It has been difficult these past few weeks in our home. You see, my husband goes to work each day wearing the uniform that has become an object of hate. He wears the skin that is assumed to be racist and he continues to respond to and protect the public that has no problem hating, spitting on and ridiculing him. He is called racist yet comes home and loves on his beautiful little girl with that dark brown skin that he supposedly hates. Oh the irony.
I have had times of tears and times of anger these weeks. We know very acutely that he leaves each day with a risky job but when you enter these times where we are reminded of many who hate you just for wearing the uniform it makes it scarier for those of us left at home praying for his return. I know that everyone doesn’t hate him, but I also know that those that do have a hate in them that doesn’t act through reason and knowledge, it acts through the driving force of the evil one … anything can happen when people have given themselves to that kind of hate and evil.
We have tried really hard to have days where we purposely don’t watch the media reports and remove ourselves from all that is being said. I have had some heated conversations with people recently … ironically defending my husband all the while speaking about the true racism that exists in this country. That is the irony in this, I don’t have an overwhelming belief that cops are corrupt … I just don’t. I know the job they do every day and I understand why they respond the way they do in each situation. I also know that my daughter has and will continue to experience all kinds of racism, some covert, some because of the institutional embedding of racism that exists in this country and some from those who truly hate people with dark skin. We will be preparing her for the racism she will likely experience from all areas of life; principals, teachers, store clerks, church workers, employers and yes quite possibly police officers.
I was thinking this morning about how this correlates to our life as Christians. About how we will or have been hated for wearing the “skin” of Christianity. We will or have been hated, mocked, spat on and ridiculed. It is so hard when that happens but we are called to love through it all. My husband is showing me what it means to continue to serve even when you are hated, even when you don’t know who may want to kill you, even when the person you are responding to help will reject you because of the skin you wear. Thank you Chris for showing me what it means to continue to love and serve even when you are hated.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:33
