Reclaiming "woke"

A Facebook friend shared this slightly blurred image on Saturday, an effort to re-establish integrity of the term "woke," used increasingly as a pejorative lately. We've all seen or heard it used by folks challenged in the self-awareness department to describe progressive causes and people.

But I like this: "Woke means awakened to the needs of others. To be well informed, thoughtful, compassionate, humble, and kind. Eager to make the world a better place for all people."

That source of all knowledge, Wikipedia, tells us that "woke" is an adjective meaning alert to racial prejudice and discrimination that originated in African-American vernacular English and, beginning in the 2010s, came to encompass a broader awareness of racism, social inequalities, sexism and the like.

Negative use of the term grew as racism, America's national weed, burst into full bloom again and began to scatter its seeds.

But "woke" is just another way of saying "awakened" or "enlightened," a complicated process understood in the Buddhist tradition, not so much in the instant gratification culture generated among those of us who are for the most part culturally Christian.

I'm certainly not "woke" quite yet --- but it is a worthy goal.