[Durham INC] New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas

[Christine Chamberlain]

"Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed." ~ Unknown 

Cut open an apple. Count the seeds. Now cut open one of the seeds. How many future apples do you think it contains? The only way to know is to plant it, care for it, and patiently wait for them to arrive. Jesus rocked the religious people of His day with the words, "For the entire Law is fulfilled in keeping this one command, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Jesus counterbalanced the whole Mosaic Law, containing over 600 ordinances of do's and don'ts, with one simple command to love.*

Can you imagine the incredible, limitless potential in this one command? If everyone treated all people, good and bad, the way they would like to be treated, imagine how many laws would be irrelevant in our country.*

If, instead of dropping to the lowest common denominator of our neighbors, we each personally raise the bar to where Jesus set it, at "love", imagine how many trees of life would be planted, watered by streams of living water, providing shade and fruit for the whole world to enjoy. 

Keep reading...

I'd like to go back to the woman I met at Costco.  In an earlier email, Carl empathized with the woman and said, "I have often felt [unseen]...  It comes with being black.  It happens so often that one is left feeling minimized and overlooked."  


 I explained how I made allowances for the woman, I understood she felt the need to control her surroundings, etc.  But as I make additional allowances, because I'm white, ... is this still love?  If being a white person means I have to make additional allowances for a rude person, merely because they're black... then that isn't love.  This is "enabling".

Let me empathize with these feelings of yours...Going back to Iowa once again...  It was 98% white.  There is no 'privilege' to being white where I'm from.  Back there you had whites and you had white trash.  That's it.  I was white trash.  Poor.  As a poor, badly clothed, skinny white kid attending a white church filled with parents whose kids weren't, I often felt overlooked and minimized.  I wasn't invited to sleepovers, etc. The parents walked right by me, didn't say 'hey', pulled their kids down the hall faster when I was there.... Sure, I could feel sorry for myself, give myself a label, wear it on my sleeve for the rest of my life, because I was beaten down by my parents, ignored by society, etc etc etc. And then I could expect society to make allowances for me because I have a damaged psyche... right?  

Carl, you said when you were talking about privilege, you didn't mean monetary privilege.  You were talking about the privilege of being white.  And I say no, I have 'privilege' because I earned it.  I overcame my past, it took about 10 years, but I didn't wallow in it, I moved forward. 
I have a unique privilege... I'm white, came from an extremely poor background, without a cent from welfare.  Welfare is today's slavery.  "Enabling".  I didn't have a family to rely on.  I didn't have the government to rely on.  I don't preach against welfare because I'm white and republican... I preach against welfare because I never had it suck me into it's trap.  When you're hungry and alone, with no one to help, you have two choices.  The streets or get a job.  I chose the job.

At 23, I was too 'stupid' to know any better... I started a business.  I hired people.  I started down the path of the 1% and didn't even know it.  Would I have done this if welfare had sucked me in?

Today, I think of all the wasted minds, trapped in welfare, and it sickens me, sickens me to the core.  And I can 'love' them til the end of time, but until I stop the enabling... it's really not love, is it?


Christine Chamberlain 


*author unknown