Today’s Scripture
Reading (November 22, 2016): 2 Kings 15
Last week, the Washington Post ran an article with the inflammatory
title “Ape in Heels” in reference to a quote
made about Michelle Obama. The quote was from a small town director of a
non-profit group in West Virginia, and it was referencing a photo of the first
Lady Michelle Obama and Melania Trump sitting down in the Yellow Oval Room having
tea. The comment was first posted on Facebook (the comment has since been removed.) “It will be so refreshing to
have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House. I’m
tired of seeing a (sic) Ape in heels.” The mayor then chimed in her agreement.
After an outcry, both protested that the comment was not meant to be racial,
but merely a political statement about
the state of America over the past eight years.
“Ape in heels” is racist. But even if it wasn’t, it is a derogatory
way of labeling another human being.
Whether you agree or not with the Obama’s politics (and there are many Obama
decisions that I question), Barak and Michelle have led the nation with class,
something that I hope we all realize before they leave office in January. The “Ape
in Heels” comment was indefensible.
But we are all labeled in some way. Maybe it is skin color.
Or maybe it is your country of origin. (Just
a reminder, I am Canadian. You know, I hail from that country just north of the
longest undefended border in the world, a people
who say “eh” and apologize a lot. And I am sincerely sorry about that.) Maybe
it is language. Or maybe it is a sickness.
Azariah is another name for Uzziah. Some experts believe that
the name, Azariah, might be a copyist’s error. Uzziah reigned in Judah for an
incredible 52 years. The first 24 years of his reign was as a co-regent with
his father, Amaziah. Uzziah would have helped Dad with the day to day running
of the country until the day that assassins who opposed Amaziah killed him, just
as the assassins had killed Uzziah’s grandfather, Jehoash. Maybe the presence
of assassinations in his family line caused Uzziah to rule cautiously. Essentially
Uzziah was a good king, but in the later portion of his days, pride grabbed
hold of Uzziah, and he failed the God
that he had declared that he had wanted to serve.
It was at the moment of his failure that Uzziah became
sick with leprosy.
To read this verse, one might believe that Uzziah’s whole
life was a battle with the disease, but of the 68 years of Uzziah’s death, it
was really just the last decade that was
spent alone in a different house as leprosy ran its course through his body. Yet this is the label the author of Kings has
chosen to place on the reign of Uzziah. He was the leprous king.
Of course, he was so much more than that. We all are much more
that the labels that attempt to define us. So maybe it is time to leave the labels behind.
Tomorrow’s Scripture
Reading: 2 Chronicles 26
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