I am grateful for the many friends I have had in my life. My parents taught me to love all. My Great-grandparents came through Ellis Island when they migrated to America for a ‘better life.’ Because of this, my mother was mistreated, made fun of, had rocks thrown at her for being a ‘foreigner’ Her school told my grandfather to walk her to school through the back streets (which thankfully he refused and fought back.)
Mom loved all races and ages of others. She led others to let go of racism. She taught it - She lived it.
Gratefully, she welcomed all my friends from every background they came from. I not only had friends of many different races, but friends with different religious beliefs. My mother’s love for others brought Joe and I together. They worked at the same business together. The owners of the business practiced a religion much different than what Joe and my mom practiced and believed. I am blessed to have been taught differently. However, as we know, not everyone has been raised that way.
I do not know what it’s like to walk around with different colored skin. I don’t know the fear in that. I am sickened at the video of George Floyd and I am hurt hearing the voices of my black friends crying out.
Racism is sin. Prejudice comes in all shapes and sizes. We are living in a world where there is as much hate for different political parties as there is for any other prejudice. I believe we are all capable of looking down at someone or treating them differently because they are different.
I keep coming back to 2 Chronicles 7:14. “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
https://www.bible.com/116/2ch.7.14.nlt
We have lived too long in a self-seeking, self-serving world that we don’t have room for Jesus because we can live comfortably without him. The problem is- the more comfortable we are - the less we need him. The less we need him, the less we seek him (and his will.) The less we need Him, the more confident we are in ourselves - and others like us. We start listening to man over God. We shape scripture to our point of view. We believe traditions and stories over the Bible. We all have a belief system enshrined in us from the way we were raised, and in a moment, society is living for itself and reckless pleasures. We lie to ourselves and repeat lies about ourselves and others. We are so glued to our own belief system that we refuse to see truth. Until we can lay our belief system down, and yield humbly to God and his word- then this cycle will repeat itself until Jesus comes back. We will keep perpetuating our views, our hatred, our rights- and we will fall. We will divide and never see this racism boat turn around.
No, we don’t understand and cannot comprehend the past and the hatred on both sides. All we can do is choose to come together and lay this at the feet of Jesus. If we can walk hand in hand laying our differences down and humbly seek Christ’s face- then we can let him form and teach the solution to this hate. There is too much hurt to erase. There are too many mistakes to make right- but if we can move forward from this moment - could we try to work together and walk forward- not only humbly listening to our God, but humbly listening to each other?
I know what I can teach my son. He has a cousin of another ethnicity and color. My cousin and her husband adopted him. We had to figure out how to explain and teach our 3 and 4-year olds that God made all of us different. Our desire is that our sons never treat others differently for being different.
I can’t however go into homes of others to teach them.
Our generation could be the one that stands up to racial intolerance by teaching through love. But we have to work together. We have to be willing to listen. We have to be willing to yield to new ideas. We have to move forward differently than the past.
My prayer is that God would heal our land- of so many things. My prayer is that people will come forward from all colors and choose to work together in this. We must lay the hate down. I know there is a program called ‘Be The Bridge’ led by Latasha Morrison.
Check it out. https://bethebridge.com/
This runs deeper than what has been happening. Only Jesus can fix it, but we need to go to him for help.
