Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Romans 12:9 NLT
My first day of karate is a memory I was reminded of recently when I thought about the movie The Karate Kid. It really got me interested in martial arts and my mother allowed me to enroll in a class. It was great because I already had a karate hook up to wear. I would wear it to sleep all the time. So the first day, I roll in the class ready to get it cracking. We got there a little late so most of the kids were there setup and it seemed like they knew what to do already. So, when I came in, I was one of the only black kids and people seemed to pay a lot of attention to me for some reason. We go through the class and have a good time and I’m already looking forward to the next lesson.
Afterwards this kid walks up to me. I don’t think he introduced himself to the me or even said , “Hello”. He just looked at me, then looked at my karate uniform and touched my belt. Then he looked towards some other kids and yelled out, “It’s fake! Not real.” While also shaking his head.
What I didn’t realize is the other kids actually had on the uniforms, I had on pajamas LOL! Other kids were wearing belts that were yellow, blue, green, etc. My belt was black-which represented expert level. Picture that, unbeknownst to my mom or me, I strolled into class the first day at like 6 or 7 years old signaling that I was an expert, when I reality I was a novice.
I couldn’t hate on the kid, he was just trying to find something out, but I definitely didn’t feel that way at the time.
My story could easily be someone’s first time to yoga today or heading to the airport to board a flight. New experiences often are memorable partly due to the people we encounter along the way and how they played a part knowingly or unknowingly.
Similarly, in this world our Christian walk means we may have to separate people from the acts they commit. Our love for strangers is a testament to God’s love for all. We can seek to discover love of others without accepting the behavior as correct. For the people we may cross paths at work, school, or sadly even in the church who negatively place a target on us, we need to live through and past it.
The heaviest thing we carry is an old mind. An old mind and spirit filled with revenge, false genuine feelings. If we are to be the light, we must lighten what is burdensome and dark.
