A Lifetime of Learning and Growing

I have spent almost 64 years on this planet. The past 20 years, give or take, have exposed my ignorance and/or altered my personal views of more things than I care to admit. For instance, retired equals carefree, age equals wisdom, church work equals spirituality, and affluence equals success, just to name a few. 

All of us, hopefully, are in a state of perpetual learning and growing. For those of us who have openly professed to be disciples of Jesus, this includes humbly acknowledging our failures as we become more aware of them. Our mission is to love and extend grace to everyone regardless of race, economic status, political party, or lifestyle. Simply stated, seek harmony with all. To that end, I have been blessed to participate with Harmony, a grass roots movement of racial reconciliation advocates, since 2017.

Born in the south prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, I was alive when discriminatory practices and forced public and school segregation against people of color was legal. This historic new law was an important step by our government to acknowledge and attempt to correct this injustice. Unfortunately, judgmental attitudes and prejudice have continued, and the burdens for people of color to be accepted without regard to skin color remain. 

I am grateful to many who have led the way in the reconciliation movement. To paraphrase an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, I long for the day when all humans will be valued without regard to the color of their skin. Working together with Harmony members, giving of my time and resources, has been a great blessing to me as a follower of Jesus. I am no longer content to sit on the sidelines and “neglect the weightier matters of the law” (Matt 23:23) but feel compelled “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with [my] God” (Micah 6:8).