20 mins.

       Okay, so I’m giving myself 20 mins. to write this post because, well, I have some things to do and I like to challenge myself sometimes.  It is 11:40 in the morning, I’ve done all that I needed too before now and I look forward to spending some time with my daughter who has today off from work- so let’s see if anything good can come from this post.

 
       Truth is good, but certainly not always easy to tell or to hear.  It was hard for me to hear my mom tell my son that employers DO look at appearances when they hire and with his hair the way he likes it and/ or wants it to be, it may severely limit his employment opportunities.  And because I only want to tell him the truth, I explained that even if the employers can see past his ethnicity, his afro and the dreads he wants, they would make him look less professional and employers want professional looking people to work for them.  (Yes there are a few places that hire tattooed, pierced, and wild haired people, but not too many).

       We like to think racism is dead; that looks don’t matter; the school we attended isn’t important; that all our hard work will pay off in others wanting to hire us.  The truth is racism will never be dead until God’s eternal kingdom is established, employers want their workers to look a certain way and better looking people usually get hired first, certain schools have reputations that employers don’t want workers from, and because we are judged by other factors all our hard work may mean nothing when it comes to future employment.

Ouch!

       None of that is nice to hear, yet if we are honest it is the way things tend to run.  Can we change the world?  Not completely.  Can we try to make a difference?  Yes, one person, one step at a time.  That’s how Jesus did it, one person at a time. 
               He reached out and touched one person (Mr. 10:13),
               called one person (Mt. 9:9),
               healed one person (Lk. 5:12,13),
               forgave one person (Mt. 9:2),
               extended His love one person at a time (Mr. 1:41). 

 

You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its savor, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and to be trodden underfoot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under the grain-measure, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.  Mt. 5:13-16

       Salt changes the flavour of the food surrounding it.  Light dispels the darkness that surrounds it.  Both of these things influence the ‘world’ around them as do we when we let the Spirit of Almighty God dwell in us (1Cor. 3:16) and work through us (Php. 2:13).  And though I’ve totally blown the 20 mins. thing, I guess the thought I’d like to finish with is that no matter what we think of ourselves, God can still work through us to change the world... if we let Him.

All glory, honour, and praise to Jehovah God!