When I think back on some of the "tapes" that play in my head.....you know, the mantras that you heard throughout your childhood, there are a few that come to mind. Now that I'm older it's fun and revealing to think about which ones of those actually "stuck." Admittedly, some were the proverbial "in one ear and right out the other." Others not only stuck but legitimately shaped the way I viewed myself and others. Believe me, there were MANY lessons to be learned. Sermons, we used to call them. I am positive that in the not too distant future, my kids will either be writing about or reminiscing on all of the sermons they were forced to listen to from me. It always happens at the dinner table or in the car. Somewhere where it's impossible to escape. I love it......History repeating itself. One of the things I never ever liked.......getting a sermon from my mom in the car........and now I'm doing it. Of course, we moms don't consider it a sermon. We prefer to think of it as a "lesson" or "quality conversation."
Back to the "tapes" in my head. If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times....."Nobody is better or worse than anyone else. We all put our pants on one leg at a time. That's what Granddaddy Jenkins used to say." See, there ya go. Childhood lessons passed down from generation to generation. I grew up hearing it and now that I'm grown I believe it and live it. Never thought I'd say it but that is one sermon that I am so thankful for. It "stuck." It's nice not carrying an extra chip on my shoulder or worrying about what someone from the other side of the track is doing or not doing. It would get so old to try and keep up or look down, whichever way you might want to look at it.
Last week I got the chance to have "quality conversation" in the car with my son. Not sure he knew he was about to get the sermon but hey, he led me right into it. He happened to ask me about why everyone was bent out of shape over Vice-President Biden saying to a group "they gonna put ya'll back in chains." He truly didn't understand what all the fuss was about. My mind went to all kinds of answers. I obviously wanted to start with slavery and come forward but since I only had about five more minutes in the car I had to make it a mini sermon. So I resorted to my "tape." "We all put our pants on one leg at a time. No human is better or worse than the next. God created us all and loves us all." That answer wasn't good enough. "I know that, Mom, but what do the chains have to do with it?" New lesson. Hmmmm. Thinking cap on.....Lightbulb moment!! My child didn't understand or fathom the whole "class warfare" concept. He didn't "get" the joke. He thought it was mean. My point is not a political one really. My point is that each generation in our country has evolved into something different than the one before them. It made me wonder about how much his generation will get "caught up" in skin color, social status, educational hierarchy, etc...... I was looking at my 13 year old who hasn't been exposed to "class warfare" and I thought about how I wanted to protect him from this kind of thinking that goes completely against what Granddaddy Jenkins had been preaching 75 years ago. "Don't think of yourself as better or worse than anyone else." In the span of about three minutes that I had left I told him that I was "offended" by the comments because it implied that the "white man" conservative was going to put the "black man" liberal back in "chains," figuratively speaking. I told him that it had nothing to do with politics but everything to do with going backwards socially from where we had worked so hard to get to. I made sure to close my 3 Point Sermon with the fact that we are ALL created equal and if you are my son then you should know that "everyone puts their pants on the same, one leg at at time." It's freeing to be satisfied and content with the "track" that God has placed you on. It's nice to be happy for those on the other side of "the track" from you. I think I will continue to rewind the tape of this lesson for my kids. I think Granddaddy Jenkins would be proud.
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