Thank God for...The Power of Proximity

By Stephanie Lusienski, Administrator for Finance & Development

This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Houston, Texas and attend the 2018 ELCA National Youth Gathering.  I love attending Youth Gatherings because it energizes me and reminds me that there is hope in the world and there is hope because of the young people of our church.  It also shows me that there is a different lens in which to view the world…the lens through which our young people see it.  Youth Gatherings also challenge me to see things that I often want to ignore or want to deny their existence.

There were many good presenters at this year’s Gathering; in my opinion, one of the best was Mr. Bryan Stevenson, the Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and an attorney who works as an advocate for the poor and the incarcerated.  Mr. Stevenson talked about the “power of proximity.”  He argues that justice and advocacy work is best done in proximity to the people we are trying to help.  He says, “When we move closer to people, when we encounter them in a real way, we’re able to hear their stories and better serve their needs.  When we stay at arm’s length, when we refuse to get close, it’s much easier to judge and dismiss people”.  Mr. Stevenson also shares, “You cannot advocate for someone that you do not understand.”

With proximity, Mr. Stevenson gave the audience a heartbreaking lesson on the need to get close to problems in order to help solve them. Representing a child in custody awaiting trial as an adult after killing a man who had hurt his mother, Mr. Stevenson said the young boy would not speak until he put his arm around the child. He said he slowly and carefully leaned into the boy who in return slowly leaned into him.  The boy then collapsed into tears and told him of the horrors he had experienced in jail. "Who is responsible for this?" asked Mr. Stevenson. "We are. We've allowed our anger and our ignorance and our fear to do unbelievably traumatizing things to other people. Proximity will teach us something about how we need to change."

As I listened to Mr. Stevenson’s stories of proximity and the need for proximity, I was reminded of the accompaniment model of the ELCA.  Accompaniment is defined as walking together in a solidarity that practices interdependence and mutuality. Accompaniment calls us to walk with our neighbors and to bear one another’s burdens.  Our “neighbor” could be our companion church across the globe, the unaccompanied minor looking for a safer place to live, the homeless person downtown or the family across the street.  Proximity and accompaniment encourage us to hear God’s call through our baptismal promise to care for others and the world God has made. 

As we enter into the season of thankfulness, I am grateful for the young people of our church, I am grateful for the neighbors I know and the neighbors I have yet to meet. I am grateful for the grace of God who calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to live in proximity to one another.