2020 Was the Year of the Underdog
“…the last shall be first…”
Honestly, I’m not comfortable joining the collective sentiment declaring this year as the shittest year on record. Having had health, food, and shelter for me and those I love, I feel way too privileged. That’s not to say— especially as a Black soul — that I was exempt from the grief this year brought.
However, I did find comfort in a line echoing in my head all year like a prophecy come true in 2020. It’s a line at the end of Story Time with Jesus. (Disclaimer: the ellipsis is me effectively ignoring context to interpret this verse how I see fit, something to never try at home).
“So the last shall be first, and the first last…” — Matthew 20:16 KJV
The consensus among the few commentaries I’ve read interprets Jesus saying God’s grace is given to those least expected. The thing is, I’ve spent most of my life hearing about God’s grace and how he gives it to the crappiest among us, and the constant reminder of humanity's relative crappiness gets real old.
So, here’s what I’m thinking instead. And I’ll dare to say this with no biblical scholarly evidence in tow. Forget God giving grace to the crappiest among us. Grace — strength, power, beauty, wisdom — is innately found in what the world deems as the crappiest among us. By “world,” I mean…
