Standing on the Shoulders

I am not the first (or in the first million) to use the phrase. We are like people standing on the shoulders of giants, seeing further only because of those who have preceded us.

Last Sunday as we celebrated All Saints Day at Old Mission, our opening prayer included the phrase - "Be present with us...as we celebrate those whose shoulders we stand on..." We do see further, know more, and can improve our lives and the lives of others because of so many great people who have come before us. Science, theology, and the humanities all build upon their work. I will continue to use this phrase with this meaning.

At the same time, on Sunday morning I heard this phrase in a different way. There are others who we also stand on.

I think of some current and retired colleagues in ministry who are LGBT+. I am a better pastor because of them and stand on their shoulders. And I also risk just standing on top of them, preventing their voices from being heard because of the weight of mine.

Some of those colleagues are women and ethnic minorities. I stand on their shoulders, informed and being formed by their wisdom and grace. And I acknowledge that historically women and (at least in my denomination) ethnic minorities in ministry have been crushed. We have stood on them, I have stood on them, instead of lifting one another up to greater heights.

It is exaggeration, I think, to say that everything in our country that is good has come about because of slavery. It is not exaggeration to say that we in the dominant culture have, well, dominated. We crushed those in slavery and then stood on top of the descendants of slaves making their journey to prosperity more difficult. It's hard to stand up when somebody is on top of you.

The intent, I think, of the phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants" is to remind us that we should be grateful for those who came before us and to accept humility lest we think we have accomplished what we have done on our own. I still believe both of those ideas. I would simply add one more. We must be aware not only of those who have lifted us up, we must also be aware of those who we have simply stood on and (often unintentionally) pushed down in the process.