I spent a lot of time as a teenager reading. I could whip through a book in an afternoon if the inclination struck me. The books were not necessarily mind expanding and probably not material I should have been wasting my time on. We lived overseas and the embassy libraries were not known for a wide variety of literature. Mostly series books like Harlequin Romance, Harlequin Super Romance, Harlequin Historical Romance, so you get the idea. My problem is once I start a book, it is extremely difficult to put it down until it is done. The clock can easily read 3am, but the lights don't go out until the last page has been turned. The past few years have not afforded me the ability to just sit and read without regard for time. There are a tons of books I would like to read; a stack on the bookshelf in fact, waiting for me. There is always something else to do, until this weekend.
My mom gave me a book for Christmas and I really wanted to read it.. It is called "The Help". I started the book Saturday afternoon and was finished by Sunday afternoon. I did not even have to stay up until 3am to do it. I just had the time and it was good!. Don't worry, if you haven't read it I won't tell any secrets. When I thought about writing on this subject, I became a little worried. I don't want to offend anyone or start a heated debate. Just wanted to share some thoughts on a subject that has been quite controversial since the beginning of time. It is about the status lines we as society create. The ones that separate rich from poor, black from white, educated from uneducated, churched from unchurched, and so on.
The Help is set during the 1960's in Jackson, Mississippi and tells of the negro women who work in white homes and the stories they have to tell about the treatment they received. It is written by a woman who was born in Jackson and had negro house help during her childhood. While the story is fictional, it is factual about the treatment of Negros during that time. The problem is that treatment wasn't just reserved for them. It has been happening to different people groups all across the world for as long as anyone can remember. It was done to the Native Americans and the Jews. Well, frankly it has been done to so many it is hard to list them all. One person decided another person was different from them and a spark of hatred became a movement.
I grew up in Africa. The first place we lived, I was 10 years old. Emma was the spitting image of the "Aunt Jemimah" lady on the syrup bottle. She lived in a building in the back of our yard. She worked six days a week and would sneak in on Sunday's to help me with the dishes because she knew I hated doing them. The time passed a lot faster and with a lot more fun with her by my side. Until mom found out....I loved Emma. I would sit around the outside fire at her "servant's quarters" and braid her hair, shuck corn, and make mealy meal (like cream of wheat out of corn). She was my friend. We lived other places in Africa and always had help in the house, but it wasn't the same as Emma. I am completely drawn to people with black skin. Their eyes are so huge and beautiful. Their smile so wide. The little ones waddle around with a head full of soft curls. They are just beautiful people. I would pack a bag and move back in an instant!
When God created man there was no mention of the color of his skin. In fact, I don't know of any passage in the bible that tells us someone with a different color of skin is, well different. Jesus spent his entire life crossing the line. He touched the untouchable, talked to the un-talkable, healed the un-healable. He sat with sinners, thieves, prostitutes, tax collectors, the blind, the lame and the lepers. Tonight at River Church, Pastor Brad told the story about Jesus and the woman at the well. This woman was a social outcast married 5 times and now living with a man, a Samaritan (non-jew) and well, a woman. He sat alone with her and told her about herself, himself and how it could be different. He crossed the line into her world and gave her a savior. That is the beautiful thing about Christ. He can do that to any line - cross it and give someone a way out.
Throughout time, people have been dissatisfied with the line. Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Brother Lawrence, and Nelson Mandela just to name a small few. When we decide we are better than someone else for whatever reason, we have darkened our hearts and diminished our humanity. Jesus would never have found this behavior acceptable. If our job as Christians is to emulate Christ then EVERYONE is acceptable in his sight and in ours.
In His service
Mally
Comments