Why don’t you get me?

by Terri Lackey

Dear Siri, Facebook Messenger, Alexa and other voice-recognition tools,

Why can’t you understand my Southern accent? When I say “well,” you type “whale.” When I say, “our,” you type “iron.” When I say “fire,” you type “far.”

What’s up with that? Why don’t you get me?

Readers might wonder, “How is this diatribe related to Jesus or the Gospels as a Women of the ELCA blog should be?”

I’ll tell you how.

Jesus (née God) loves everybody equally. That includes people of all skin colors, from all countries and parts of the world, of all denominations and even those without denominations or beliefs. That includes people with African, Australian, European, Middle Eastern, Asian, South American and Mexican accents.

That includes me: a Southerner.

When I asked Siri why she couldn’t understand my accent, she said, “Hey, this about you, not me.”

It’s about me

Isn’t it always about us? Isn’t it always about how we feel, not how others might feel?

Do you remember what Alexia Salvatierra said at the Tenth Triennial Gathering last July in Minneapolis? She said that seeing injustice in the world is the first step to taking action to correct it.

“When you look out into the world, do you see anything that breaks your heart?” she asked.

In her presentation (which you can see here), she named some of the injustices that break her heart.

What breaks your heart?

Women of the ELCA adopted several actions, memorials and resolutions at its July 2017 convention to right injustices in the world. At every convention since the organization’s beginning in 1988, our voting members have named the wrongs they see and worked to correct them.

[bctt tweet=”We are not only an organization of quilts…; we are an organization that takes action.” username=”womenoftheelca”]

In 2014, Women of the ELCA tackled human trafficking, bullying, immigration and a Liberian hospital with insufficient electrical power. We continue to address those issues today. Doubtless, had the Dream Act been forefront in the news in July, we would have had something to say about it.

We are not only an organization of quilts and funeral suppers; we are an organization that takes action and addresses “the evil committed by others on our behalf.”

While Siri (et al.) not understanding my Southern accent breaks my heart, I reckon we have bigger fish to fry.

What unnecessary and unjust suffering breaks your heart? And, what will you do about it?

Terri Lackey, director for communications for Women of the ELCA, was born and bred in Nashville, Tennessee.

Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash