My Black Grandson

Something about the mom pulling her adult son out of the riots in Baltimore, resonated deeply with me. 

I tried to imagine myself in her shoes. 

Scenario 1:

One of my boys as an adult, going to a sporting event and his team wins or loses. And he gets sucked into the after celebration as the stadium empties.  And a riot starts.  If I could, I would go and find him.  I would be pulling him away by the ear, with a look on my face of 'Are you kidding me'?

Scenario 2:

Chloe gets married and has kids.  No matter who she marries, her kids will be dark.  And I hope she has at least one son.  Say, he grows up, and goes to a big school in a big city.  And something bad happens nearby. And he gets pulled, pushed, or willingly follows a mob of people who are protesting.  And it gets bad, real bad.

You can bet that Chloe, her husband, and I will be on the streets looking for him.  Desperate to find him before he gets hurt.  Imagine me, as a grandma, in a riot, looking for Chloe's son. 

With my white son, I'm not afraid for his safety.

With my black grandson, I am terrified for his safety and his life.  

Scenario 3 and 4:
My white son joins in a protest for minorities.  Still not afraid for him.

My black grandson joins in a party after a big game that turns into vandalism.  Very afraid for him.

Should I be more worried for my white son?
Should I be less worried for my black grandson? 

It's just how I feel, way down deep.  And it resonates with me.

How Did Jesus Do It?

Jesus,

I want to know the 'meaty you'.

How did you connect with such a wide variety of people? And still do?

What are you like? How did it feel to be near you physically?

I  picture you, holy, as a young man, working with your earthly dad.  Doing hard, sweaty, dirty work. That allowed you to use your creativity, with human limitations. And also used your bone and muscle, the bone and muscle you created.

I imagine that Joseph worked for all kinds of people.  Did you ever feel like not filling an order cause of the sin you knew about in their life?  Did you ever say to your dad, "we can't work for this person cause of how they live"? Cause then you wouldn't be able to do any carpentry for any body, ever.  Sin is sin.  Obvious or secret.  Ongoing sin or one-time sin.

Did you speak out every time you encountered sin in someones life?  I doubt it. I don't know how you did it. How did you put up with our ugly and not become ugly yourself?  People were drawn to you because of your love, your deep in your soul love.

And how did you handle people's criticism when you knew you were speaking the truth?  As a young man. Before your ministry. Before you revealed all that you are.  I can't figure it out.

Such as, religious people who stood up for their convictions, refusing to associate themselves with 'sinners'.  Refusing to make cake for sinners.  And then crying foul when other groups do the same thing to them.  They might say we need to stand up for our own freedom to serve who we want to serve. Cause other groups discriminate against us, so we should be able to discriminate against them.  What a mess.

Neither of those sides is your side. I don't think you would take sides in so many situations. The eyes of your heart would see through all the rubbish on both sides. And extend grace. And would say the words that needed to be said. And would do the thing that needed to be done.  And Forgive.

Cause both sides and all the sides in between, are hurting, having been deeply hurt. And are speaking out of their own pain.  Deep wounds from years of not getting each other.  Not connecting with each other.  You are the only thing that can bridge the gap.  But we need to cross the bridge of forgiveness, and grace that you supply.

And you get into the mess, the meaty you. And you stay.

I don't get you, but I sure want to be near you.

Me.