Treasure Hunting

I’ve recently discovered a hobby that’s become a joy for me, metal detecting. A few months ago, I found what looked like a piece of junk metal, covered in dirt. I tossed it in my pouch. Nearby I found another piece of what looked like junk or something more modern. Again, I tossed it in my pouch. After I returned to the house and brushed the ‘junk’ off, I was amazed at what I had found. Here’s a picture of the two items.

It’s one side of a Civil War era pistol powder flask along with the spout. Can you spell E- X- C- I -T -E -D? It’s something that I will treasure.  Now, this story may not do much for you, but if you’re a history buff or in particular a Civil War enthusiast, you understand my joy.

How about you? What do you treasure?

I think we all have a sense of what is meant by treasure. Usually it’s something that has a financial value attached to it, like a pearl necklace or a new car or truck. These would be of value to most anyone. And then there are items that have little or no monetary value, and yet we ‘treasure’ them greatly. It might be a letter or card from a special someone, an aged and torn photograph of our grandmother or maybe it’s our feline or canine companion. How can we possibly put a price tag on these? Remember that old credit card commercial?

 What does God treasure?

It doesn’t take much perusal through scripture to see that God places immense value on people…priceless! And while God places supreme value on all people (we’re all made in his image… the Imago Dei), those who are marginalized, the poor, the disregarded, the invisible…these seem to hold a special place in God’s treasury…in his heart!

The scriptures are replete with God’s heart towards them. He hears their cry!

Concerning those enslaved in Egypt.
“The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Exd. 3:7-8)

Concerning those who were hoarding wealth and not paying their workers.
“Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.” (James 5:4)

Concerning the murder of Abel by his brother Cain.
“The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” (Genesis 4:10)

What cries are being heard by God today?

Does God hear the cry of the children who have lost their fathers or mothers to violence, overdose, incarceration or abandonment?

What about an 8 year old child who asks repeatedly if we can stop by Granny and Pop Pop’s house hoping that his father might be there…only to find out that he’s moved to North Carolina. Does God hear his cry?

And a young child you take to church with your family, who never wants to go out and eat afterwards because he wants to hurry up and get home because his father is coming to pick him up…and he’s disappointed week after week. Does God hear his cry?

How about a young girl who’s living in a ‘seedy’ motel with her mom and dad as her father pimps out mom for cash to survive, and she hears the gunshots as a neighbor is murdered a couple of rooms down. And then she asks you if she can bring a couple of her new friends from the motel to church. Is God near? Does God hear her cry?

And what about a 9 year old child who tells you that he heard gunshots while playing in the park and ran to the parking lot of his apartment only to find his ‘step-father’ lying on the asphalt, twitching as he breathed his last breaths, a finger missing and blood on the ground. Does God hear his cry?

 

             Pause…that’s heavy, I know…deep breath…let it out…

                                                                         

                           Do we hear their cry?

Perhaps you say, “I have too much going on already. My soul is overwhelmed with my own heartaches, my own family, and not to mention the world’s issues that are constantly coming through the news feed. It’s all too much!” To even think about stepping into some of the pain I’ve described above just seems TOO OVERWHELMING. You may say, “I don’t have the time. I don’t have the emotional bandwidth. I don’t have the capacity for one more thing.” Believe me, I understand these thoughts and accompanying emotions. I have them too.

It’s imperative to recognize that we can’t solve the world’s problems, that’s God’s job! And, we are not God! At least the last time I checked, anyway! Yet, God invites you and me to join him in comforting those who mourn. And here’s what’s so surprising to discover. While we pursue the Inward Journey of Spiritual Formation through practices such as worship, prayer, scripture, silence & solitude to draw closer to God (an indispensable part of our spiritual formation), when we draw near to the brokenhearted, we find God is there, too…“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

I think I’ll pause here…and unpack this thought more next time. Until then, may I offer us a way to perhaps step our toes in the water a bit, or put our trowel to the ground? Would you venture a prayer with me? Perhaps, something like this, “God, like the relic pictured above, I sometimes only see the debris and don’t recognize the intrinsic value that is present in those covered in debris. That underneath the outward presentation is a beautiful treasure, created in your image and with a good purpose in this life. I believe that you are close to the brokenhearted, to those whose hearts cry out to you…often in silence to those around them. I believe that you hear their cries. Would you help me to hear them as well? Will you show me what you treasure?”

And then, let’s see how God responds to our prayer.

Until next time…

Moving Toward an Unhurried Life

Have you ever been around someone who seemed like they had all the time in the world for you AND that you were the most important person at that moment?  If you’ve been fortunate enough to experience someone like that, how did that make you feel?  I suspect you felt valued, respected, even loved.  I want to be that kind of person. Yet, it’s not typically the case, even when I try to be. My thoughts wander, I begin thinking about myself or I’m thinking of what I’ll say in response to what I’m hearing.  If you’ve had any training in listening skills, you know how important this is, yet how challenging it can be as well. It’s so very easy to be distracted. There’s data to explain how some of our current use of devices and associated habits affect our brain’s ability to stay focused for extended periods of time.  But I believe there’s another issue at work, the tendency to overextend ourselves with activities, important activities of course. And, when we do take the time to actually be with someone, we’re often preoccupied, with little margin for ‘being present’…mentally or emotionally.  It just seems to be the way it is. But does it have to be?  Let’s see if there might be another way.

If you could choose one word to describe Jesus, what would it be? 

Savior?   Friend?   King?   Love?   Hope?   Truth?   Life?   Salvation?   Peace?   Or perhaps another word comes to mind?  All of these would be accurate descriptions given to us in the scriptures, but let me share one that might not immediately come to mind.  In his book, “An Unhurried Life”, Alan Fadling tells the story of Dallas Willard asking this very question to someone.  After allowing him to think about it for a moment, Dallas offered a word, “relaxed”.  Is relaxed a word you would use to describe Jesus?  Alan chose the title, An Unhurried Life rather than A Relaxed Life for his book, because to him the word relaxed might imply lazy or uninterested.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus was incredibly intentional about his life, yet he wasn’t hurried or anxious.  He wasn’t rushing around in a panic like the world depended on him…hmmm.

For example… 

He spent 40 days in the desert at the beginning of his ministry.  How could he take so long, when there was so much to get to?  He didn’t rush to heal his friend Lazarus when he was sick. How could he be so uncaring when Lazarus’ sisters were anxiously, desperately awaiting his arrival?  Another time he was sleeping soundly on a boat as it was being tossed about, in danger of capsizing. Was he truly this oblivious to the fear and panic of his friends on the boat?  These are just a few examples of the ‘unhurried’ or ‘relaxed’ nature of Jesus while he was with people.  

 Let me share one more…

Jesus was anything but nonchalant about his life and ministry.  He was absolutely intentional about it. In the Gospel of Luke, we read,  “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”  As he walked along that road, he could have easily been preoccupied with what lay ahead, knowing that he was about to surrender himself to the agony of the cross for the sake of the world.  He could have been consumed with those who were surrounding and pressing in on him, those who were hailing him as King and encouraging him to set up his Kingdom in Jerusalem.  And yet, he suddenly stopped.  He looked up in a tree and saw someone watching him, a despised tax collector named Zacchaeus.  Much to the dismay of his entourage (the scripture says that they ‘muttered’), Jesus called Zacchaeus down from the tree and told him he was staying at his house that day.  What was happening that Jesus would suddenly interrupt his resolute movement toward Jerusalem?  While Zacchaeus, being a short person, had climbed the tree to get a better view of Jesus as he passed by, Jesus had an even better view, a transcendent one.  He saw the bigger picture of what his Father was doing…and he was at peace with it.  He wasn’t hurried.  He wasn’t preoccupied with himself. He wasn’t pressured by others’ expectations. At that particular moment, with all that was swirling about him, his agenda was people…a man named Zacchaeus to be exact. ‘Jesus saw what his Father was doing and joined him in it’. (John 5:19). 

Let’s bring this home…

When I don’t ‘have the time’ for an unscheduled encounter or conversation with someone, it may be time to pay attention to that ‘check engine’ light…what am I in such a hurry about?  When I find myself being distracted in conversation, being particularly short with those I love the most or offering a quick fix, it may be time to ask, what’s going on inside of me?  I believe it’s an invitation to a more transcendent view, where there is a dependence on God and realizing that he is always at work in the lives of those I interact with. In humility, I can recognize that God has been at work long before I showed up on the scene…and will be at work long after I leave it.  And, yet…God invites me to join him in his work.  I just have to show up, even when I don’t particularly feel like it or feel I have anything to offer. This is key!  I don’t have to have it all together.  I don’t have to have the ‘right answer’.  I can’t ‘fix them’.  I can’t even ‘fix myself’.  However, I can be present, I can listen and I can love.  I can spend time, when it may feel like I’m wasting it or don’t think I have enough of it.  I can ‘not be in a hurry’.  It’s often in these places that God’s Grace shows up in ways I couldn’t have imagined.  Regardless of the specifics of the encounter, someone may leave feeling valued, respected and loved.  And I think that’s a pretty good return on investment, don’t you?  I think I’ll give it another go today…

Living in the Waiting…

Christmas is coming…AGAIN.  Some years it just seems to sneak up on me.  You’d think that after 65 experiences, I would have it down by now.  A slow learner I guess.  With a family the size of ours, it can get a bit hurried and harried leading up to that festive day.  As a child, the turning of the calendar from November to December was the start of a seemingly eternal period of WAITING.  How could 25 days take SO LONG?  What I didn’t know was that in some ways, I was experiencing what I now know as Advent

A FIRST ADVENT…

Advent is traditionally known as the beginning of the church calendar for the new year. It begins with waiting.  Something we all love to do, right?  The focus in most churches during this season is on the coming celebration of the birth of Christ.  Sermon series may highlight some of the main players in the story such as Mary, Joseph, the shepherds or the magi and rightly center on the gift of God in Jesus.  We begin listening to Christmas songs (well, some of them anyway).  We consider the gifts we’ll be purchasing for those we love while anticipating family gatherings and other holiday parties.  Much of the month of December is filled with festivity and color…reds, greens and white.  So why were black ribbons decorating the church this past Sunday?  They were calling our attention to a time of waiting, a time of desperate, nearly hopeless waiting.  Prior to that first Christmas morning over 2000 years ago, the people were living in a very dark time. They were living under a brutal and oppressive Roman occupation.  And while there was much compromise with the Roman culture and regime, there were many who attempted to remain faithful to God and had been longing for the Messiah to appear to set things right. It was a VERY DARK time in which Jesus entered the world.  In the Gospel of Matthew we read,“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (emphasis mine)  Matthew is referencing the birth of Jesus by quoting the prophet Isaiah who had spoken these words some 700 years before his birth, highlighting the desperate times in which Jesus would appear. At the time of Jesus’ birth, there were those who grew tired of waiting and began to take things into their own hands, attempting to overthrow Roman rule or at times resisting it violently.  And for those who were patiently, if not desperately awaiting the Messiah’s arrival, there was a misunderstanding of just how his Kingdom would come.  They expected a conquering King to come and overthrow the unjust tyrants and usher in a time of Peace.   While Jesus’ followers would end up asking him to rain down fire on those who opposed them, Jesus would say things like, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven…”.  How are we doing with that?  How am I doing with that?

A SECOND ADVENT…

I believe we can make the case that we too are living in a VERY DARK time.  Having just emerged from a life-altering and life-taking pandemic, our news feeds are bringing us in real-time, the brutality of two major wars.  My eyes and heart can’t bear but so many of the stories and images of destruction and heartbreak.  And the past several years have brought to the surface just how deeply divided we are racially, politically and in recent days, ethnically. Once we come through this holiday season, the political fervor and rhetoric will rise rapidly as the election year will be upon us.  Now, while many seem to be living in relative peace here in America, just under the surface the tension is palpable.  We may find ourselves singing Joy to the World in the coming days while simultaneously feeling the dark despair of the world along with our growing fatigue of constant division and the pressure to choose sides.  All this as we experience our own personal sorrows, disappointments and loss that is common to all of humanity.  Something inside us cries out, “HOW LONG OH LORD?”  I believe this is why U2’s song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, strikes such a chord of hope…something like, I know where my hope lies, but it’s not yet complete…But one day!  One day, we are promised a world where there will be no cancer, no war, no hatred or calls for genocide, no more poverty or hunger, where rejection, neglect and abuse will be replaced by love and care…where every tear will be wiped from our eyes…where we will truly find what we are longing for.  But until then…

Living in the Tension of Advent…

As people of faith, we are called to keep watch during this second Advent, to stay alert, to remain vigilant. What does that look like? How are we, as followers of Jesus and a people of Faith, Hope and Love, to navigate our current season of waiting in the darkness?  For one, we don’t have to sugar coat every difficulty with platitudes that ignore or minimize the pain and suffering in our lives and those around us.  We can look squarely at the reality of the darkness and be able to say, “It’s not supposed to be this way!” And in our desperation and darkness, we can lament along with the Prophet Amos, who was longing for Justice to “roll down like a river; righteousness like a never-failing stream!”…recognizing that no political figure will be our savior. Does this mean that we sit idly by watching the world go down in flames, waiting for our rescue? Hardly! I have an old tee-shirt from a World’s Fair that simply says, “The Future is Now!” While this was referencing inventions currently in development, it speaks to me of God’s future Kingdom breaking into this second advent. We live in the midst of “the already and the not-yet”. As we lift our eyes up and place them upon Jesus, he will point us toward our fellow human beings struggling to make sense of and make it through this present darkness.  He invites us to join Him in seeing light break into their sorrows, helping to meet their very real needs…bringing Hope…today…while we wait. Who might he be pointing you toward?

May it be “…on earth as it is in heaven.”

A Simple Advent Prayer…

“Lord, here I am.  I sit in the darkness of _____________________ (fill in the blank…take your time…be as honest as you’re able to right now).  It hurts!  It’s not supposed to be this way! Come, Lord Jesus!  Draw near to me. Let your light shine in the darkness around me.  Be my comfort.  Help me in my waiting… In the meantime, Lord…point me towards someone I can comfort in your Name(Perhaps sit with this for a bit).  Shine your light through me to dispel some of the darkness surrounding this one that you love.  Help me to see through your eyes and feel through your heart…move me with compassion. Lord, help me to walk in love as I wait… Amen…”

The Beauty in Creation

When I was a young child, our family would take occasional trips to the beach.  On the seemingly eternal two hour drive, I was the child saying, “HOW MUCH LONGER?”  I couldn’t wait!  I was excited!  When we would get within a few blocks of the ocean, traffic would slow, little beach specialty shops would suddenly appear and this young boy would feel the GREAT ANTICIPATION rising up in me.  I would be sitting up as high as I could, arching my back and neck and trying to catch that first glimpse.  And then…THERE IT WAS!  That initial sight of the great water with its rhythmic waves crashing ashore as the seagulls danced against the backdrop of the blue sky.  I’m suddenly aware of the smell of salty air flooding our cramped car and then as quickly as we could park, my little feet were running across the sand feeling the long awaited yet familiar texture of the warm if not hot granules joining me in my baptismal plunge that quickly washed through my mouth and nostrils before being expelled because of its salty taste.  What an impression this made on me.  To this day I feel that same anticipation whenever I’m approaching the beach, straining for that first glimpse, longing for my senses to experience this immersion into the Beauty of God’s Creation.

What is it for you?  What expression of creation captures your heart? It may be the majestic rise of a mountain range…the colorful shades of a western horizon as dusk approaches…the slow, steady rising of the sun that you eventually must avert your eyes from…the distant but approaching sound of a skein of geese that you eventually locate…pelicans in rhythmic dance just above the ocean…a lazy, meandering, bubbling brook…a swath of wildflowers briefly noticed in the medium of the interstate, several deer standing on the edge of a field or perhaps it was the moment your child took their first breath and let out their first scream.  In full confession, these are a few examples of creation that capture my heart’s attention.

But, I have another confession as well.

Often, my first inclination when I stumble upon one of these beauties is to reach for my phone to try and capture the moment.  And then, to share it in my family’s group text or post it for the world to see…well, at least for my 797 Facebook friends and my few Instagram followers. The result is that I often end up missing the ‘moment’, the unexpected moment of beauty presented to me, the opportunity to touch beauty or better yet…to have beauty touch me, to touch my soul.  I am becoming more and more aware of this tendency and I’m coming to appreciate another way.

Something important happens when I hit the pause button on my hurried, ‘sharing’ self and take a moment, a few moments, a few intentional moments to simply gaze upon the beauty…to exhale…to breathe…to linger…to see it…to have it see me.  You see, within this beauty lies a Goodness.  It speaks of the One who is sharing this gift with me.  In the book of Romans, chapter one we read, “By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.” (The Message)  I recently experienced this while sitting beside a slow-moving stream near my home.  I allowed myself to gaze across the water into the vibrant green growth beneath the trees.  As my internal rush of adrenalin began to slow, I became increasingly aware of the sounds and began to look for their source.  As I glanced upward toward the tree tops, there was a yellow finch flitting about the branches. The word Beautiful formed on my lips and I whispered it aloud.  I found myself thinking of God’s continual provision for this creation of his, evidence of His love and care…even for me in my often ungrateful and hurried self.  And there I was, speaking aloud to God, thanking Him for his faithfulness, his love, that he is God, that he is Good!  I was suddenly aware that I was worshiping along with creation.  His beauty had revealed his Goodness to me.  And…it touched my soul.  

But…I had to stop and look and be still.  

In his book, “How to Inhabit Time”, James K. A. Smith gives a wonderful invitation to this concept of ‘being present’, of ‘dwelling’, and having Beauty speak to us.  He’s speaking specifically of how to approach his book, but I believe the invitation to gaze upon beauty and have it shape and form us is the same.  He says, “…don’t come so much to learn as to dwell…We will begin to understand our place and calling in the spiritual adventure of history only if we find a way to hit the pause button on our frenetic absorption in the everyday and resist the tyranny of the urgent…Reflection is hard, especially in a culture bent on distraction and superficiality.” Yet, that is the invitation found in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”  

I understand how difficult and even fearful this can be…to be still, to be still with oneself.  Yet, this is the invitation to a place of beauty, a place of Goodness, a Safe place, a place where the Creator of beauty speaks to us and we begin to see ourselves rightly in the presence of this beauty.  Dallas Willard gives us a similar invitation in his book, “The Divine Conspiracy”.  Speaking of the well- known phrase, Take Time to Smell the Roses, he says, “To smell a rose you must get close, and you must linger.  When we do so, we delight in it, We love it…The rose in a very special way—-and more generally the flower, even in its most humble forms—-is a fragile but irrepressible witness on earth to a ‘larger’ world where good is somehow safe.”

Where good is somehow safe.  I love that!

Psalm 34:8 says, “Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—-how good God is.  Blessed are you who run to him” (The Message).  Perhaps you’ve already tasted and seen this Goodness and it’s easy for you to pause and gaze upon it.  Or maybe this is a gentle nudge to take notice of the Beauty that surrounds us and to begin some momentary pauses throughout the day to simply take it in, to allow room for it to speak to you.  I suspect you may be surprised at how these momentary pauses bring a sense of stillness, of rightness to the soul. And who knows, you may even find yourself with an increasing anticipation for beauty, not unlike a craning of the neck for that first glimpse of the ocean. Enjoy! 

Beauty in Others…

We are continually bombarded with stories and images of the ugliness of humanity.  Yet, in the midst of it, often unseen, there is a beauty at work…The Goodness of God.  Now, there is an enemy to this Goodness.  One that seeks to highlight the ugly and obscure the beauty.  Yet, as we resist this scheme and tactic of obscuring that which is truly Good and Beautiful, we enter a new realm of seeing, of witnessing the beauty that has been there all along.  This resistance takes intentionality and in a real sense, a new way of thinking for most of us, a renewal of the mind if you will.  Let me share an example that has helped to open my eyes to this reality. 

A while back I was driving a mom and three of her children to a local hospital to get their immunizations.  As we meandered our way through the Church Hill Neighborhood, mom suddenly shouts, “STOP MR PETERS!  TURN AROUND!”  I was taken aback by her outburst and wondered what was wrong.  Had I hit something, or worse, somebody?  She continued, “THAT BOY BACK THERE!  SOMETHING’S WRONG!”  I quickly followed her orders and as we headed back down the street, the young boy came into view, stretched out on the ground, appearing comatose.  As we pulled up, she shouted at him, “ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”  At this unexpected and obtrusive sound, the young teenage boy slowly awakened from his slumber and said, “yeah.”  He was resting his head on his backpack, just under a sign that indicated he was waiting on a city bus.  While joining in the relief that my observant passenger was experiencing, I began to wonder what had sparked her intense concern for a seemingly innocuous situation?  Then it dawned on me, mom had thought she was witnessing an overdose.  This unexpected detour served as an insight into the complexity of this human being I have been getting to know for the past eight years.  Here, I witnessed a genuine compassion manifest in her and it surprised me…although it shouldn’t have. 

You see, there have been other clues left for me, but I hadn’t seen them because of the clutter (or ugliness) my eyes and honestly my heart have been trained to see.  This is a young mother who has lived in what I would consider an unhealthy environment for years.  Whenever I would stop by, I would witness trash seemingly scattered about the house, both inside and out.  I would see piles of dirty laundry throughout the kitchen/laundry area.  The younger kids would be running around in diapers or less.  The older kids glued to a huge TV taking up much of the living space with images and sounds that occasionally would cause me to turn away.  Or music blasting songs that seemed to glorify some of the most destructive elements of the neighborhood…drugs, guns and death.  And there often seemed to be some new person raising their head from a makeshift bed on the floor or couch.  But, here’s the thing.  What I would overlook while navigating these overwhelming sights, sounds and smells of the home was mom’s gift of hospitality.  Those in need had a place to lay their head.  “I love you” is heard frequently among the family.  How easy it is for me to judge this person and speak negatively of her situation to others.  Yet, in the midst of the seemingly hopeless chaos, there is a beauty present, a goodness…Mom’s compassionate and hospitable heart, waiting to be noticed and blessed.  And along with her gifts, she carries an extraordinary resilience that has been forged through circumstances I can only futility attempt to place myself in.  But… 

I hear a loud BUT coming… 

-but, she needs boundaries… 

-but, she’s harming the children, her primary responsibility… 

-but, she brings this on herself… 

-but, she… 

And, there is some truth in all of these buts.  BUT I believe that unless I can first pause and recognize the beauty, the goodness, the gifts that rightly reside in her, I will do more harm, bring more shame than I will ever bring help to her.  Typically, when she knows I’m stopping by, I arrive to find her with a broom in hand and telling the kids to take out the trash or pick up something.  What’s up with that?  SHAME is what’s up with that!  And, I have to ask myself, how much shame do I add to the already overwhelming burden she is carrying?  Nor do I want to be a stumbling block to her seeing and embracing the Goodness of God.  I’m reminded of the prophecy about Jesus referenced in Matthew 12:20  “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.”   

Back to the story… 

As we pulled off from the bus stop, leaving our slumbering friend behind, a smile emerged on my face as I found myself aware of a beauty in this woman I hadn’t seen before.  I believe God smiled as well.  Can you picture God smiling?  Can you imagine God smiling when He looks at you?  In David Benner’s wonderful book, “Surrender To Love”, he gives a little exercise.  He says, “Imagine God thinking about you.  What do you assume God feels when you come to mind?”  You may want to pause here a moment and think about that question before reading on.  He goes on to say, “When I ask people to do this, a surprising number of people say that the first thing they assume God feels is disappointment.  Others assume that God feels anger.  In both cases, these people are convinced that it is their sin that first catches God’s attention.  I think they are wrong—-and I think the consequences of such a view of God are enormous.”  How about you?  Is your sin the first thing that God sees when he thinks of you?     Benner concludes with, “Regardless of what you have come to believe about God based on your life experience, the truth is that when God thinks of you, love swells in his heart and a smile comes to his face.  God bursts with love for humans.  He is far from being emotionally uninvolved with his creation.  God’s bias toward us is strong, persistent and positive.  The Christian God chooses to be known as Love, and that love pervades every aspect of God’s relationship with us.” 

When God looks at us, He sees the dignity in us as uniquely created, uniquely gifted, profoundly loved, designed in love and for love by the God who is Love.  I truly believe that as we begin to acknowledge and embrace the God of Love who sees us in this way and resist our inclination toward first focusing on the ugly, we can rightly begin to view others in the same way—-where we first see them through the eyes of love and not their blemishes, not their sin.  Where we can greet everyone we meet with a liberating, welcoming smile that communicates, You Are Beautiful!  I See Goodness In You!   This welcoming heart will begin to heal the deepest shame and bring comfort to the most painful hurts…in them and in us.  Scripture points us toward this truth  

We love because he first loved us.” (1John 4:19).  

I will conclude with a meditation from Alcoholics Anonymous sent to me by a friend who will remain anonymous…But thank you L. 

“I should strive for a friendliness and helpfulness that will affect all who come near to me.  I should try to see something to love in them.  I should welcome them, bestow little courtesies and understandings on them, and help them if they ask for help.  I must send no one away without a word of cheer, a feeling that I really care about them.  God may have put the impulse in some despairing one’s mind to come to me.  I must not fail God by repulsing that person.  They may not want to communicate with me unless they are sure of a warm welcome.”  

The Beauty in Ourselves

In the intro of the vintage sitcom ‘Happy Days’, Arthur Fonzarelli (The Fonz) steps up to a bathroom mirror and lifts a comb toward his head.  But then he stops short as he beholds his reflection and seems to say, “I’m Good! No Makeover Needed!”

How often do we take a selfie and upon first glance say, Perfect?  While there may be some who have a narcissistic view of their ‘good looks’, there are also those who have a relatively healthy view of themselves.  However, I think most of us wouldn’t mind a little makeover.  

But what kind of makeover?  

Every culture promotes its fickle sense of what’s considered beautiful.  In the Victorian era it was pale skin and hoop skirts for women.  Facial hair was hugely important for men with devices to help curl their mustaches.  Today we are bombarded with images that shout, “This is what it means to be beautiful”.  Whether it’s the cover of Glamour or GQ, some will spend untold hours aspiring to capture some sense of these often airbrushed images or simply look away with a sense of hopelessness or even shame.  But beyond the negative voices (real or perceived) about our supposedly physical shortcomings, there are other areas of our life where we also hear condemning thoughts like, “I’m not good enough!  I’m stupid!, If they only knew the real me!, I’m so inadequate!, No one needs me!”  I remember the time I was trying out for the junior high baseball team.  I stepped out of the batter’s box while the coach was in his windup.  He got ticked off at me.  I always said that’s why I didn’t make the cut.  In reality, I was an average ball player.  I had a few ‘glory’ moments in my short career in little league like my Willie Mays catch in left field.  I still reflect on that memory with great pride.  If only it had been captured on video.  Some kids from the other team called it a ‘lucky catch’.  Was it?  Sorry, but I digress.  Why in my mid-sixties do I still remember these events like it was yesterday.  I suspect it’s my deep need to see myself as adequate, of ‘measuring up’…perhaps even significant.  I also have a suspicion that I’m not alone.  And while I don’t have statistics to back this up, I believe most people live their entire lives with some level of shame connected to this.  

Can we ever look good enough, perform well enough or be good enough to break off these life-constricting shackles? 

Instead of comparing ourselves to some subjective standard of beauty, performance or goodness, what if our standard came from an objective, unchanging one…God’s standard?  Well, now I’m afraid I’m about to lose some of you.  How could we ever measure up to God’s standard?  That would be perfection, right?  The only time Jesus said to his followers ‘to be perfect’ was when he was speaking of loving others like his Father loved (Matthew 5:43-48). He concluded this talk by saying to ‘practice it’(Matthew 7:24-27).  This is only possible as we begin to know God’s ‘perfect love’ for us, which includes loving us in our ‘imperfection’, our failure, our sin, our inadequacy, our weakness…fill in the blank. The invitation from God to you and me is not to one of human perfection, but to one of relationship. It’s not by trying harder to get it just right, but by beginning to see the world from God’s perspective, beginning with how He sees us.  

How does God see us?   

Before you even emerged from the womb God saw you…and smiled!  A friend recently inspired me by speaking of God’s smile.  He likened it to walking into a room and the person who greets us lights up with a big smile that says, “I am So Glad to See You!”  In Psalm 139:13-14 we read, “For you created my inmost parts; you wove me in my mother’s womb.  I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made;  Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.”  I love the phrase, “…you wove me…”.  It speaks of a tapestry, uniquely created and displayed for all to see.  In other words, God says, “You Are Uniquely Beautiful!”  

Another place in scripture (Ephesians 2:10) we read, “For we are God’s masterpiece…”  In the original language, the word for masterpiece is ‘poiema’.  Another translation says, “For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives…”. In other words, you are God’s poem, God’s masterpiece meant to be read by this world.  God says, “You are Uniquely Beautiful!”

One more…

In the first chapter of Genesis, we read the seven day progression of creation.  He first spoke light, sky, land, vegetation, sun, moon & stars, fish & birds and the animal kingdom into existence and the scripture tells us, “And God saw that it was good.”  Another way to put this is, “And God beheld its beauty.”  And then, the crown jewel emerged.  In the final act of creation God brought forth humanity.  And when finished, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good!”  Another translation reads, “…savoring its beauty and appreciating its goodness.”  In other words, “…it was VERY BEAUTIFUL!” That is how God sees you…You are Very Beautiful!

And yet we say…

What about my shortcomings, my sin, my procrastinating, my failures, my selfishness?  And what about my ugly heart?  Well, God’s got you right where He wants you…asking a good question.

There is a truth in scripture that can help us…

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  The phrase ‘conform to the pattern’ comes from a greek word that can be translated in English as schematic.  We can choose conformity to the ‘world’s standard’ by spending inordinate amounts of time and energy chasing after makeovers.  It may be a Physical Makeover like a faddish weight loss plan or altering our styles of hair, clothing or cosmetics.  It might be a Performance Makeover of posturing where ‘the end justifies the means’ as we compromise our values to achieve what our culture defines as success.  Or perhaps a Character Makeover, always putting up a good front, where we seem to have it all together, never disclosing our struggles or letting anyone see our weaknesses.  Don’t get me wrong.  Dieting can be a wonderful approach to better nutrition.  Learning new skills and growing can and should be a lifelong endeavor.  And not everywhere or everyone is a safe place to be vulnerable.  We are encouraged towards growth and maturity.  And while all of this might sound a bit exhausting, like another ‘to do list’, God points us in a better direction.   

We can be transformed…

Rather than conforming to the pattern of this world, we can choose a makeover of the mind.  As we do, we will find ourselves being transformed from the inside out.  The greek word for transformed is where we get the English word metamorphosis.  Rather than choosing to conform to the pattern of the ‘world’s standard’ of beauty, performance or character where we can never achieve what we’re hoping for, we can instead be transformed by choosing a Makeover of the Mind. Years of comparison, judgement, condemnation and shame have forged deep ruts in our minds.  We default to them.  Yet, as we choose to tell ourselves the truth about how God sees us (You are Beautiful), as we begin to believe it, these ruts begin to smooth out.  We begin to find ourselves more confident, more creative and begin to live out the unique life God has in mind for us…our rightful place of beauty/goodness in the world.

This isn’t flipping a switch…

It takes time and may be slow to notice at first…like healthy dieting.  But, we begin to change the deep grooved pattern of thinking in our brain from one of comparisons, condemnations and hopelessness to one of confidence, creativity and hope.  We are coming to see ourself as God sees us…Beautiful…His poem to be read and enjoyed by the world. 

Want to give it a try? Here’s a simple exercise to start our makeover…

1. Pick one of the following phrases that you would love to believe for yourself.

-I am God’s woven tapestry…

-I am God’s masterpiece…

-I am beautiful…

-I am God’s poem…written for the world

-God sings over me…

-I am the apple of God’s eye…

-God loves ME…

2. Write it down (perhaps post it on your bathroom mirror or laptop)

3. Ruminate on it daily, throughout the day

4. Step on your mental scales in 30 days to reevaluate your sense of beauty

There will be religious voices that rise up and try to add a BUT to these statements.  Resist them!  If need be, quote Titus 3:4-5 to them, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy…”

And when we hear those other default voices of condemnation start to rise up in us, tell them to be quiet and then listen carefully to that still, small voice…

Where we hear God saying…

“Shhhhh!  Hush now!  You are beautiful to me.  Let’s hang out…”

The Beauty of God

A few months ago I had a vivid image cross my mind.  I pictured God’s throne, and from the throne, Goodness was emanating outward into all of creation.  This Goodness was the very essence, the very character of God.  And as it went forth it had an effect on all that it touched. 

In my introduction to this series, I made a brief mention of the connectedness of God’s Goodness and Beauty based upon some of the original language in scripture. Some will immediately resonate with this, others not so much.  When some think of God…Beauty and Goodness aren’t the first images that come to mind.  Last month Becky and I visited the recently reopened Fort Meyers Beach in Florida.   On the drive in, we witnessed much destruction from Hurricane Ian.  We found a parking spot and as we approached the beach we were greeted by a beautiful arrangement of poinsettias that people had placed during the Christmas season. These were eventually fashioned into a tree of its own…a symbol of hope…of beauty.

Just beyond the tree, I observed another picture of new life arising from the devastation.  People in chairs and on blankets simply enjoying a beautiful day.  It was like they were making a statement to the destruction that was patently visible to anyone who looked around, “We’re still here!  We are grieved, yet we are hopeful.”  I felt a little out of place, like I was stepping onto some Holy Ground of lamenting.  I tried not to look too much like a gawking tourist, but…

As we passed the tree and moseyed onto the sand, our ears were greeted by someone talking very loudly.  At first I thought it was someone making an announcement to those entering as a word of caution, to watch out for debris, glass, etc.  But, I quickly realized that it was a man with a bullhorn announcing to everyone within earshot to repent or face eternity in hell.  That the storm was a judgement upon the people.  I didn’t see that coming!  I cringed!   It was akin to  ‘fingernails on a chalkboard’.  What I heard from this man was not love or compassion for those who had gathered, but empty words, much like the Bible’s comparison to a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  In a way, he reminded me of this image of a building directly across the street from the beach, hollow and empty.

While I respect a person who has deep convictions and lives them out regardless of the cost, I didn’t even sense a sincerity in his voice.  This experience highlighted for me what often obscures our vision of God’s beauty… A Misrepresentation…and thus, A Misunderstanding of God.  I’m afraid for many, the Beauty, the Goodness of God is obscured by the ‘sometimes’ sincere, yet misguided representations of God, the ugly if you will.

While I’m aware of the risk of focusing too much on the ugly, or even misrepresenting God myself, let me turn our attention to the Beautiful.  You see as we moved beyond the sound of this man and turned our attention toward the water, the sun’s reflective shapes and colors began to come into view.  I felt the refreshing breeze off of the Gulf and heard the sounds of music whisking from speakers alongside the colorful blankets and people.  I felt the coolness of the small, yet rhythmic waves splashing on my ankles.  I began to see the shimmer of newly forming sea glass.  With the obnoxious bullhorn and bully long faded into the background, Beauty was beginning to emerge.   This Beauty was already present, but I was now beginning to pay attention to it, to gaze upon it.  And…it began to touch my heart.

As I think back on that day, it is not the bully with the bullhorn that first comes to mind, though it was an overwhelming initial encounter.  No, it was the simple, yet powerful invitation to witness God’s ‘beauty amidst the ashes’.  Unlike this man’s representation of God, God is not a bully.  God instead brings us an invitation to lift our eyes up from that which obscures, that which distracts us and begin to recognize the Beauty that is already present around us.  And then to pause…to take a lengthy gaze… to take it in…to allow it to form and shape us…the very Goodness of God.

I took this pause recently and began to ponder the Goodness, the Beauty of God that daily emanates toward me and all of creation.  Here are a few examples that began to come into focus…in no particular order

-a newborn gazing into mom or dad’s eyes

-a cool rain shower on a hot summer day

-emerging sprouts from the soil in early spring

-the unconditional love of a parent

-a glimpse of red from the nape of a woodpecker high in the tree (Hey Woody!)

-a song that sneaks up on me as I’m driving down the road, suddenly wiping the tears wondering what the other drivers are thinking

-the call of geese in the distant horizon

-an orange on a tree or a tomato on a vine

-someone pausing to hold a door open for me

-an evening sky suddenly ablaze in red and orange

-water, air, sleep, dreams

-a fresh piece of salmon slowly cooking on a grill

-a sense of well-being, ‘It is well with my soul’, a Peace that passes understanding, the nearness of God

-the smile of someone that greets me when I walk into a room

-an anonymous gift

-someone’s listening ear (and heart) when I need to vent or grieve

-a painting

-a passing cloud, creative shapes

-faith, hope, love…

-humility

-friendship

-grass

-flowers, wildflowers

-vegetables

-giraffes

-our cats

-color

I should probably stop now…but I could go on.  What would be on your list?  Why not take a moment to pause…and reflect on the Beauty, the Goodness of God?  It may take a minute to walk past the things that obscure, the distractions that easily come.  But, the effect of the gazing is something to behold!  It has a way of touching our hearts. Why? Because when we behold beauty, it is like a signpost pointing us toward the One who is Beautiful, who is Good, toward Home…

Beholding Beauty…

When I was a young boy, my older brother was studying art at a local university. At one time he was into what I understood to be abstract. He would occasionally show me one of his paintings and ask me what I thought of it. I would stare at it uncomfortably for a moment or two and quickly conclude that I didn’t have the slightest clue what I was looking at. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I’d say something like, “That’s NICE!” I don’t know if he bought my half-hearted compliment or not, as encouraging as I tried to be. Later in life I would find myself occasionally visiting an art museum, usually at the invitation of another. I would notice people standing for extended periods of time and staring at a particular painting. If it was abstract, I’d think something like, “Yea, I can’t figure that one out either. Good luck!” But not wanting to come across as an ignorant art connoisseur, I would pause at a painting, sometimes an uncomfortably long pause, and try to appreciate the effort someone gave to their unique creation. Not unlike a wine tasting for a novice, watching how others did it, then swirling the glass, taking a whiff, savoring each tiny sip while wishing they had put a little more in the glass.

Ok, now that I have made a full confession of my obvious uncultured upbringing, why am I bringing this up? Because I believe I have missed much beauty in my life. Is it because I’ve failed to look for it or maybe I haven’t known where to look? Is it possible to miss beauty that is right before us? Perhaps because we have been formed in such a way that we expect immediate gratification or instantaneous understanding. If something beautiful doesn’t capture our attention quickly, we’re often ready to move on, watch the next reel, scroll to the next post, where pausing for a minute or two becomes laborious. And, not to mention how easily we are distracted. My phone has rung twice as I’ve written these few words and I nearly answered it.

While all of these are very real obstacles, especially in our western culture, I believe there is something greater at work that seeks to obscure the beauty that longs to reveal itself.  And, the beauty is right before us…if only we have eyes to see. It’s often the darkness and ugliness that seems to grab our attention first. Is there beauty to behold in war-torn Ukraine, amidst the violence and poverty of our inner cities, in a family navigating abuse, neglect or even a chronic or terminal disease? We are continually bombarded with images of the worst of humanity. Our news feeds are filled with story after story of destruction, chaos and expressions of evil. There’s an old saying in the news business, “If it bleeds, it leads.” For some reason, we are attracted to these images and stories. Perhaps because it’s such an extreme contrast to what our hearts truly long for…to behold the beautiful. And, if we’re not careful, if we’re not guarding our hearts, they can be shaped by these dark images and stories. And yet, beauty has a power of its own to shape us, to touch our souls, to bring us hope and encouragement that there is another way.

Do we make assumptions about our world, about God, about others that fail to appreciate the beauty that resides there? How about within ourselves? Often, we’re the hardest on ourselves. In the book “When Helping Hurts”, the authors speak of four primary relationships for a flourishing life…With God, With Ourselves, With Others and With Creation. Over my next few blogs, I want to press into this a bit, to pull back the curtain if you will, to focus on these four areas where beauty can easily be obscured by misunderstanding these vital relationships. We’ll explore some vistas we may have overlooked, that upon recognizing what has been there all along, might lead us into a greater expanse of life and beauty. I believe that as we begin to recognize the often obscured beauty that surrounds us, our hearts will begin to recover, our souls refreshed and even relationships renewed. As we begin to behold beauty in perhaps unsuspecting places, our lives can begin to flourish in ways where we experience the biblical text from Isaiah, “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” My prayer is that as we take a look at each one of these four relationships, beauty will become more obvious, and as we begin to gaze upon it, the very Beauty (Goodness) of God will touch each of our souls in a transforming way. And who knows, perhaps I will even come to appreciate the abstract.

Until next time…

Lynching in America

Notes on current series:

1. You can read previous installments of this series below.  Please feel free to engage me in conversation on any of these topics.  I have enjoyed and benefited from dialogue that has emerged to date.  It’s healthy to seek God’s heart and wisdom in community!  In this series I am seeking to establish a link between the two century-spanning stories I shared in my first installment.  If you’re new to reading this, it would be helpful to read those stories to give context to what follows.

2.  When we’re tempted to react to some of the public demonstrations, including the property damage and other demonstrations of outrage, let’s remember the wise words of Father Gregory Boyle, “We are more upset with how the poor carry their poverty, than the actual poverty itself.”  We can substitute poor with, “We get more upset with how Black America carries their trauma, than the actual trauma itself.”  This is why it is vital that we educate ourselves with what Black America has experienced for the past 400 years.  They know their history all too well, but what about us?

3.  Acknowledging and understanding the outrage currently being expressed is not the same thing as condoning violence or the damaging of private property.  It’s simply following Jesus’ call to “take the plank out of our own eyes before we can begin to take a speck out of our brother or sister’s eye.”  It begins with a posture of humility.  Let’s take another peek into some of that history, asking God to give us His heart as we read…

Lynching in America

 

There are a number of theories on the origin of the word lynching here in America.  Without exploring those here, there is agreement on what the word came to represent.  According to Robert L. Zangrando in The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909-1950 (1980), “lynching is the practice whereby a mob–usually several dozen or several hundred persons–takes the law into its own hands in order to injure and kill a person accused of some wrongdoing. The alleged offense can range from a serious crime like theft or murder to a mere violation of local customs and sensibilities. The issue of the victim’s guilt is usually secondary, since the mob serves as prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner. Due process yields to momentary passions and expedient objectives.”

 

Bryan Stevenson has done remarkable research on the lynching of blacks in America.  According to his Equal Justice Initiative which visited 160 sites during a 5 year study, they found 3,959 victims of what they call “racial terror lynchings” from 1877-1950.

Here’s a link to their study: Lynching in America

 

But lynchings didn’t stop in 1950.  After the Supreme Court decision of Brown v Board of Education in 1954, life as it was known in the Jim Crow south was even more threatened.  What came to be known as Massive Resistance began to emerge often with violence and intimidation.

 

A story… Let me share with you one story that happened after this, in 1955.  A 14 yr. old boy named Emmett Till lived in Chicago with his mother.  His great-uncle had come up to visit during that summer and told him stories of the Mississippi Delta where he lived.  Emmett begged for permission to go back with his uncle for the summer to see it for himself.  His mother relented and let Emmett go.  One day in August of that summer, Emmett and his cousin were in a local grocery store, when according to his cousin, Emmett whistled at 21 yr old Carolyn Bryant who was the wife of the proprietor of the store.  She told her husband Roy about the encounter.  A few days later, Roy and his half-brother, JW Milam abducted Emmett from his great-uncle’s house.  They beat him, mutilated him, shot him in the head and sunk his body in the Tallahatchie River.  It was reported by witnesses that the beating and torture went on for hours and they told of Emmett crying out for mercy and for his mother.  Three days later his body was found in the river.  Bryant and Milam were arrested and put on trial for murder.  During the trial, Carolyn Bryant said that Emmett had grabbed her by the waist and said obscene things to her.  The all-white jury acquitted the men.  Because ‘double jeopardy’ was in play, the following year the two men admitted to the murder in a Look Magazine interview.  In a 2008 interview, Carolyn Bryant admitted that she had lied about being grabbed by the waist and the obscenities.  Even writing this seems absurd as if anything would have justified Emmett’s death.   Emmett’s mother brought his mutilated and bloated body back to Chicago after the local police tried several times to bury him in Mississippi.  She insisted on an open casket so that the world could see the reality and horror of life as a black person in the south.  I’m not showing his body here, but there is a picture below of his mother at the casket.  The outrage that followed helped give momentum to the Civil Rights movement.  Do you realize that this lynching happened less than two years before I was born.  Somehow, that doesn’t seem very long ago.  I’d love to think that this is ancient history, things we read about in history books from long ago.  But I can’t help but believe that the close proximity in time may be reason to pause and give some thought to how trauma affects humans and the time it takes for healing to truly occur.  For example, if you experienced a traumatic event in your personal life, such as your parents divorcing or perhaps the death of a parent.  Maybe it was sexual assault or a betrayal by someone.  Let’s say that occurred 20 or 30 years ago. Can you still feel the pain?   Healing can occur, but it’s not something that can be rushed or we just ‘get over it.’  It takes time, it takes acknowledging the pain and suffering, it takes truth telling.  So, why do we think that we can just ‘get over’ the decades and centuries of injustices imposed upon an entire people group?  I believe this begins with truth telling, acknowledgment of pain and injustice and God’s Kingdom breaking in with reconciliation and healing.  It is possible, but it takes work and intentionality.  Let me leave you with a few questions to ponder to help move us in that direction. 

 

Could there be a thread of this type of hatred, fear and injustice still woven into the fabric of our nation, in people’s hearts?

  

How would this type of intimidation and terror (lynchings) affect the psyche and soul of a person, of a people group? 

 

Could there be reason for suspicion, fear and resentment to be present in the lives of black Americans today?  

 

Here are a few pics from the story…

 

Emmett in 1954

                                   Emmett’s mother at his casket

           Emmett’s home in Chicago

                  The Grocery Store building where the whistling occurred

I’m Learning to listen, (at least I want to).  How about you?

Jim Crow…

Message Series:  Spanning the Centuries of Racial Injustice

 

In a previous blog, I shared with you two stories that spanned two centuries.  In this series, I’m exploring the link between the two stories. (If you didn’t read them, I’ll post them at the end of today’s topic so that you’ll have the context).  I’ve spoken of the horrors of slavery and how our history has too often told a sanitized version, as if that was even possible.  Last time, I unpacked some of the consequences for newly freed African-Americans because of a clause in the 13th Amendment which allowed for slavery to continue as a punishment for those who were convicted of crimes (like vagrancy or loitering).  Today I want to continue the span across the centuries to briefly touch on the segregation that was imposed through what came to be known as Jim Crow.  What follows is a brief synopsis.

The name Jim Crow was most likely taken from a minstrel song called “Jump Jim Crow”.  The performer was a white person using blackface.  The term Jim Crow came to represent the legal segregation of blacks following the Reconstruction period after the Civil War.  This segregation continued through the Civil Rights movement until 1965.  Jim Crow laws of segregation were upheld by the United States Supreme Court with the “Separate but Equal” doctrine for African-Americans.  

Here are a few examples of Jim Crow laws that existed during this period of our history:

• • Marriage – “All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited.” (Florida law)
  • Marriage – “All marriages of white persons with Negroes, Mulattos, Mongolians, or Malaya hereafter contracted in the State of Wyoming are and shall be illegal and void.” (Wyoming law)
  • Hospitalization – “The Board of Control shall see that proper and distinct apartments are arranged for said patients [in a mental hospital], so that in no cases shall Negroes and white persons be together.” (Georgia law)
  • Nursing – “No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms or hospitals, either public or private, where negro men are placed.” (Alabama law)
  • Barbering – “No colored person shall serve as a barber [to] white women or girls.” (Georgia law)
  • Toilets – “Every employer of white or negro males shall provide for such white or negro males reasonably accessible and separate toilet facilities.” (Alabama law)
  • Buses – “All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races.” (Alabama law)
  • Restaurants – “It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for each compartment.” (Alabama law)
  • Beer and Wine – “All persons licensed to conduct the business of selling beer or wine…shall serve either white people exclusively or colored people exclusively and shall not sell to two races within the same room at any time.” (Georgia law)
  • Amateur Baseball – “It shall be unlawful for any amateur white baseball team to play baseball on any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of a playground devoted to the Negro race, and it shall be unlawful for any amateur colored baseball team to play baseball in any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of any playground devoted to the white race.” (Georgia law)
  • Burial – “The officer in charge shall not bury, or allow to be buried, any colored persons upon ground set apart or used for the burial of white persons.” (Georgia law)
  • Libraries – “The state librarian is directed to fit up and maintain a separate place for the use of the colored people who may come to the library for the purpose of reading books or periodicals.” (North Carolina law)
  • Teaching – “Any instructor who shall teach in any school, college or institution where members of the white and colored races are received and enrolled as pupils for instruction shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined…” (Oklahoma law)
  • Schools – “Separate rooms [shall] be provided for the teaching of pupils of African descent, and [when] said rooms are provided, such pupils may not be admitted to the school rooms occupied and used by pupils of Caucasian or other descent.” (New Mexico law)
  • Schools – “[The County Board of Education] shall provide schools of two kinds; those for white children and those for colored children.” (Texas law)

YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp

How about Virginia?   “It shall hereafter be unlawful for any white person in this State to marry any save a white person, or a person with no other admixture of blood than white and American Indian. For the purpose of this act, the term “white person” shall apply only to the person who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian; but persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no other non-Caucasian blood shall be deemed to be white persons. All laws heretofore passed and now in effect regarding the intermarriage of white and colored persons shall apply to marriages prohibited by this act.”

It took a brave couple to challenge this.  On January 6, 1959, Mildred and Richard Loving pled guilty to “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth.”  Even though they had been married in DC, it was not recognized in Virginia.  They were sentenced to 1 year in jail, suspended if they left the Commonwealth and didn’t return for 25 years.  They moved to DC.  Their conviction was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court in 1967.      

While court challenges and civil rights protests eventually overturned these laws, it has taken years to undo much of the deeply entrenched systems established during this significantly dark period of our nation’s history.  There is still much to unravel.  As an aside, when much of the African-American community had a visceral reaction to President Donald Trumps campaign of “Make America Great Again”, it was to their question, “When was America great for us to begin with?”  A legitimate question in light of their history?  Aren’t laws created to give authority to enforce what we want and desire for our communities?  What was behind the Jim Crow laws?  Was it not to maintain the status quo of keeping the African-Americans ‘in their place’ and not allow the dominant race/culture to lose control?  I have to believe that fear was a driving factor in the origin of such laws and perhaps it’s fear that continues to divide us today.  Let me conclude with one story where I witnessed this fear play itself out in recent times (2013).  I had purchased a Christmas gift for our family in 2012.  It was a membership to a swimming pool adjacent to our neighborhood.  One thing that became obvious to me after a couple of visits to the pool was that this was a predominantly white if not exclusively white membership.  Now, I’m sure African-Americans were able to obtain membership and perhaps some did.  I just never saw them.  One day, my son had his best friend (who is African-American) over to spend the day.  We decided to go to the pool and swim.  As we arrived, the pool was relatively crowded as was typical during the hot days of summer.  My son and his friend quickly hit the water as I settled into a book I had brought along.  Although I was somewhat aware of his friend being the only minority, I didn’t think too much about it.  As the boys swam, dived and generally had a great time, I occasionally looked up from my book to check on them.  Each time I glanced up, I became increasingly aware of the crowd dwindling.  Within about 30 minutes, my son and his friend were the only ones left swimming.  I joined them and we proceeded to have a great time, enjoying our exclusive swimming experience with our own personal lifeguards.  After a while, the staff eventually began to close up shop…a bit early.  This was 7 years ago!  Could the thinning of the crowd and the closing up early been completely innocent?  It’s possible, but… do you believe we still have a little work to do?

 

STORY #1

 Josiah Henson, The Life of Josiah Henson (1849)

Josiah Henson was born a slave on 15th June, 1789 in Charles County, Maryland. He was sold three times before he reached the age of eighteen. By 1830, Henson had saved up $350 to purchase his freedom. After giving his master the money he was told that the price had increased to $1,000.

Cheated of his money, Henson decided to escape with his wife and four children. After reaching Canada, Henson formed a community where he taught other ex-slaves how to be successful farmers.

“We lodged in log huts, and on the bare ground. Wooden floors were an unknown luxury. In a single room were huddled, like cattle, ten or a dozen persons, men, women, and children. All ideas of refinement and decency were, of course, out of the question. We had neither bedsteads, nor furniture of any description. Our beds were collections of straw and old rags, thrown down in the corners and boxed in with boards; a single blanket the only covering. Our favourite way of sleeping, however, was on a plank, our heads raised on an old jacket and our feet toasting before the smouldering fire. The wind whistled and the rain and snow blew in through the cracks, and the damp earth soaked in the moisture till the floor was miry as a pig- sty. Such were our houses. In these wretched hovels were we penned at night, and fed by day; here were the children born and the sick – neglected.”

STORY #2

Last Friday morning I was picking up 3 of our Reading Club kids to take them to school.  They have been homeless for the past few months.  First they were living in cheap motels along Midlothian Tpke.  Now they are staying in someone else’s apartment in a local public housing complex.  The mom opened the door as the 3 boys were obviously roused by my knocking.  One gets up off of his sleeping bag on the floor and the other two off of their air mattress.  There is no furniture in sight.  Wearing the same clothes they slept in, they throw on their shoes and follow me out the door.  They slowly come to life as I cruise toward their elementary school hoping they are on time so they can eat some breakfast before class begins.  As I pull to a stop, I say a quick prayer to a chorus of ‘amens’ from the back seat before they jump out and run for the front door.  Just a typical day in their life…

What is the link between these 2 stories that span 2 centuries?

Resources:

401 years of systemic racism summed up in 60 facts

The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby, forward by Lecrae (Book- Zondervan)