A bit more on overcoming racism, as i ran into my friend’s older sister today and hung out talking what the role of the church is in all this. She felt they were too divided to speak well now, but needed to address the issues directly in Love, unlike after 911. I agreed.
  I told her the story of how my uncles, who lived in the deep south and were famous for serving “blacks” in the bbq joint they ran on Interstate 29—back in the day, it was the main highway up the east coast before 85 and 95 were added-so the african american musicians used to travel south on it to do shows down in Georgia and Florida. They feared the journey, but needed safe havens along the way, and my uncles would even keep open after hours so they could have some good NC bbq.
 My uncles were famous in that little region of North Carolina, for serving others. And one time ended up serving Louis Armstrong, the famous jazz musician who was already well known in Europe, but at that time, was just getting known in the deep south. And it was still hard for a black man to travel north to south, even then. The word got out, that there where white people in the south, even back then, who would serve anyone food. Plus the barbecue was amazing!
 Anyway, my friend and I talked today about people who made morally pioneering decisions in their times under their current cultural prejudices to do what was right. Each of us is responsible to aligning with Kingdom values in our time, and moving against the darker currents of morality.
 At that time in America’s history, there were “colored” and “white” churches in the deep south, and there were literally train tracks between the two. And once again barbecue was the place of reconciliation! But it did require those willing to cross the lines! It’s a good part of my own family heritage-that we welcomed those at that time perceived as “other”, realizing in some ways we are all children of God, and all “other”. All fallen short of the glory….all in need of a forgiveness. All in desperate need of Love.
 There are choices to make each generation, regardless of our cultural situations or moral milieus, or even strongholds of thought, and they chose to do that right because of their Christian beliefs, or maybe because they knew the Spirit of Christ in them, not just cultural religion. They thought Jesus turned out to be an inter-racial lover.
 I remember one of them telling me before he died, “Jesus was an outsider even in his own culture, and so are we all—even christians are only grafted in to another religion, and their way is the way of blessing the stranger. Jesus was and is The Stranger. So be kind to those who see themselves as strangers. There are specific blessings for those who go out of their way to welcome the foreigner, or those who see themselves as the loser in the Game of life.” I wrote that down, and still recall it.
 Lots of my uncles, weren’t so sure about traditional church, even way back then, but they all knew Jesus and wanted to walk that way out practically.
 Anyway, my friend and I today, went on to talk of which parts of her family were forgiving towards whites and others, and which held bitterness for years against those who had oppressed them. I told her, I had apologized for any of my family line who had done wrong towards her line. Then we started talking about the church as a model of the human family reconciled.
 There have been people in every generation who have been cultural advocates for not just the poor, but those who saw themselves as “low class” (class systems are also a statement of racism, but based on resources—materialism) or not included in the dominant culture. The Ebed Melech’s, the story of Jeremiah the prophet (the african who helped Jeremiah the Jewish prophet out of the pit he was thrown in), advocates to the Voice of God,  who have gone against the grain in loving people of other colors, races or those who were considered trash in their society. Gandi is another example which comes to mind, who worked for the “outcast”. It was an active choice, and one of high risk. And it is like God to do so.
  Watching a documentary last night about a German man who anonymously saved over 10,000 Jews and others, during the wars. And ended up himself with no grave.
 Time to be those type of unsung heroes in daily practical ways. Let’s all become trees of righteousness for having gone out of our way to bless those who were being persecuted in our days.
 Challenged this week, by those who chose well under pressures before us to love especially those who see themselves as discarded in the human family. Going out of way to bless them—at risk to themselves. That seems to me the way of Christ.