Wary

I saw a young lady on the bike trail recently, smiled and said, “Hello,” and was a bit offended when she looked away.

Then I remembered – on a secluded stretch of the path, young women need to be wary of strangers. How sad that they must be aware of their surroundings, careful not to be in certain places at certain times.

I pondered as I cranked, and realized it’s not just women. So many people groups in our country must be wary.

Young black men. Immigrants. Asians (in COVID times). You can add to the list.

I know I don’t really get it. As a middle class white male, I enjoy a level of privilege so embedded into my identity I can’t fully appreciate it – even though I know it exists.

You and I mostly don’t see it. That’s because, as tribal creatures, we tend to hang out with “people like us.” It takes some effort to listen and get beyond our cultural obstacles.

Jesus offered some help in the form of a couple of stories.

One was about a Samaritan woman at a well. Jews despised Samaritans. A Jewish man would never be alone with a strange woman, much less a Samaritan woman with a somewhat cloudy reputation. But Jesus not only talked with her, He asked for water.

Jesus broke cultural barriers to show us each person matters. He wants us to do likewise.

He also said we would find Him among “the least of these,” the marginalized, the immigrants, the poor. He was pretty clear…we won’t find him by hanging out just where we’re comfortable.

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I’m thinking about the beautiful smiles of the kids at the Home of Hope. These 22 kids live behind secure fences. We put their handprints on our jerseys. I can’t show you their lovely faces because that would endanger them.

I’m working toward a day when children, and everyone else, can live in a world where they don’t have to be wary.