Earlier today I had the privilege of supporting a group of talented people perform a dance in our local park. Not a protest or demonstration, no demands, even no dialogue or explanation. As they performed the dance I joined a lady I have never met holding a simple banner made from a sheet which read Black Lives Matter. My sensitive nose can smell the scepticism of some. Ah – so it was a demonstration and you were making a point. Well, 24 years ago I stood not far from the same spot and watched a group dance and yes I held a banner. They were an Irish dance troupe. How sweet everyone said. No one asked about the political nuances at the time.
Today as I walked away from that small group of dancers I felt encouraged by the possibilities we all have to walk together, to love our shared humanity, to see one another through a filter less harsh than those which have brought pain and division. I wonder if I survive the next 24 years will I return to hold a ‘Chinese Lives Matter’ banner!
One of the most renowned characters in Middle Eastern history is King David. You know the one, famed for chopping off Goliath’s head or stealing the wife of his captain and then getting him killed! The story is that he came good in the end, a story many of us share. Here’s the thing, David would never have been chosen as king if Samuel, the chap making the decision, had been left to follow his biased views. David had older, taller, stronger and better looking brothers who drew the eye of Samuel. If you read the account you see how God pushes back on the bias Samuel is operating out off.
… the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
I find it really hard to look at someone’s heart from a distance. I’m guessing it wasn’t just the absence of cars that caused Jesus to walk everywhere. Maybe he was simply walking close enough to ‘look upon the heart’.
Rob Wykes 