Red and Yellow, Black and White, They are Precious in His Sight

"I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony..." went the famous Coca-Cola ad that I grew up hearing. There were a bunch of hippie-type folk with candles, multiple colors and nationalities of people, all swaying and singing together. The 1970s world I was living in was learning to adjust, grappling with the issues of all the changes going on in our culture. There was integration-by-design, logistical problems of bussing children to different districts so that there would be "equality" and racial balance in the schools. It was a strange time, but there needed to be change. Whether it was done correctly or not, I'm not here to judge. 

But what I do know is that God talks about this subject thirty-four times in the Scriptures. He calls people to Himself from "every tribe, tongue and nation." And until they are all represented, it says that Christ will not return. Being from the deep South, where some folks seem to think the devil lives (well, he IS the prince of the power of the air, that, but it's not limited to the deep South), there were so many wrong deeds and evil done. If you're living on the planet Earth, from any place anywhere, at some point there has been (and is being done), much evil. There is no single people group anywhere that is immune to the depravity of man. 

When I think of that idyllic commercial, with the pretty people of all races and creed singing together, I think about the makeup of heaven. Let me tell you, if you will look, you will find that within the simplicity of the Word of God there are the keys to peace, to unity, to so many of the world's questions. This Sunday morning, as I sat in church (I sit down front beside the piano, so I can see out there really good)...I wanted to weep. Because all across our quiet, gentle, kind, Word-centered church were all manner of people sitting together, worshipping God. I saw threads of Irish, English, Ethiopian, African, Scottish, Hispanic, Greek, German, Dutch, and the always essential Duke's Mixtures of humankind. In the end, we are all a "Duke's Mixture." Another simple story from the Scriptures, that most young children know, the one about Noah and a giant boat...not truthfully a children's level reading, because it's actually pretty gruesome, where only a few people (and animals) make it through a big, bad storm. There were eight folks on that ark, four human couples plus two of every kind of animal (seven of every clean animal).  They got through, made it out and then repopulated the earth. Look at it -- we're all cousins. Even the secular world has proven it out in science...that we all hark back to a simple human line...they even call that first mother "Eve." So guess what? We're all related. All. Of. Us. There are many, many cultures, but we are all kinfolk. We are all human. The concept of race is really a cultural construct rather than an actual race. We are the human race, with a beautiful range of colors and hues, faces, eyes, fingers. I heard a dear, young pastor say that our big problem is that we don't know God and we don't know each other.

And that's the real goal...to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. All these biblical themes...amazing that He wrote all that down for us. We need to read it and heed it. It's all there.