de-whatified?

yesterday, evan left straight from teaching summer school math to meet the gas company. they said to be there between 12-4, and he was already late. we had already had a huge tangle of problems with our stove, gas hookup, gas pipes...we need the gas to have sears install the stove, and sears is scheduled for monday. this was evan's one and only day to meet the gas company, and if you're not there, they just leave. knowing all this, he had to leave right after class, even though it was the rare occassion when a student was still asking questions.

i got back from work at 3:45pm, and the gas company still had not arrived. at 4:15pm evan called the gas company, and a computer told him someone would call him back in 15-20 minutes. at 5pm, we had to leave to meet friends for dinner in oberlin. at 6:30pm, someone called evan's phone and did not leave a message.

we can't charge late fees to the gas company. we can't get reparations for the inconvenience they caused. they can't return the potential for learning lost for that student left. we can't ask them to come when they promise, or in a shorter timeline, but they can leave us without gas for another week or two. we can't even get a real human being on the phone. it doesn't just make a person feel small, insignificant, and overlooked...it's dehumanizing. if we were important enough, this company will keep its word or communicate with us as human beings.

i'm not calling out the papers and crying my eyes out, this is just a minor inconvenience and easily reparable. but in the short few months we've been living and working in this neighborhood, we've seen more and more of these inconveniences. many service companies won't even come to our neighborhood, or arrive late, or don't communicate, or make comments. they see the houses, they see the people, and they judge: this isn't worth my time. even the roads, even the phone lines are deteriorated because to the phone company and the transit authority don't think we're worth the time.

so what's the answer? what's the solution? one is to use our social capital, to organize and petition and whine until someone finally listens. another solution was suggested in national geographic recently as a solution to excessive energy consumption: live locally. break down into smaller units so that each neighborhood carries the responsibility for servicing its own electric, schools, gas. it works in the suburbs and small towns. sometimes. but another felt need is community. reconciliation is possible in a community in a way it's not as a customer of a megacorporation.

somehow, the question popped into my mind: how would God feel in this situation? God being infinite and all powerful can't be dehumanized...but God as Jesus could be, and definitely was. but God can be, in a sense, de-deified. if God really is the most powerful being in the universe, then nothing we can do can make God stop being God. but we can treat God rudely, or act like God doesn't exist at all. and what does God do? "the sun shines and the rain falls on the just and unjust alike." and God as Jesus didn't respond to the jeers and curses of his previous admirers by saying "well, i'm God so you're all going to hell!" Jesus didn't have to prove his identity, especially if his whole life and ministry wasn't proof enough. Jesus let it happen, conquered evil by refusing to participate in it, and in the end let omnipotent God bring the proof of Jesus' identity, humanity and deity in the resurrection.

it is God who has created our humanity, and it is God who sanctifies us so we can participate in the divine community. so do i have to prove my humanity by demanding the respect i'm due? to ask for it, to express my hurt is just and a gift. but if that is not enough to prove that i am human and worth dignified treatment, then i can wait for the resurrection and healing of my spirit that can only come through God's power.