Maybe you know the 1972 movie, Deliverance. It portrayed those who lived in wooded areas as dangerous, scary, eager to inflict fear, damage and injury. I was in my early 20s, but already loved going alone to our family cabin hidden deep in the Minnesota woods. It had no neighbors for a mile, a long driveway off the gravel road, no electricity, no phone, no other cabin in view. Folks who’d seen Deliverance told me about how the movie changed them. “After the movie, when we drove up to the woods, we noticed people looking at us ‘funny.’ We felt we had to be prepared to fight. It was scary. We were sure they wanted to hurt us; we knew they didn’t like us.”
Not wanting to fear going to the cabin, I skipped the movie.
I was lucky, for I knew the woods and the people well. I knew that the Paulsons, Lyttenins, and Hellicksons wore certain clothes (like flannel shirts and suspenders), carried special tools (like chainsaws and pick-axes), and jumped out of pickup trucks with ease because of who they were and what they did. They weren’t scary, but after Deliverance, many people felt fear when seeing them!
My growing up had given me a chance to know folks who lived and worked in the woods of Itasca and Roseau counties. The fear the movie brought was disrespectful and hurtful to them. Way back then it made me sad that there could be this kind of fear that swept people up. Recently I’ve been reminded of that sadness, and how fear increases fear, which further deepens fear.
I consider myself fortunate for many reasons. One is being comfortable in the deep woods and with people who live in them. Another is because my mother grew up in the southern United States. Visiting family there, all those years ago, she taught us about the presence of racism that threatened especially people who were black. She made sure we knew racism’s horrid impact. My mom recognized the prejudices that had become instinctive from her growing up. Unlike those who’d seen the movie Deliverance, she refused to let stereotypes stay formative, and worked her whole life to overcome them within herself. She also helped us understand that even in Minnesota strong prejudices against people of color, including Native Americans, existed and injured. She wanted us to have another way.
Today my family includes descendants of Norwegian, Ukrainian, German, and Mexican immigrants to America, and one of my grandmothers was part Native American. We are fortunate in that diversity, but sadly, fear still impacts my family—my nephews’ Hispanic appearance results in their being viewed suspiciously.
It is a sorrowful time now, for our nation, because we are fearful of one another. So in this day, let us ask God for strength, as individuals, community and nation, to work as my mom did to overcome our own fears. Let us ask God to help us, so that we learn to not fear others based on movies or what others say. Let us ask God that no matter who we are, we learn to not despise others. In fact, in these times, let us pray that we hear and listen to the words of Jesus, “Love one another, as I have loved you.”
It is not easy, but it is work we need to do.
Last Sunday a prayer in our church included this, “O God, reconcile all…tear down the walls that divide us, that the peace of Christ may bring harmony and accord.”
To that prayer I add, “Lord Jesus, help us to love one another, as you love us. Holy Spirit, stand by us, encourage us to hold onto you and who you call us to be. Help us become a nation desiring to set aside fears. Help us forgive; help us learn new ways; forgive us our trespasses; deliver us from all that divides. Amen.”
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This week our contributor is Pastor Kris Garey of Trinity Lutheran, Hovland.
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