Saturday, February 23, 2008

PERSPECTIVE

I had a discussion that is still ringing in my ears. I talked a man who really admires General Sherman from the Civil War. He talked about what a great leader he was. Its so interesting because from my perspective I have never thought of Sherman as great. But that is because I come from the South where there is still a greater poverty rate than the rest of the country because of the way he ravaged the South after the war. I've heard the stories of how he burned much of the South and wrapped railroads around trees. From some perspectives this was great because then the South could not rise again. From other perspectives such as mine, it is horrible. There is more wealth here in STL than I have ever seen in my life because nothing compares from where I come from.

Perspective doesn't just matter in conversations like this. It also matters when we are doing things like having race relation discussions. OR how about parenting discussions between one that comes from an abusive home and one who does not? We much not forget how much impact our life experience has on the way we see things.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

THE BLACK CHURCH

I took a class this weekend on the history of the black church in America. Very good stuff. I took it because its another way that we can understand each other better. Race relations are so poor in this country. We need to do all we can to work on them. This is what the Bible calls us to.