Through the stories of the people at her church, Heidi Neumark told a visual description of the injustice she fights and experiences daily. The characters she describes and the situations she must handle are not those of the everyday American, but her passion and dedication are exactly what is needed to spark a revolution in the hearts of those who read her book.
Among all of her experiences as a pastor in the South Bronx, she sees many situations where those who struggle either succeed or die. In many cases, like Burnice, no matter how hard the person works to change their lives and the lives of their children, they just cannot escape the realities of the situations. Neumark states these struggles perfectly when she says, "In my experience here, we live en la lucha (in the struggle) and life is scrapping and sparring all over the place, unwilling to sit still or go down and give up the ghost. The moving ever shall stay because it bears within a dynamic, creative, and indefatigable power--the power of la lucha against monstrous forces that threaten to devour us, but have not and will not because we struggle on" (234).
After reading her book, personally, I feel more connected to the type of justice I am supposed to be fighting for. Before Breathing Space and before taking Living and Leading Faithfully, I knew what injustice was, but I never knew that it was so real and close to me. I felt like justice was an unattainable place that could never be reached and maybe not worth challenging, but the constant heartbreak and sadness told in Heidi Neumark's story made me realize the reasons justice must be sought.
Neumark says, "The distance between the world as it is and the world as it should be tears at my heart" (211). Now, our call is to bridge the gap between these two worlds. We are to make sure that even if we cannot build the entire bridge in our lifetime, we set the foundation for change and make the process a little easier for those following us.
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I really liked your comment about building a bridge between the two worlds, and that even if we dont't build the entire bridge, we need to set the foundation and make a process for change. I also believe that the major problems we have with injustice today need to be stopped. There are too many problems out there for at least some of them to be addressed. The other day in class, we were talking about how injustice that is not right in front of our face is a lot easier to want to deal with than the horrible injustices that are right down the street from us. Like I have said many times, it is much easier to say that we are going to change than to actually do it. However, if we want the next generation to be any better, we need to stop talking and start doing!!
ReplyDeletei feel the same way about Neumark. i think it was the first book that really made me feel incredibly guilty about how little i do, which i guess is good. it brings the injustices around us and shows how little things can make the difference in a community and sometimes little injustices cover up bigger ones. i believe that Neumark did exactly what she wanted to do with her book, and that was to wake everyone up and open their eyes to what's going on
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