ibarw

international blog against racism week...what a concept. thanks to amaryah for bringing this to my attention. i'm pretty excited about spending this week blogging on the race relations both in the u.s. and abroad. considering the fact that i did just spend two weeks in africa, i'm looking forward to reflecting on my experience and how it has impacted my view of racism. my last post was an article on integrated and segregated churches.

segregated churches.

does that sound absolutely ridiculous to anyone else? i grew up in two very white churches. i lived in a christian world where everyone had the same skin color. i encountered other races at school, but that just added to my secular perception of race. it wasn't until i began college that i really experienced doing life with christians who weren't white. the worship pastor at my church (thomas) is black.

talk about culture shock.

the first sunday i attended services at mosaic i honestly came away thinking, "wow. that was so cool to see a black guy leading in worship." and then my heart broke because i realized how ridiculous that statement was and how close-minded my church upbringing had been. i should have thought, "wow. that was so cool to see such a passionate man leading in worship." race should never have been the wow factor in that experience.

but far too often that is the case. it was for me. for the first time in my life the people i count as close friends aren't predominantly white. my perceptions on race and how the concept affects christians is different. it's more open.

earlier i mentioned amaryah. if there is one person in my life who has challenged me to challenge all my perceptions on race it is her. she doesn't let me be comfortable. in fact, she is fantastic at making me feel uncomfortable. and it makes me look at things differently. and i'm grateful for her influence in my life and on my thought processes.

so that's my introduction to this week of blogging. i'm pretty excited.