ONE person

"See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?..." (Isaiah 43:19)

Unprecedented times.  Crazy times.  My mind is on full-blown overload.  So sleeping...that's been fun.  Not.  Really monitoring what goes in especially before I go to bed.  Some nights, melatonin is required...just keepin' it real.

One night I was praying...desperately pleading to God to change hearts, to heal our country, to come.  One thought came, "one person".  I thought about how one person supposedly started this whole COVID-19.  Bam...lives disrupted, jobs lost, incomes lost, lives lost.  I thought about how one person, a police officer, took the life of a man and brought a country to its knees that was already reeling.  

"One person" though is not a bad thing.  

"One person" brought disease, thousands came together to protect fragile, at-risk lives.  Pictures of "one person" bringing joy to neighbors by sharing their voice, their art, and blessing thousands.  Thousands of people on their balconies singing together, cheering for the "one person" willing to risk his or her life healing others.

"One person" (I cannot judge the motive of his heart, but it will be judged by "ONE") brought hundreds of years of racial injustice to the forefront.  Thousands, upon thousands, came together to say, "enough."

"One person" is not unique...it's historical.  The power of "one".  Ultimately, God brought me back to the "One person" who changed the trajectory of the lives of millions.  "One person" came and died on the cross taking the penalty of my sin and giving me eternal life.  "One person" offers this free gift to billions.  His power is unmatched.

So, we've said "enough."  Now, I'm back to that "one person"-ME.  When Jesus left, He said we would do greater things and every power He had He gave to me through His Holy Spirit.  

All through this pandemic, I've been saying and searching, "What's the lesson?  What's the message?"  When George Floyd died (say his name), I found the message for me, the only "one person" I can change.  

See, I thought I was all "woke."  I grew up in St. Louis...an ethnically rich, diverse community.  My best friend, Heather Smith, was black.  I didn't realize this until "Roots" came out when I was 11.  By then, Heather had gone on to private school.  I tested to get into the same school and couldn't get in, so it was a public school for me.  I had friends of every color.  I didn't get it, but they did.  The tenor of the atmosphere changed (not with my friends, but with those I didn't even know), but I didn't fully perceive it. 

So, I couldn't understand and would even get angry with the notion that I would be called "racist" because of my skin color.  Dude, you don't even know me. Then I began to educate myself after George Floyd's death in small ways...videos, articles.  I always said I was "color blind" without the slightest notion that this was offensive because it meant that I didn't acknowledge the beautiful colors I did see.  

I came back to "one person."  ME.  I can't change the world today.  But, today I can change me.  I can draw the circle around me and do the work to change everything in my heart.  Then widen the circle (sound familiar?!) I see you in all of your beautiful colors.  I hear your hurt.  I ache for babies that grow up experiencing anything but love in an age that should be full of innocence.  I ache for parents that fear for their child's life because of their skin in a different tone than mine.  I didn't see it, but a new thing is springing up in me, and He is doing a new thing in me and now I perceive it.  The power of "one person."