Countdown to 30: Day 24

I read Cry, the Beloved Country for the first time my junior year of college. It was the worst two weeks of my life up to that point since I had a major test in each of my classes, a chapter of my honors thesis due, a term paper due, and I was supposed to read this book that I had no desire to read for my honors discussion group. Since there are only a limited number of hours in a week, Cry, the Beloved Country did not get read in time for the discussion group and it was apparent that I was the only student in the room that had not completed the assignment. I knew that I would have to hurry up and read the book and get something turned in as soon as possible in order to keep from having to make up the discussion group or get an incomplete. I was determined not to like the book.

I began reading after the class, maybe even that night, and once I started the book, something happened. The story changed me. It was a simple story, written in a simple way, that convicted me of areas of my life that needed to be changed. Since it was a story about South Africa, I was deceived into thinking it would not have implications for me in America until I was too far into the book to protect myself from the message. It was a story about racism without being about racism. Racism was institutionalized without placing blame on a particular aspect of government. It was a story that personalized a criminal without making him a hero or, in some ways, a victim other than of his own choices. The true victim accomplishes almost as much in death as he did in life, and his death is an irony given his convictions. It is a book that makes you uncomfortable as you read it. It is about forgiveness and justice, mercy and punishment.

I read the book after going to New Orleans the second time. I went to a high school that was not diverse at all. I attended Baylor where diversity was present, but not really true. I had preconceived ideas about criminals. I did not believe in institutional racism. I believed in justice, but really did not know my responsibility to forgive. Cry, the Beloved Country changed the way I thought about crime, criminals, inner city problems, and my responses to all of the above. Cry, the Beloved Country taught me that personal relationships mean more than institutional attempts to fix the problems. It is not the government’s responsibility to fix the inner cities, although it is often necessary to depend on the government. It is not the government’s responsibility to feed the poor or heal the sick because it often leads to more problems. Instead it is the responsibility of the church, and individuals investing in lives, to reconcile relationships in the inner cities. God used this book to teach me important lessons that have remained with me throughout my experiences since that time. I have had to deal with forgiving people who have wronged those I loved, even murder. I have also seen those I love commit crimes. Fortunately I have been able to see the human behind the acts and even how society and the church have failed the human, but how God can still redeem the human and the situation for His glory. Next to the Bible, this book has probably done more to change my life and my perspective than anything else I have read.