Nashville – Part Four

Across the hall from me lived a college student named Jackie. Since he attended classes during the day and I worked at night we didn’t see each other often. We’d talk occasionally but again, we didn’t see each other very often. I imagine, in retrospect, I was a curiosity to him; a white boy living in a black home in a black neighborhood in the Civil Rights Era, a time when students from Fiske University in Nashville were risking their lives championing the cause of civil rights.      

One afternoon when I was off work he invited me to go out to lunch with him. We went to a restaurant filled with folks of all ages – I was the only white person, but I didn’t think anything of it. He introduced me to some of his friends, we talked, and had a nice lunch.

If you’ve read this blog since its inception you know that I was expelled from a South Carolina seminary for preaching that we are to love people of all skin colors through the indwelling Christ – believe me when I say that I did nothing meritorious in this, nor that I deserve any credit whatsoever – it was simply what I believed the Bible taught and what the Bible taught I naturally believed. I didn’t think about the ramifications of what I said, any more than I was conscious of being the only white person in the restaurant that Jackie took me to, it was only in retrospect that it occurred to me that I was the only white guy, and it was only in retrospect that I realized that the seminary administration might not take kindly to my message of loving one another as Jesus loves us.

I guess you could say that in this season of life I was naïve, and foolish, and maybe even just plain stupid (such as travelling to Nashville with virtually no money); there are some things I wouldn’t have done had I been cautious that I’m glad I did…but then there are other things I’m sorry I did do that perhaps I wouldn’t have done had I been more thoughtful. I’ve never second guessed my message at seminary on loving one another and I think it was the mercy of God that got me expelled, after all, the fundamentals of the Christian life are to love God and love our neighbor.

Sad to say sometimes I’m more cautious now that I want to be; need to keep reminding myself that this life will soon be over, both for me and those around me, and that we’re not accidents looking for a place to happen. I want to be faithful to Jesus Christ, to my family and neighbors and coworkers…and to you, dear reader.