Article September 1, 1997 Issue

Defeat racial hatred with love

Cynthia Alyce Neely

This article is excerpted from Cynthia Neely's lecture, "Living in the City." The lecture discusses how to experience God's presence and protection by loving one's brother man—whether you are in a so-called "safe" part of the city or one that is considered more dangerous. The experience described below, which has been abbreviated, is just one of several illustrations in the lecture that show how relying on divine Love to lead the way brings peace and harmony.

I HAD an experience that forced me to love as Christ Jesus commanded. I moved into an all-white neighborhood. I didn't feel comfortable or welcomed, but I couldn't move out because I had just bought the house. I knew what was being demanded of me was a higher view of man. I realized God didn't create a multiracial society. He created only one race. So the true race of man is spiritual. The first chapter of Genesis describes spiritual creation, and there isn't any mention of race. I then understood that real identity is based on spiritual, not material, creation. So man is neither Asian, Hispanic, black, nor white.

The family to the right of me consisted of a grandfather, mother, and her small son. The grandfather outwardly showed his dislike toward me and my son. The mother was more subtle. However, her little boy didn't know anything about race or prejudice. Every day he would climb the fence in the backyard to play with my son. Whenever the grandfather or mother saw this, he or she would call to him, and back over the fence he would go. It hurt me to think that my son couldn't play with the little boy because the color of his skin was different.

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