We were in Louisiana over the weekend visiting R’s family. On Sunday all of us went out for breakfast. R, his little brother, and I rode in our car. When we were getting out of the vehicle at the restaurant, we got a stare down from an older, white woman who was preparing to leave. Any of you who have ever seen the movie ‘Save the Last Dance’ will the recall the classic scene on the train when an older, white passenger is staring at actors Sean Patrick Thomas (African-American) and Julia Stiles (Caucasian) who are traveling together on a date to the ballet. Once Stiles realizes they’re being observed she turns it on and starts necking with Thomas. I didn’t quite go for that, but when the woman continued to stare at us, I smiled and waved at her. Needless to say she looked away and drove off. It made me laugh, but at the same time it really saddened me. When we went into the restaurant, the host found it necessary to ask if I was with the group, even though I was the first to follow him when he said our table was ready. Thankfully R and I haven’t experienced any outright hostility because of our interracial marriage, but prejudice isn’t dead by any means.
In his book “Searching for God Knows What” Donald Miller says our culture is built upon a life-boat mentality. We’re always comparing ourselves with each other and looking for those differences that set us apart from others. We try to make sure that if anyone is going to get thrown off the lifeboat it won’t be us. We can’t seem to understand that God isn’t looking for a reason to love us; that He loves us no matter what. Prejudice and racism have been around a long time and I’m sure will always be around in some form or another. We all struggle with it at some level. I think maybe the only way we’ll ever be free of it is if we come to know and understand God’s love in all of its perfection and beauty.
“Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world”………
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1 comment:
Hi dear,
Just been reading and studying in Galatians (justification) and noting how we tend to see people, including self, as striving to get good enough for the Lord, whereas HE says, "Come, and I'll do the necessary work in you." Your response was good. Some folks just need to see what's real and forget the myths of the past.
Love you both bunches, DAD RO
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