Manana

Manana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective
by Justo L. Gonzalez
Abingdon Press (1990)

Author Justo Gonzalez presents many different lenses for the study of God with his words that challenge readers to unpack their paradigms of theology. The author captures the tension between a religion of the powerful and the powerless, and of mainstream society and the edge of society. The Hispanic culture in the United States represents a deep history of working out a cumulative relationship with God based on the tension of that premise. Gonzales summarizes this book by saying that “the experience of being a part of the ethnic minority has led me to reinterpret the meaning of the Bible, which I still cherish as a result of my previous experience of being part of a religious minority.” (26) He outlines the concept of manana, which means “tomorrow” in English, but he uses it as a theological term for hope in God’s economy for Hispanic people who have been oppressed and lived in poverty for generations. The Holy Spirit empowers people living in struggle to embrace God’s hope for a brighter future tomorrow.

This was a very challenging book for me to read because I come from a background of a position of power and privilege in America due to my skin color and where I was raised. The author brings a prophetic voice to the concept of what it means to be a Christian. I was very impressed by the depth the author went in which to strip down my biases, but I would have liked to have had more content about proactive measures that mainstream society can implement to participate in the process of manana. The book seems to be written to Hispanic minorities and other people who experience oppression. It is not necessarily intended to outline strategies for how persons in positions of power and privilege may participate in the reconciliation process. Then again, a book about how people can choose to give away power and privilege might not exactly be a best seller in the United States!

I am reexamining how I interact with people in Homewood. How often do I offend people by being insensitive to the complexities involved in one person’s struggle to overcome systematic injustice and oppression? I repented often when reading this book because I have projected so much of my cultural and spiritual biases onto the young people I mentor. I am not alone in this. Gonzalez points out that, “In every denomination, power and prestige in society at large translates into power and prestige in the church. It is as if a higher understanding in the social hierarchy were an indication of a closer connection to God. Thus while we do not lift up our eyes to the holy places where the baals are worshiped, we are often invited, by the church itself, to lift up our eyes to the stories of success where today’s baals are worshiped.” (119) As North Way Christian Community continues to expand our influence in Pittsburgh, and specifically in Homewood, it will be important for our large, mostly middle class or affluent, church to grasp the concept that we are not trying to pull people out of poverty into our definition of success. We should seek to bring the hope, or manana, of Jesus Christ and nothing more. We are not able to fix any person or any neighborhood. We simply need to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all of our outreach efforts.