And there I was. A white girl. In a Colombian restaurant. Surrounded by people of different ethnicities than me. I looked around the table and smiled.
Three black, five Hispanic, one Asian, three white. All happy, joking, laughing. Some people had known each other for many years, some for a few years and some I had just met moments before.

Racial unity is not silence. It's not about ignoring the obvious. Oh no, I heard more racial references that night then I've ever heard before.. "Dude, you were my first Asian friend!" "... Puerto Ricans!" "It's cuz I'm black, isn't it?!" Seeing who we are, noting it, liking it, even poking fun at it in a light-hearted manner... That's racial unity.

When I looked around that table, yes, I saw different ethnicities. But I saw them because each ethnicity is a part of each person's individual identity. Every varying tone of skin color, the neighborhood each person grew up in, their native tongue or accent or language differences, every country, every single thing about them that could possibly be related to race.... it all adds up to the person that they have become. Completely unique of another. You may partially "describe" someone according to their race, but you never fully define them until you have known them. In conversation. Noted their sense of humor, their deep convictions, their passions and greatest dreams. Sure, my first thought upon meeting someone might be "Hmmmm, that's one fine-looking Latino..." (I'm single, y'all, I can think that!! However, I am not shallow enough to pursue someone based on looks. I'm simply being observational.)

You may "describe" me by my race --- white.
You cannot "define" me by my race. There's so much more to me than meets the eye.
You see a white girl.
Could you know that I love Mexican food? That I'm overtly passionate about Pentecostal theology? That I play piano so hard my fingernails break? That my entire life, I've never seen my parents treat another person differently because of race? Could you know that I despise shallowness and modern art annoys me? Could you know that I cry when writing songs? That I adore meeting new people, but sometimes shyness tries to paralyze me?
And I just tried to think of stereotypical white things and totally blanked out. Haha! Whatever you think a white girl would be, I'm not so sure it's true. I am who I am. I am not a stereotype. Describe me as white, no problem. Just don't define me as white.

And I will do the same for you. It takes me about 30 seconds to go from noting that someone was Hispanic or black or whatever... to maybe thinking he had nice eyes or a firm handshake... another 5 minutes to note that he was rather intense or has a good sense of humor or that we disagree about key theological issues... and another 15 minutes to note how he interacts with other people.
(again, I'm an observer/discerner by nature + single & looking = this is what I do).

Back to that night at the restaurant... ya know the only time I felt slightly out-of-place? When the waitress started speaking Spanish to me and I didn't understand it...
And that was totally non-race-related. I was just jealous that I'm not bilingual!



* PS - my blog returns for some sporadic posting about personal/spiritual/random/non-business stuff.

"For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
1 Timothy 4:10

There were many emotions running through my heart last night. Anger, disappointment, sadness, frustration, and more hopelessness... But the Word always brings balance. While the election may be over, our fight of faith is not. We have fixed our hope on Christ--and only Him.

The media claims this election is historic... for racial reasons. I believe this election is historic... for moral reasons. And though I strongly encourage you to vote, and to vote based on morality, I want to insert a little bit of balance of the passionate discussion of politics.

It is tempting to view this election in black-and-white (and no, that is not a racial reference). I know that my personal tendency is to alternate between hope and hopelessness. I.e. "If Obama wins, America is lost forever" being the tamest of sentiments.

The fact of the matter is the America is already lost! The majority of Americans, though religious, have never experienced the saving power of Christ and the miracle of the Gospel. And that is the direct result of sin--not politics. America is rocketing towards destruction as time draws ever nearer to the return of the Lord. But it's not about politics. I think, more than anything, politics may be a thermometer of the moral temperature of our culture. In the midst of this craziness, our perspective must be determined by the King. We must remember that we are aliens and strangers in this land! Just here for a little while... and here for the preaching of the Gospel. Our happiness does not rise and fall with the election results.

I exhort you: Pray that God will stay the tide of wickedness in our generation, for the purpose of bringing Himself glory. Vote for candidates the most reflect Christ's characters (i.e. wouldn't support murdering innocents). And keep an eternal perspective.