Life has a funny way of giving you a jolt of reality when you think that all about your life is going well. I have moments where I have been quite content. I was on top of the world. Everything seemed to be right with the world. The stars are aligned, and the birds are singing, and then an idiot opens his/her mouth. You have been there. You have had those moments. If you have not, let me share one of my moments of shattered Utopia.

About 15 years ago, all of my past sins started to catch up with me physically. The years of playing sports, running, and just being a “big body” caused some expected pains in my knees. After a surgery to clean up one, my orthopedic surgeon recommended that I take up bike riding. I spoke to my wife, Shanna, about it, and we decided to purchase road bicycles. After spending far more money than I could have ever imagined on these new bicycles, we started riding on the roads near our home. It was a common ride for many as it was on the edge of the city, and the ride went out into the countryside west of Edmond/Oklahoma City. We could complete close to 30 miles during these rides. It became our new hobby, and it took a significant amount of pressure off of my knees which I appreciated…but not as much as my knees though.

Our rides took us out to one town just west of the cities called Piedmont. It was beginning to grow due to the many leaving the cities for a variety of reasons. Despite this exodus to the new suburbs, the roads were still fairly rural and quiet. Piedmont was the turn around point as we would typically stop at one of the convenience stores in the heart of the small town. On hot days, we longed for that halfway point because we could stop to cool down briefly and refill our water bottles.

As we were riding very expensive bikes, we dared not leave them outside. We would take turns going into the store to get water and take breaks. On one particular occasion, it was a little different. It was a hot day, but it was a great day for a ride. Shanna and I were together, and we were doing something that we enjoyed even though it was torture. We were loving life and our bike ride. Life was good.

As I always did, I encouraged Shanna to go into the store first. It seemed to be no different than any other. As I tried to grab as much shade as possible under the shadows of the convenience store. I had noticed this…”gentleman” as we pulled up to the store. As I always do because I am from Sweet Water, AL, where it is what you do, I spoke to him. He nodded, but he didn’t seem to be interested in talking too much. However, he eventually walked back toward me, and asked me a couple of questions that I will never forget. He first asked if we were dating. I replied that we were actually married. He hesitated. He then said to me,” Do you know what the Bible says about people from different continents being together? She is white and you are black and all. Do you know what it says?” I think my blood pressure went higher than it has ever gone. I very calmly indicated that the Bibles that we were reading obviously were not saying the thing, and I very politely responded to him that it would be in his best interest to move away from me.

Why do I share that story? Well, it is frustrating to hear that people are still thinking in this way. It reminded me that no matter what I did, nor matter what I said, I would always be perceived in a certain way. It is very sad. It is disheartening. More than anything, as Christians, I always have been taught and read that we should love one another. Jesus didn’t hang out with the “saintly” group of people who had the same background as him. He chose to spend time with the tax collector, the Samaritan woman, the prostitutes, the Gentiles, the worse of the worse by societies definition, or at least the people who “were like him”. He came to save all souls. In this day and age, we continue to have people who are promoting hate. We have people who are not respectful of others culture and their backgrounds. We have people who are not loving their neighbors as themselves.

I remember my grandmother talking about the life that she lived as she was born in 1908. The racism that she encountered, the mistreatment that she endured, the battles that she fought to be respected…all of it was to make the world better for her children and grandchildren. It is unfortunate that even today, her great grandchildren are living in a world where we can’t love one another because we are from different continents. We can do better in terms of loving one another regardless of our differences. We have more commonalities than differences, if we just take the time to show some love. My version of the Bible tells me so.