Although summer has arrived, our home feels like a schoolroom, and one with a new set of lessons and teachers. The may seem remedial, but they are new and oh so necessary.
COVID-19 is still menacing, but our state seems to have managed the outbreak. It has been quite a tutor.
So, too the murder of George Floyd, and subsequent protests, demonstrations and rioting, on top of the pandemic, are events that built a singular schoolroom. It’s like now Doug and I are in our own home school program.
But the curriculum changes daily, depending on the news outlet or social media post.
Oh God, Thy Sea is so great, and
My boat is so small. (Breton Fisherman’s Prayer)
Nevertheless, we both hope to stay teachable; cute old dogs that we are!
I am old enough to see how little I have done in so much time, and how much I have to do in so little. ~Sheila Kaye Smith
A New Set of Lessons
- We are where we are today because the church didn’t teach the sin of racism in the church or stand as firmly in the world on the wrongness of racism. (America’s Racial Crises is a result of the Church’s Failure to Deal with Racism)
- For those of us who are comfortable in our assumptions that we are not racists, nor have we knowingly oppressed others, the Veggie Tales creator explains racism.
- Coming through the 1960’s, I thought our nation had made so much progress! And we have! But I didn’t grasp how deep and wide the road to racial reconciliation. (Systematic Racism)
Daily Homework
- Stay teachable; hang on to God, and try to imagine what it would feel like to tell our children what many black and brown moms have to say to their kids, daily.
- Keep Calm and Carry On – the Battle is the Lord’s!
In the days coming – well, the days that are here now – when men will not abide sound doctrine and God’s enemies assault and persecute the church how we will need the wisdom, courage and fellowship of the ones from every tribe and nation.
Unfortunately, “Eleven o’clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.” (~ Dr. Martin Luther King)
And he said that sixty years ago!
The protestors and the pundits cannot change a human heart; they can’t restore sound thinking. They can’t effect the racial reconciliation, forgiveness, or peace. All they can offer is “wokeness” . . . What is that worth?
What might our prayers change?
The virus is here for a longer spell – so is the discomfort of these troublesome times. School won’t be out for awhile either.
What I am learning is God is not preserving His church thus far to keep us divided. His goal is our having the same mind, whatever our Melanin! (Philippians 2:1-2)
What is keeping us? — Learn from Christ so we can love each other, and learn from each other how forgiving and powerful God’s reach really is.
A Poster for Our Classroom
Great post Barbara. You put so many of our hard lessons we have been learning together well. We are being humbled in so many ways aren’t we? Won’t hurt us at all even though it is always painful.
You are so right: painful and necessary lessons — Once upon a time, I thought I knew so much about so much . . . It’s been like walking into an exam thinking I was ready, and discovering I missed a couple of lectures and labs. God willing, we have time — we ALL have time, for we all have cut a few too many classes — I am praying for the church isn each of us who follow the Lord to be the change He alone can bring.