Imperfect man

The whole world has rightly been upset over the past few weeks about the racial injustice that has taken place in our country. The images and news reports that come into our homes are absolutely terrible and remind us that there is much more work to be done to ensure that there is not even a hint of racial inequity in the distribution of justice in our country. 

I fully support and appreciate the law enforcement officers who risk their lives to protect me and my family. I salute them and respect them. However, some law enforcement officers have misused their authority and brought unnecessary harm on the people they have been called to protect. That grieves all of us.

Recently in a conversation with a friend he asked me how I felt about what is going on. While I was responding to him, I realized that I have not done all that I could do to be part of the resolution to this toxic situation. After hanging up the phone I reached out by text to a couple of my black friends to express my sorrow over what is happening.

One of them telephoned me instead of texting me. He talked about how he is dealing with this with his children. I told my friend that I just don’t ever think about me being white and him being black; I just love him as a brother. He reminded me that in a perfect world there would not be any racial discrimination and injustice, and he followed that with this statement: “Man’s imperfection drives him to impulsively choose evil over good.”

His statement reminded me that several years ago I took my dad out west. He told me once that he had never seen the Rocky Mountains, and that before he died, he would like to go out west and see the Rockies. While we were traveling, he read me a headline in the Denver Post: “Imperfect Man, Imperfect Storm.” I don’t remember what the story was about, but I remember my dad, Pete’s, comment: “There is no perfect storm. The only thing perfect is God!”

Pete’s words are true, but that does not mean that we should not strive to be more like God every day as we walk with Him. God is in the process of perfecting me. I fail Him every day, and He forgives me every day. I can only be perfected when I am in heaven kneeling before Him praising His name forever. But I can do my best now in this place to live a life that is pleasing to Him and that honors my fellow man and that treats each person with dignity, honor and respect regardless of their color or beliefs.

I can do better. I will do better.

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Philippians 3:12 NKJV