To be “woke” is a term I hear at my college fairly often. It is a slang sort of word that means to be aware of the underlying social justice issues and to not just accept things as they are. This matters a great deal in the communities for people of color in this country and for people who might be different with regard to religion or other cultural issues.
Being “woke” matters because it means to be aware of things the general leadership would rather you and I did not think about. In my generation, we expressed it as “don’t trust anyone over 30”. It is the notion that perhaps we should not just blindly follow authority.
I believe that this is what is happening in the organized Church today. People are waking up, are woke, to the idea that perhaps following rules blindly is not a good choice. After all, wasn’t this the issue for the Sadducees and Pharisees? They were proud of their ability to follow the law. And Jesus woke them up to a whole new way of thinking and believing.
Richard Rohr writes about the notion that we are born with the Indwelling and indestructible spirit and that we must first awaken to its presence and then choose to let it be the guide for our lives. Now this makes sense to me, we are all God’s beautiful creations but until we realize and acknowledge that it is true for us, we miss out on so much of life. This is the meaning of free will and perhaps this is what people mean when they say they “have been saved”. Perhaps they are now “woke” to what has always been going on behind the scenes of their lives.
TMM