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Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Why Do We Need Black History Month?


It wound up being my favorite class in college: a history course that I took just to get a few easy credits. The teacher stepped into the class on the first day and said something that forever changed my perspective on the study of history. He started by saying that he did not expect us to memorize a bunch of dates leading to a collective sigh of relief that was audible throughout the classroom. He then explained that he wanted us to be able to answer one simple question about everything we would learn that semester. How does each event affect our lives today? From that point on I’ve asked this question whenever I studied our history.

As I sit here in my home in Pennsylvania I’m overwhelmed by the number of people and events that have shaped the world and that set the stage for how the culture in which I am immersed functions today. And yet, as I look back on all of my years in grade school I realize there were so many names and events that were missed for one reason or another during all of those history classes. And the biggest omission of them all were the many contributions made by black men and women: contributions that our approved history books almost completely overlooked.

Why do we need Black History Month? I honestly wish that we didn’t need it. I wish that the text books did a better job of telling the story of how blacks and other minorities did important things so that we all can ask how their actions affect us today. But alas, with a few exceptions, those contributions are left out, leaving us with the need for a month designed to remind us not to leave people out.


Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Who Speaks into Your Life?


 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15

Unless you live in a monastery there are probably people around you who try to speak into your life, passing on their point of view about you and about the situations in which you find yourself. Sometimes their comments are helpful. Sometimes they're no better than background noise. Most of the time those comments are well intentioned but that doesn’t always guarantee that they are what’s best. So how do you know when to listen and when to politely say thankyou and then move on? One surefire way to know is to prayerfully see if the words spoken to you line up with what God says in the Bible.

A few years ago I had a coworker share their fears about the future of my job. At the time our company was facing a number of challenges and our leaders were exploring a number of avenues, trying to find the best path. It was in this climate that my coworker spoke of how they felt my job was on the line and gave me advice on how to handle the situation. It was clear that this person meant well and was concerned about my future. At the time what they said made a lot of sense.

Taking things at face value, the advice was sound and I was a day away from doing exactly as the person suggested. What stopped me? Actually I should say: Who stopped me? God stopped me, as that night He spoke to me during my prayer time. It wasn’t an audible voice and yet it came across loud and clear, revealing the fear behind the advice. By the end of that prayer time I understood that God had a plan for me and would provide for my family whether or not I got laid off. The next day I took what God revealed to be my next step, moving forward in the confidence that God would not drop the ball.

Today, I am still employed at the same company, which is doing better than it was a few years ago. Not only that but I just received a promotion. Yes, the person was right about my job disappearing but neither of us could see the blessing that I am receiving in moving from one position to another. This is God’s plan and He knew along what would happen even though I could not see. Where my coworker understandably spoke out of fear (and out of concern) the Spirit within me spoke out of adoption and out of all knowing wisdom. I thank God for His plan and for speaking to me that night when I needed His advice.

While I am grateful that my coworker cared enough to give advice, that advice did not line up with God’s plan because this person was not seeing things through God’s eyes. Do the people around you give you advice that comes from a Biblical point of view or from what seems right to a human (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). Who do you allow to speak into your life? Whose advice are you willing to follow? Is their advice godly or will they lead you onto the wrong path?

Friday, February 9, 2024

There’s Nothing I Can Do About It


It was a show of blatant disrespect, the kind that people later try to justify because they know they are wrong. There I was trying to make what I thought was an important point but someone else kept talking over me. They felt that the point I was making didn’t apply at the time, even though later on someone else asked the very question I was trying to answer. Somehow the answer was important when the other person asked the question but wasn’t important when I, knowing the information was needed, tried to anticipate what would be asked. Later on the person tried to explain why they interrupted me, as if the explanation somehow made it less disrespectful.

Fortunately, God has done quite a bit of work on my heart. Having been brought up under the cloud of codependency, my old self would have reacted poorly. I would have started yelling or done something else that would have made me look like a fool. If I didn’t yell, I would have made some sort of passive aggressive comment when the question I was trying to answer was asked later on. Somehow I would have found a way to mess things up so that in the end all anyone would have talked about was my own immaturity instead of that of the person who was really at fault.

In the past if I somehow managed to hold my tongue I would have felt compelled to try to change how that person thinks about me: I would have tried to earn their respect. If I had lost it, I would have gone to grovel at the person’s feet, taking full responsibility for my wrong and for theirs. Why? Well that is a symptom of codependency. It’s a drive to get people to like and respect me while fixing problems that I didn’t create in the first place. Along with that, codependency tells me that I am usually wrong and the other person is right, even when they treat me (and others) poorly.

What I’ve learned over the years is that there are some people whose hearts are not in the right place. They have an agenda to push and they are going to do so no matter who gets embarrassed or even hurt. I can’t make people like that respect or even like me. I cannot do anything to make them treat me any differently. In fact, there is nothing I can do about it. But that does not let me off the hook. While I am not responsible for the actions of other people, I am responsible for how I respond. I am responsible for making sure that my heart is right and that, in the end, I can walk away knowing that I responded as God wants.