The Race

This was supposed to be a "lighter" week for me since my friend Nate started a 4 week teaching series on Jonah at Watershed's Worship Gathering. But my week has been anything BUT lighter. One of the many things taking up my time has been helping a family plan the funeral for a beloved mom/grandma who tragically died in a car accident last week. In fact, I was at their house until after 11:00 pm last night finishing up details so we could print up a program today for Sunday's funeral service (or as they are calling it "Service of Consolation").

This morning I saw the news headlines on my screen saver and one said something about race. The ABC news article said that in a recreated 1940s test, black kids overwhelmingly picked white dolls as their preferred doll and as the "good" doll. This surprised me especially because last night I was helping a black family plan a funeral and I had listened to a black man speak at last night's Worship Gathering. And I hadn't thought a thing about it until I saw the short film referenced in the ABC news article (which was created by a high school student).

Nate (who hails from Chad, the same as the grieving family) and I have had conversations about race before. I live my life without any thought of race - he tries to, but sometimes it is an issue for him as an African man. To me, culture is far more important than the color of your skin. But obviously there are still people to whom race is a big deal. And it deeply affects their thinking, their choices, and their self-image (which the film made very clear).

What can we do to help those who struggle with issues of race? How are you, as a follower of Christ, helping others see that skin color doesn't matter to God?