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May 12, 2005 Hello all, Yesssssss, I am back after the hospital kidnapped me for awhile. They seem to have put all the parts back in their proper places and all the piping is working well. It was good to see that not too much has changed during my absence. Good to see Ken and Stan and Samantha are holding the fort down. I enjoy reading each article and they almost always teach me something... Even some things I am not sure I wanted to be taught. But, speaking of being taught something new, here I go. In writing this I have to admit something that I am not proud of. It was a way of life for me as I grew up in the south. But recently, I have learned something new. Something that went against all that I was ever taught. Not taught by my mother or father as they are very good people and raised their son to love and be kind to all. Rather, it was something that growing up in the south during the riots and the de-segregation of schools, restruants, stores, buses etc... was pounded into my young, un-understanding brain. Yes, I am talking about Predjudice. You know, the word that somewhere got changed to racism, though for the life of me, I don't know why. The word Predjudice all by itself is bad enough. I don't need Webster or anyone else to redefine the word for me. I grew up in schools that never saw blacks in them. I never remember seeing a black man in a store I was in. We didn't see them in the food places we went to and they didn't go to our church. I was taught that they were not like us and that we were never to inter-mingle with them. To this day, if my neice had a black girl stay the night with her,{it simply wasn't o.k. for her to spend the night in their house} then my sister by mere habit, changes all the sheets and washes the room after the girl went home. So what could have changed this man that grew up beleiving that blacks and even more so, black and white mixed were unexceptable in my little world? Well ummmm lets see... to save myself from getting a bunch of Anti-God mail that would take away from this meaning, I will say that the "powers that be" hqve a very interesting way of turning ones soul upside down. My niece, the daughter of the "wash the sheets" sister met up with and got pregnant by a black man. AGHHHHHHHHHHHH, the family went phsyco to say the least. Even my parents who love everyone went a little nuts. She left the man but continued the pregnancy. The family made it very clear to her that they were very unhappy and that it was going to be a longggg hard road for her. The population of mixed children has grown to perportions that have left the non-mixed races being the minority. As the time for the baby neared, I sat and listened to my family talk about this unborn child and how they were unsure they could ever accept it. The longer they talked, the more this old dog started seeing things differently. This wasn't some alien form of life that was about to be born. It was certainly not the anti-christ either. This life form was a baby. A little innocent creation that would come into this world expecting to know love and kindness and beauty. It was to be born the same way my two daughters were born. It would breathe and cry and smile and laugh and snuggle and love just as they did. I somehow began to fall in love with this baby before he was even born. I found myself defending him to my family. I heard myself telling my father, "Dad, this is going to be your grand-son. This baby is going to love you and reach out for love to be returned. He will come into this world just like your grand-children did and need to be loved just as you do so love your grand-children." Over and over I repeated this and soon, I saw the reflection of my words coming back to me. Slowly the family began to look forward to this new addition to the family. It was to be something that would change us all and teach each of us a new lesson. He was born and the family fell in love with this little baby. He was happy and smiled all the time. With him not having a father, I found myself reaching out to show him the things a father would show his son. I began to see other babies like him and noticed that i felt differently now. These were all babies that came into this world loving and trusting and it was up to us to help them feel those things. Trey now goes with me every-where I can take him. He has shown more love for myself and my Father than any of the other grandchildren. I love him and feel blessed that he is a part of our family. I don't pretend to say that all my feelings of mixed races suddenly disappeared. That would be to taint the way I feel about Trey and I do not want to do that. Time... It takes time and love and nuturing for people to see the world in a new way. I do know that I am so much more tolerant of a people that I grew up being taught to hate. I am finding that I take the time to get to know some of them and am finding they are good people. I think to the passage that says "and they will be led by a child" and I smile softly now. Perhaps there is a far greater plan, far more reaching reason why that is to happen. I don't know about all of that. What I do know is that THIS man has had his heart changed by the love of one little boy. A little boy that came into this world loving and one that is loved very much by this uncle of his. The old dog has learned a new trick. He has learned to see a man or woman for the person they are and not the color of their skin. And you know what... It didn't hurt a bit................... Darrel ------------ About the author: Darrel Day is the author of Abduction, available in stores everywhere and through publishamerica.com, amazonbooks.com, barnes and noble books and Books A Million. He resides in a small town in Iowa with his wife and two daughters. He is also the author of soon to be released "Until Death Do We Meet". He has studied and taught the word of God throughout the past twenty years. He does NOT condemn nor judge anyone because of their beliefs. That... is between them and God... I also have an MSN Group site http://group.msn.D-R-Day that you can join. My web site also up though I am still adding to it. www.angelfire.com/crazy3/darrelday Email: boogieman_50627@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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