Crossing that line

Yesterday as I enjoyed a picnic in the park with the kids playing basketball, hanging out on the swing set, and discussing politics and sports at the pavilion, I got a taste of what others lives are like.  See I've been in groups where we have done these things many times, but yesterday was the first time that someone (neighborhood watch) felt the need to watch us.  Everything was normal and like every other time at the park, except we were in a multiethnic group.  I was one of two whites there.  

In the last few weeks, specifically from ONS on, I've been much more aware of my own ethnicity in addition to others.  The feelings of disconnect when I spend significant periods of time with other races became something that I learned they experience on a much more regular basis.  Any time a cultural boundary is crossed some disconnect at the experience is felt, it is our choice on how we want to respond to it.  I realized that it is my responsibility if I truly desire to be part of a multiethnic world where these picnics and many other similar activities with people from all walks of life participate, I will need to take the steps to cross that boundary.  It is not enough to just be close to people of other cultures, I need to talk to them, listen to them, care about them.  School is multiethnic, youth ministry at church is multicultural, and InterVarsity should also be an ethnically diverse witnessing community.  Yes, it will make me and others uncomfortable, particularly whites who have never felt this before.  But  the end result is worth it and it allows us to have a taste both of what minorities feel on a regular basis and glimpse what heaven will be like when all people of all nations gather to worship God.  This is something I desire to be apart of and I am working to continue to build the bridge to real relationships, across the boundaries of race, age, ethnicity, culture, socio-economic status, and location.  I want the next time I desire to go shoot baskets with one of the students, to just be nervous about my ability to make the baskets so I don't look like a fool: nothing else.  This is worth the work.