Who is Lighting the Way for Who?

I remember the days before I was nine.  Teacher's talking behind closed doors.  I overheard words like gypsies, transient.


I remember the look in someone's eyes when they were just "uncomfortable" with me.  Whether it was how I looked, smelled, talked, or gave them the eye, they were uncomfortable.  I was left to wonder why.  What about me makes you look at me like I'm something stuck to the bottom of your shoe?  What makes you whisper to someone next to you when I walk by?


Street teens have told me the stories of being told quietly, off to the side, by someone in the church that the teen is new to, that they need to: dress differently, look differently, speak differently.  Translation:  be someone else before you're welcome in God's House.  I've experienced it, in some form, have you?


I remember learning that Anger is a secondary emotion, it is caused by first or primary emotions like: shame, insecurity, disrespect, fear, etc. 


I remember sitting on a bed, hurt at what Christians could do, and my mother passing on the lesson that "they are God's beloved children, too," even when they're not seeing the whole picture of God's kingdom.

We're all broken, under construction, learning to draw closer to Christ.  We all can carry His light.  I feel a confidence when I introduce myself as "a sinner saved by grace."  I wish I did when I say I am a Christian...