Well, our three-part video/discussion series on “Race: The Power of an Illusion” concluded beautifully yesterday with Episode 3, “The House We Live In.” The video shared some important truths about economics, housing, assumptions, and inherited wealth. The insights were particularly relevant to those of us familiar with the history of neighborhoods like Englewood and Roseland (near Chicago), Lansing, Illinois, and now St. John, Indiana. It’s been a good series.
But the deeper truths came out in the discussion. One man in the group said it best when he explained: “Sure, I’m of Mexican descent, and that’s fine with me. But it doesn’t matter anymore, ever since I began following Jesus. Now my new citizenship is in heaven. And that’s true of all of us here. We’re all brothers and sisters. We’re family.”
And then someone shared these Bible verses that he had read during his devotions that morning, which were a perfect way to close the series:
All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.
If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.
Amen!
Your series of blogs about race has made me think of my favorite poem–“I Dream a World,” by Langston Hughes. Here’s a link for anyone who may not be familiar with it–or would just like to read it again!
http://www.learningfromlyrics.org/Langston.html
What a great reminder, KR. Thanks for the link! I like to think that the hope represented in “I Dream a World” was a greater part of Hughes’ life than the frustration that comes through in “A Dream Deferred.” (http://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm)