Grace

   "Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us." Matthew 6:11-12 

   I've been given a feast: a mental one with a smorgasbord of ideas, realizations, and a richer understanding of what it means to be Jesus centered. This, in and of itself, is the greatest of all of these because this is the source of all the other ideas and realizations.

  All because I had an interaction with someone whose skin color wasn't the same as mine. 

  "I can't escape this!" They waved their hands to delineate their entire being.

  Even though they said a great deal more, those four words have captured my heart.

  The enemy loves to have us hate ourselves. That's what he does. he nurtures it, feeds it, and encourages it to grow. It is the legacy of generations, of sexism, racism, of fear and yes, culture. Our enemy will season and marinade this toxic feast with trauma, neglect, insult and abuse because self loathing fosters hate. And that is all he is about.

  This might outside the box but this is what I felt called to do at the time: 

  When I was a brand new believer discovering the freedom found through repentance and forgiveness, the devil came to mind. Frequently. I forgave him for being what he was and in a way, I felt sorry for him because he had turned his back on love. I swear I heard him scream because there can be no greater wound caused to the father of lies than an offering of grace. 

  he is still my enemy, the world's enemy, and so that's why there's no capital even on the pronoun identifying him. But I don't hate him, I hate what he does. 

  he's not going to win anyways. (Smile.)

  

  Those four words, "I can't escape this!" have continued to be at the forefront of my mind and heart. I've been rehearsing what I'd like to say to them, regretting what wasn't said and praying about the entire situation. 

  In the midst of this came the BIG PRAYER, "Lord, how do we stop racism?"

  He was very quick to answer, "Change humanity. Teach them how to love."

  And that, my friends, is at least a whole other blog! Oh, maybe I don't need to write about it. I know a Good Book.