The colors the Bride chose included a lot of deep red and blue…the crowd was black and white. It appeared odd to me when I first realized that the groom’s side of the sanctuary was mostly black and the bride’s side was mostly white. I became strangely uncomfortable. I would have felt better if we had not been so separated. I wanted to believe that America is just not like that anymore...that we are not so separate. But I don’t have to look very far into my own life to see that we still have long way to go.
The Bride had taken things into consideration when she planned the reception…she had assigned seating….Okay I just thought I was uncomfortable before and wanted things more mixed. Now I am about to sit down and try to enjoy the food and festivities with a bunch of people I don’t even know…they had to feel the same way when they realized the last empty seat at their table was for…well…me…but what happened was great conversation and an entertaining evening with some wonderful people and pretty soon I began to forget the black and whiteness of this crowd.
I remember sitting back and looking at all the tables and thinking this is what God had in mind all along…His children… “Red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight Jesus loves the little children of the world”.
However, I know there were people in this group that never imagined a day where white and black men would socialize on an equal level. But tonight they would get to know each others families, serve each other drinks, hug each others children, and watch as two young people, whose brave stand and relentless love for each other, caused our uniquely black and white worlds to collide…things will never be the same…family gatherings will be different than anyone ever imagined. An opportunity has been given for new ways of thinking to emerge…for reason to take its place over inherited faulty logic…a new way of being is available.
I couldn’t help but laugh a little as I thought of the strain that some of the adults in this room must be feeling…while the children…both black and white…seemed unaffected…they just laughed and danced…they were at a wedding…yea…food and punch and dancing…yea… for them…the children…they did not have the moment of uncomfortableness I had…the contrast in color had not affected them…and hopefully… in their future…color will have less distinction…the uniting of color and spirits will be normal life for them…maybe…if we continue to work at it… our children and grandchildren can be free of the limiting power of prejudice. It has separated us for too long…caused us to miss out on the incredible beauty of different cultures…kept us from being our best as human beings.
Maybe…When Martin Luther King said “Free at last,..Free at last…thank God Almighty we are Free at last”…maybe…he meant everyone…both black and white.
