REV. JOHN JACKSON
By Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson
In the classic work by novelist Ayi Kwei Armah, titled The Healers, the Healer tells the young protagonist the difference between inspiration and manipulation. “Inspiration, the Healer says, speaks to the spirit of a person and inspires them, but manipulation is a disease. It is the result of a spiritually blind person who only sees a body. Then, if they want you to do something, they force or trick your body into doing it, even against your own spirit’s direction. That’s manipulation. Manipulation steals one’s body from their spirit. It cuts the body off from its own spirit’s direction. The Healer is a lifelong enemy of all manipulation. The Healer’s method is inspiration.”
Manipulation beloved will drive people to go against their own interests because someone has targeted their bodies and refuse to see their spirit.
Manipulation will cause people to believe people who are known pathological liars, but because the person was more focused on the bodies of people and not the souls of those people, then the people targeted end up trusting someone who is untrustworthy.
Manipulation will have poor working-class people listening to and following wealthy people who care nothing for them, but because the rich know how to aim their sights on the body because they are spiritually blind, the working poor end up making the rich people richer.
Jesus in the gospel of Matthew put it like this, “You will know them by their fruits…a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.”
When the result is people losing jobs arbitrarily without due process or employment protocol, then a bad tree is bearing bad fruit because manipulation was the intent.
When seniors have to decide each month whether they will buy food or medication because their insulin is exorbitantly high among other medications, then a bad tree is bearing bad fruit because manipulation was the method.
When veterans cannot get adequate comprehensive care because funding is being redirected from the people’s souls to the billionaire’s pockets, that is a bad tree bearing bad fruit because manipulation was the plan all along.
True healers and people who have compassion for all are the enemy of all manipulation because they seek to bear good fruit as they seek to nurture the souls of people.
You will know a tree by its fruit. If people are in a constant state of chaos because they are being bombarded with negative and disheartening news from their political leader’s oppressive policies then you know that manipulation was the objective; thus, a bad tree is bearing bad fruit.
However, if people are being paid a living wage and are afforded reasonable prices at the grocery store, you know that a good tree has borne good fruit because inspiration has been at work.
When people don’t have to worry about inflated medical debt but have healthcare for all like persons in the House and Senate do, and when they are protected from mistreatment on their jobs, that is a good tree bearing good fruit because inspiration of the soul was the motive.
When children are loved and protected after they are born and able to grow with a sense of peace, security and love instead of the focus being on pro-birth, then you know that a good tree is bearing good fruit because inspiration is hope.
You will know them by their fruits, so be wary when your body is the object of manipulation instead of your spirit being cultivated to pursue its divine direction.
And always remember that xenophobia, nativism, fascism, racism, militarism, sexism, homophobia, materialism, and fear-mongering are all forms of manipulation of your bodies and not an inspiration to your souls that always bear bad fruit from bad trees. You will know them by their fruit.
Be well, Be authentic and Stay woke! Uhuru Sassa!
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.