the house with SWAT teams wearing combat helmets and “battle dress uniforms,” a bulletproof vest with “POLICE” emblazoned on both sides, and armed with high-tech weaponry. The ACLU research indicates in over 50 percent of the SWAT entries weapons were not found in the houses that were forcefully entered. There have been many unnecessary injuries and deaths due to the use of excessive force by SWAT teams. One example of many:
“After the Phonesavanh family’s home in Wisconsin burned down, they drove their minivan to stay with relatives in a small town just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. On the back windshield, the family pasted six stick figures: a dad, a mom, three young girls, and one baby boy. This van, containing several car seats, was parked in the driveway of the home where they were staying when, just before 3:00 am on a night in May of 2014, a team of SWAT officers armed with assault rifles burst into the room where the family was sleeping. Some of the kids toys were in the front yard, but the Habersham County and Cornelia police officers claimed they no way of knowing children might be present. One of the officers threw a flashbang grenade into the room. It landed in Baby Bou Bou’s crib. It took several hours before Alecia and Bounkahm, the baby’s parents, were able to see their son. The 19 month old had been taken to an intensive burn unit and placed into a medically induced coma. When the flashbang grenade exploded, it blew a hole in 19 month old Bou Bou’s face and chest. The chest wound was so deep it exposed his ribs. The blast covered Bou Bou’s body in third degree burns. At the time of this report’s publication, three weeks after the raid, it was still unclear whether Baby Bou Bou would live….The SWAT team was executing a “no knock” warrant to search for someone who did not live in the home that was raided: Bounkahm’s nephew, who was suspected of making a $50 drug sale. ‘After breaking down the door, throwing my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children, the officers-armed with M16’s-filed through the house like they were playing war,’ said Alecia. The officers did not find any guns or drugs in the house and no arrests were made.”
ACLU reports in another case a 26-year-old woman holding her 14 month old son was killed when a SWAT team entered her home while opening fire. They were looking for her boyfriend on suspicion of drug dealing. The ACLU emphasizes many times in their June 2014 report that there has been NO oversight regarding the extreme militarization of American policing. It is also indicative in many of the cases reported there is a lack of empathy by the officers for the property that was destroyed, or the innocent people who were injured.
2010 Aiyana Stanley-Jones died when a flashbang grenade was thrown into the room where she was sleeping.
What is developing is the more military equipment and training the officers receive the more the balance of power shifts to the police. When police officers feel they are almost invincible due to the military equipment protection they have, the more likely they are to use excessive force and abuse their position of power. More and more police departments are using SWAT teams with search warrants and drug suspicion primarily in minority neighborhoods. Typically, the SWAT team goes to white neighborhoods only for suspected terrorist or kidnapping activities.
Police in South Carolina pose with their Bearcat
The need for Power
Why is the need for power so strong? Why does a person after achieving some semblance of power crave more and more, and become less and less empathetic towards those they consider powerless? Nayef Al-Rodhan in Fragile and Post Conflict States, International Relations, Political Science states that dopamine plays a significant role in the need for power. According to Al-Rodhan power creates a high that is expressed in much the same way addiction does in the brain with the subsequent increase in dopamine levels. If power is withheld cravings occur at the cellular level such that an individual will resist giving up their power.
The brain is neurochemically motivated to seek pleasure regardless of social acceptability, hence the strong behavior of addiction. Dopamine in moderate amounts increases cognitive function, impulsivity, risky behavior, and creates diminished empathy.
Also, research has found that a person who gains power has less ability to perceive the emotions of those with less power. Psychology research literature “…suggests that people in positions of power tend to act in a self-interested manner and display reduced interpersonal sensitivity to their powerless counterparts” (Hogeveen, Inzlicht, and Obhi, Power Changes How the Brain Responds to Others, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2013). Hogeveen, Inzlicht and Obhi conducted research that measures resonance (an automatic response when observing the reactions of others) in high and low power essay scenarios. They found that motor resonance indeed is related in high and low power individuals in a linear association. Meaning that the more powerful a person is, the less amount of resonance in their interactions with low power individuals.
It is easy to understand how power develops, is maintained and reinforced by the neurochemicals in the brain, and additionally strengthened in the dynamics of social interactions. Therein lies the danger. Power creates dangerous complex structures in interpersonal ways and socially that maintain oppression of the less powerful. For example, once a leader achieves high power in a dictatorship, the well-being and needs of the those he governs no longer are important such that the ethical, moral and social effectiveness of a culture are significantly diminished. Subsequently, the oppression of the people is successfully accomplished by taking away their religion and other rights.
Testosterone and Dominance
The increase in power behavior isn’t just reinforced by brain chemicals and social behavior, but also by the role of the hormone of testosterone in the brain at not only a chemical level but also a cellular level. Pamela Smith with co-researchers at Radboud University in Nijmegen, in 2008 discovered that when subjects posed in “expansive power poses” they had a significant increase in their testosterone levels with a subsequent decrease in cortisol levels. Inversely those subjects who were told to pose in “contracted poses” or low power poses had a decrease in testosterone and an increase in the stress hormone cortisol.
High power poses
Low power poses
The effects of testosterone in power behavior is significant. Ronay, R and Galinsky, A.D. determined in their research that: “Maintaining a high status position requires an increased sensitivity for aversive events and impending social threats, particularly those that challenge the high social status of an individual. … testosterone appears to be able to influence such processes; in particular, it appears to confer high motivational drive, low fearfulness and high stress-resilience, either directly or via interactions with other hormones and neurotransmitter systems” (Lex talionis: testosterone and the law of retaliation. (2011) J. Exp. Soc. Psychol). Dr. James Dabbs Jr., Psychologist at Georgia State University states in his research that social dominance is closely related to testosterone when competing for status. In other words, the higher in status a person obtains by competing for dominance, the higher the testosterone levels which can lead to aggression and risk taking behavior.
It can be determined from the indicated research that police officers dressed in military gear, carrying high power automatic weapons such as the M-16, driving military armored vehicles, and receiving military combat style training will most likely have elevated levels of testosterone and dopamine. Having increased levels of dopamine will feed the desire to maintain the feeling of power and decrease empathy. The officers begin seeing themselves as the “good guys” and the minority neighborhoods they enter into as the enemies due to lack of proper understanding. In their minds, their tactics are necessary and if there are unnecessary injuries and deaths even among children then that is acceptable collateral damage.
Increasing understanding: Police Officers
When I was a Juvenile Corrections Supervisor we were having a group discussion with 13 male juveniles and a couple of male Correction Officers. One of the kids, looking at one of more popular Correction Officers who was a previous college football player said: “I bet if we had someone like you to mentor us, and help us we probably wouldn’t have ended up here.” He then turned to the other boys and asked how many of them were raised without a father. All of the boys raised their hands except for one boy. That particular boy had a father, but he was alcoholic and abusive.
Once the kids were settled into the structure of the Detention Center with caring adults around them, they acted like any other kid. Most of the time they responded to positive adult interaction in a positive manner. Many of them had their grades go from D’s and F’s to A’s and B’s in the Detention Center classroom. If an adult has a mindset that these kids are bad, and/or criminals and not worth rehabilitating, then the kids won’t have a chance to become successful adults.
In poor and minority neighborhoods there are many adverse variables that come into play to create and maintain social economic problems. The problem of crime in poorer neighborhoods is not solved by demonizing the residents of such neighborhoods by perceiving them as the “enemies” and creating barriers to understanding to improving conditions.
In Social Class and Power by Heather E. Bullock and Bernice Lott report that “classist stereotypes” create reinforcement of the stereotype by a, “coherent set of socially accepted attitudes, beliefs, values, and opinions that provide moral and intellectual legitimacy to the unequal distribution of social value: (Sidanius, Devereux & Pratto, 1992, pp 380-381). In the United States there is a belief that class boundaries are liquid such that hard work and success is rewarded by upward mobility. Americans believe they have control over financial success more so than many other countries (Sawhill & Morton, 2008). However, Sawhill & Morton’s research has determined that indeed it is parents earnings that is the best predictor of children’s upward mobility. The researchers go on to report that the U.S. lags behind “Denmark, Norway, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Germany, and France in rates of social mobility.” Many Americans believe their country is a “land of opportunity” but as mentioned reality does not uphold this belief.
Unfortunately, this leads to stereotyped thinking about the poor being the cause of the their own circumstances. The consequence of this stereotyped thinking leads to reduced support for welfare programs, and greater support for tax breaks for the wealthy. “Stereotyping, devaluing, and discrimination of poor and low-income groups by those with greater power may be particularly likely to occur in these settings due to convergence of context and culturally reinforced beliefs shared by authority figures (e.g., teachers, health care providers). Dominant groups benefit from the negative stereotyping of those with lesser power, because stereotypes serve to “normalize” and justify social and economic inequality by ascribing “bad” and “good” traits, respectively, to low-power (low-income) and high-power (middle-and upper-class) persons and groups” (Bullock & Lott, 2010).
Due to the increasing abuse of power by police officers in minority and poor neighborhoods, it is evident stereotyping by police officers towards minorities (commonly referred to as racial profiling) and lack of empathy towards the poor is creating a negative, dangerous dynamic that is going to get worse unless there is intervention that creates understanding and compassion.
Police Officers using military type equipment while inappropriately targeting minorities is creating anger and fear in these communities. Subsequently, this has created increased anger among minorities in the targeted neighborhoods which is causing police to be even more aggressive. As the police become more aggressive, the risk of injury or death increases.
Columnist Charles M. Blow of the New York Times reported his son was held at gunpoint by a Yale police officer who said he resembled a burglary suspect. The son is black and a Yale student. Stephen Carter at Bloomberg News wrote an editorial in response to Blow’s outrage describing an incident with his own African-American son attending Yale: “In the summer of 2007, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was filming at Yale. Our son was an extra in the film, and, following instructions from the producers, arrived on the set with no personal belongings. After the second day of filming, he was entering one of the residential colleges to visit a friend. A Yale police officer stopped him and questioned him. He told the officer that he was a Yale student, but of course he was carrying no identification. Our son told the officer his name, which residential college he was in, and what his mobile phone number was. He explained why he was not carrying any identification. The officer openly disbelieved him – but that wasn’t the end of the story. At this point, the obvious course for the officer to follow would have been to check to determine whether a student of that name was in the college our son identifies, and to either ask the master of the college or look at his photograph. The officer did neither. Instead, the officer, a couple of days later, called the mobile phone number, evidently to get further information. As it happened, our son was in Paris, where he was preparing for a summer of study abroad. The officer asked if our son could come in. He answered that he was in Paris. The officer was openly incredulous, demanding to know how it was that his phone worked abroad. Evidently, an international calling plan was somehow impossible to imagine.”
Carter concludes his editorial by writing: “I won’t deny that policing is more an art than science, and that those who do that difficult work often don’t get the credit and support that they deserve. But police officers are trapped in the same web of racial history and complexity as everyone else, and as long as the web survives, these incident will continue to arise. As a parent you do what you can to teach and train, you provide an education, you launch your children on what you hope will be a successful and ethical life. But the moments of interaction between black men and the police remain always fraught, and no demonstration or television specials, or reassurances from college administrators are going to change that any time soon.”
In both of these cases, the police officers had trouble accepting that a young black man would be a student at Yale. These cases are not out of the norm, but there are hundreds of cases of young black males being harassed by police officers just because of their skin color. As mentioned earlier in this blog, there is a disproportionate number of minority males incarcerated in the United States.
There is danger in stereotyping, and danger in lack of empathy and understanding. There is danger in a response of anger, and danger in the subsequent aggression.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9)
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore (Isaiah 2:4).
Now is the time for deeper understanding. Now is the time to come together in peace. Now is the time for the police to put away their military weapons, and give up their power to give grace to the powerless. There are young men hungering for positive male role models. There are poor neighborhoods who need a helping hand, there are minorities who yearn for acceptance and understanding. The time is crucial as there is a turning in civilization that can’t be turned back again. Once the threshold is crossed into detached killing by police operated drones, there will be no turning back, and the way to peace and understanding will be much more difficult.
Jesus, The Lion of Judah
Jesus is called the Lion of Judah and yet he was so tender he wept frequently. He was strong, but he was loving. He was sometimes angry, but only at injustice. He advocated for the poor, widows, and the oppressed and stood up against the Jewish leaders who didn’t believe He was the Messiah. Jesus exemplifies the perfect leader; powerful and yet never abused His power.
It is extremely difficult to overcome the siren call of power. But, oh, how dangerous that call is…it is built into our psyche, dwells underground in our unconscious mind, and rears its ugly head when we least expect it. And once it appears, it is almost impossible to control, reinforced by what goes on it our brains chemically and at the cellular level.
The only way to control the negative effect of power is to give up your power. The act of giving up power allows love, compassion and empathy to grow. It doesn’t mean that if you give up your power you become powerless. You maintain your strength and the integrity of your personality. You allow the light to fill up your soul, and save your soul. Study the leadership of Jesus. Over and over He teaches us to give up our power and how to do it.
In Matthew 20:20-28 we read Salome, the mother of “Zebedee’s sons” goes to Jesus to request that one of her sons be allowed to sit at Jesus right hand in the Kingdom of heaven, and the other son at his left side. She clearly shows her lack of understanding of heaven, thinking she is advocating for her sons to have status and power alongside of Jesus. When the other disciples heard what she had asked, they became angry. Jesus responded by teaching the disciples that they must be willing to give up their need for status and power to enter into the Kingdom of heaven; “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
In Luke 14, Jesus teaches his listeners not to take the place of honor at the banquet table because the host may ask them to move down the table to place another guest in their place, but if that person takes the least honorable place, then they may be asked to move up to a more honorable position closer to the host. “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Do not take the status and power for yourselves in pride, but humble yourselves – give up your power, and God will raise you up due to your sincere humility and love.
Again, in Philippians, Paul teaches the same concept. “Jesus, being in his very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient unto death – even death on a cross!” God’s son gave up his power, the very power Satan attempted to tempt Jesus with when he was in the wilderness, to become a servant of all. The power Satan tempts us with is used to destroy others, and destroys our own souls. “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthews 5:5). Meekness is humility and gentleness. If we live in humility and are willing to give up one’s rights for the benefit of someone else, then we are exemplifying Christ.
“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.’ ‘Then Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus answered, ‘Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.’ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:6-17).
The disciples are sitting around a low table with Jesus where their feet are easily seen at the table. Typically, they would be wearing sandals and their feet would be dusty. It was common practice to have the feet washed by a servant before sitting down to a meal. Most likely there wasn’t a servant present, so the disciples sat at the table without having their feet washed. Jesus notices that in spite all of His teachings about being a servant, not one of them has offered to wash the others feet. It would be beneath them to lower themselves to the level of a servant and wash feet. Jesus strips his robe off, and tells Peter he is going to wash his feet. Peter initially refuses, probably in great embarrassment, watching Jesus, their Master take the place of a servant. Jesus tells Peter that he has no part in the Kingdom if he doesn’t understand what he is attempting to teach him. Shortly before this event, the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. Status and power rears its ugly head again, but Jesus again demonstrates His love by giving up His power and status and places Himself in the role of a servant.
The Love that Produces Peace
Recently, I was in downtown Denver, Colorado and observed a demonstration of people holding signs that said: “F— the Pigs!” Behind them, in an enormous show of force from the Police Department were about 30 police vehicles following behind about 20 demonstrators. The demonstrators were showing their support of the victims of the many recent cases of excessive use of force by police officers.
During Jesus’ time Roman soldiers utilized the practice of impressment, where they could command a Jewish man or boy to carry his gear for one mile. Typically, the Jewish men would not carry the gear even an inch further than one mile, and most likely grumbled the entire time in anger. But Jesus taught: “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles” (Matthew 5:41). The Jews were resentful of the Roman soldiers, and felt oppressed and powerless against what they perceived as an unfair law. But by telling the Jews to carry the packs two miles, Jesus is placing the power back into their own hands. The second mile is their willingness to carry the soldier’s gear. It is their choice, and places their hearts into the set of a beautiful service of a servant. And not just a servant, but a servant of God. Imagine the look on the Roman soldiers faces as they are told by these Jewish men, that not only will they carry their gear one mile, but they would like to carry it two miles. Imagine the exchange of power during this second mile. Can you see the power unbalance begin to balance, as the soldier’s heart softens a little toward the Jewish man. Can you see the Jewish man begin to soften as well as the soldier smiles at him?
Put away your anger, your malice, and walk the second mile. Those in minority or poor neighborhoods, have a potluck cook-out and invite your local police department. As you drive by the station, stop and leave some home cooked cookies with a note of thanks. Whenever you see a police officer, smile and wave. Invite some officers to a community meeting with a meal, and attempt to dialogue without anger, but with a motive of increasing understanding. Trust me, the next time a SWAT team arrives in your neighborhood, there will certainly be more restraint in throwing a flashbang grenade into a house. Treat others like your neighbors and not like your enemies and you will see some amazing changes take place.
Jesus calls us to love God with all our heart, our mind, and our soul, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is how we follow Jesus. We must give up our power, our status, or anything else that hinders the flow of love. It is a hard path to follow and just when we think we are doing a great job by going to church regularly, tithing, and volunteering, Jesus appears and tells us to look twice. He reveals to us we are still in our comfort zones, and we are not on the path to Him like we think we are. My Christian brothers and sisters who are police officers, follow the harder path to Jesus no matter the cost. Be the advocates and leaders who make decisions to create peace and not violence. My brothers and sisters in Christ who live in these minority or poor neighborhoods that are being targeted by the police, take a hard look at yourselves, and take the harder path to Jesus. It is the path of love that sacrifices our egos, and our power. It is the way of love that creates peace and understanding. It is the path where we walk the extra mile because we know that is where Jesus can change hearts. It is the extra mile where witnessing can occur, and where love flows where no one thought it could ever flow. NOW is the time to walk that path, no matter how difficult, no matter how much you have to sacrifice, NOW is the time to follow Jesus.
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