S1-Day 2: God in Dirty Places: A Dirty Dalit Reflection

I was looking for a right theme to reflect on, but I delayed to choose. However, the right theme left alone for me was, ‘Dalit.’ Not everything is dirty everywhere, the idea of dirtiness differs according to context. I believe I have chosen the dirtiest theme for the Indian context. Let me begin my reflection with the words of Aquinas, "the Christological question begins not with who is the Christ or what is the Christ; it begins with where is Christ." God is in dirty places; I would say searching for historical or biblical proofs for God’s choice to be in dirty places is not my intention. However, I write this because God in dirty places isn’t a new theme anyway, Christmas is God in a dirty place and Crucifixion is God in a dirty place. Therefore, I would go with God becoming dirty with those who are in dirty places. 

I went back to Jesus of Nazareth to understand his comfort in being in a dirty place or being with those who belong to the dirty place, but the identity as Jesus of Nazareth itself is an answer. “Can anything good comes from Nazareth?” is not an innocent question. Jesus’ interest towards Galilee and his decision to pick his disciples from Galilean background was not an accident. Dr. Dhayanchand Carr explains about the dirtiness connected with Galilee and how those people living in Galilee were treated as low and impure by the dominant Jews. The question, ‘Can anything good comes from the Nazareth?’ is the reflection of that dominant mentality. God in dirty place is itself a liberating hum, yet, it does not finish within that, it is about the dirtiness becoming the factor of liberation of all. In His entire journey, Jesus of Nazareth did not distance Himself from the so called “dirty places and dirty people.” However, the crucifixion is the culmination here. 

Let me share a fascinating incident I have come across. I was part of a conversation, where the participants were asked to choose a picture in which they actually see God. So, on the one side it was a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ with white sparkling dress, surrounded by angels and on the other side was "Piss Christ." Many did not know what the picture "Piss Christ" was all about! Piss Christ (Immersion) is a 1987 photograph by the American artist and photographer Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a small glass tank of the artist’s urine and blood. When many called this art a blasphemy, Andres Serrano said, “What it symbolizes is the way Christ died: the blood came out of him but so did the piss and the shit. Maybe if Piss Christ upsets you, it's because it gives some sense of what the crucifixion actually was like...” I was left there with tears. It was the moment when Jesus of Nazareth turn to be my Christ through His bloody, torn up and smelly body. His dirty smelly body was the beginning of my liberation. 

The so called ‘dirtiness’ surrounded the lives of Dalit people is the dirtiness gained through the historical oppression, the long political rejection and through the failure of humanity. It is the dirtiness of the hunted bodies of Dalit women and the bodies of Dalit men submerged in the sewage water. As the dirtiness cannot be separated from the crucified body of Jesus Christ, the divine identity of Jesus Christ cannot be separated from the dirtiness that surrounds the lives of the Dalit people. This so called ‘dirty’ people who live in the ‘dirty’ places carry the essence of crucifixion. The crucified dirty body of Jesus Christ is the identity of Dalit people. And this so called ‘dirtiness’ of Dalit people is the beginning of liberation and the liberation of all…! 

Prayer:

Dear God, we thank you for making us from the dirt of the earth and living with us, the dirty people and dirtying yourself with your own blood, like all of us Dalits. Grant us the strength to expose the dirtiness in those so-called clean ones, so that all of us, as dirty as we are, become one in you. This we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ who dirtied himself in his own blood, urine and sweat on the cross. Amen.

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Author: Benedict I R 

About the Author: Benedict belongs to the CSI Trichy-Tanjore Diocese. He completed his Bachelor of Divinity from the United Theological College, Bangalore. He worked with the Student Christian Movement of India, Bangalore in the Communication Desk. He is presently working as a church worker, waiting for his ordination.