Love One Another

Today I have read many, many quotes said by Martin Luther King Jr. on facebook and other media. We continue to learn from him,even though he is no longer here with us on earth. His quotes still ring true today. There are so many forms of discrimination and slavery that bind us even now.  My heart is saddened by the hatred, meanness and discrimination in this world.

My favorite quote is this:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Growing up I went to a school with a rainbow of students. I only saw classmates for classmates. I had all types of friends, from nerds to jocks and every race, nationality, color in between. I just didn't see all of that. I met an interesting person and if we got along, we were friends.

Later in life, my rainbow of friends has remained a constant and my view of people the same. I always laugh when someone asks me to describe what someone looks like... I never seem to get it right. I am asked what nationality they are and I will shrug and say, "Uh..... let me see...." I think I don't get it right because that is not how I see people. I look in their eyes and capture the essence of their being, not their skin, hair color or age.

In the Bible, Jesus commands us to love one another. He didn't say to love only the people that look like you. He didn't say to love only people that believe the same things as you. He didn't say to love only people who have as much or less sin as you. He didn't say any of that!!! He said to LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!! I try to live by this commandment and to teach it to my children.




"We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

I try to teach my children to love all people. The first time we learned about MLK in our homeschool, I had a hard time explaining to my kids why he was so important. Why? Because like me, my children just love people - they don't see colors, just people. Finally, I decided to use one of their friends in the neighborhood as an example. I said, "You know Henry and his little sister that you like to play with? Well, it used to be that kids couldn't play together if they weren't the same color. So kids like..." And I continued to divide the kids in the neighborhood as to who would have been able to play together - according to color.

Their response was pure astonishment. "Why? We're all kids. And Henry's nice. We like Henry." That made my heart happy. Then we went on to discuss the importance of MLK and how he helped our country to overcome discrimination. Although I am not sure they really "get it" yet, I am just glad they see people for people. They know that God said to love all people. I hope that as they grow, they will continue to live by these principles. I try to make an emphasis on how we are all created EXACTLY the way God wants us. We are all special. We are all different. We are all God's children. We are commanded to Love One Another.