Summer Plans, Packing, and Privilege

As I write this, my summer annual leave is drawing near. Of course, you may be reading it months later when summer seems a distant dream.

In any case, I am currently in the process of tying up any work loose ends I don’t want to leave dangling while I am away, while also packing, planning and spending far too much money on various random items that suddenly seem essential when travelling.

After all, the absolutely perfect pair of shoes which will cover all weathers/circumstances/activities without triggering pain in my bad foot may in fact exist, right?

I’ve pretty much given up on the dream of being the sophisticated well-seasoned traveller who has mastered the art of travelling light. My attempt to put together a neutrals based capsule wardrobe for a city break last year was a dismal failure. I found all the beige and taupe depressing and I still managed to overpack.

So this year I am embracing the navy and the bright green and the flashes of orange or purple which have found their way into my suitcase.

I’m not entirely impractical. I’ve resisted the temptation to pack my beautiful forest green raincoat (it really is the most beautiful rain coat in the world. Sometimes I open my hall closet just to look at it). It’s not that I don’t expect rain. I am going to Dublin and Newfoundland after all. But with its full circle skirt, it’s not the most packable or airline seat friendly of items.

But this tiny bit of discipline aside, I’m back to my old ‘pack extra just in case’ self.

Of course, I am in the privileged position of having a choice of clothes, not to mention the privilege of the freedom and ability to travel. I am very aware, especially these days, how many people lack those choices. While there have been times in my life where my freedom of movement has been very curtailed by circumstances or finances, I have never suffered the restrictions or deprivations that some people experience simply because of the circumstances or location of their birth.

I remember being struck by this when I read Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. One of the female protagonists was a teenager in the same era when I was a teen. While I had experienced some sorrow by my teens (my father died suddenly when I was 10) I still lived a relatively comfortable life. And while I considered myself reasonably outward looking, I know now I was quite sheltered. I don’t think I had any real understanding of the kind of life girls my age in many places around the world might expect.

Maturity, travel, life experience, a curious mind, and an enquiring faith have all served to broaden my horizons. But I expect I am still in some ways sheltered and I am definitely privileged.

Privilege is one of those words that gets tossed around and sometimes used as a weapon in various culture wars. But really it is just a recognition that not everyone has an equal start in life, nor equal access to the things that might improve their circumstances. Innate advantages and disadvantages can be personal, or they can be structural.

The bible recognises these essential inequalities in human experience, but it’s a mistake to think that the bible teaches us to accept them. In both Old and New Testaments it is made clear that with privilege comes responsibility. The biblical prophet Isaiah was particularly fiery in condemning injustice and those who oppress the poor or disadvantaged. Jesus regularly confronted the injustices and inequalities of his day and challenged his followers not simply to be empathetic but also to take action and to do something about it.

As I continue to live my privileged life I am consistently humbled by the courage and grace with which so many people around the world manage to survive and even thrive in circumstances which I would find intolerable.

No doubt this won’t stop me moaning about my inability to achieve a ‘capsule wardrobe’. Recognition of my own privilege doesn’t take away those privileges or entirely eliminate the attitudes and assumptions that accompany them.

But I can try to also adopt a generous and respectful attitude towards those whose circumstances, and therefore their attitudes and assumptions, may be very different from my own.

Even more importantly, I can turn privilege into action - using that privilege to challenge injustice or oppression; to give generously to support the poor or disadvantaged; to monitor my personal choices and consumption of limited earthly resources.

It’s not enough, of course. But we don’t have to do ‘enough’. We just have to do something, and to keep doing it, however and whenever we can.

So wherever you are this summer - travelling light, carrying the whole world with you, or fixed in place by choice or circumstances - may God lighten your heart and your load as we journey on together.

Every blessing

Rhona