“The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience not from our mental resolution to try a new form of life.” ~ Leo Tolstoy
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus had made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 3.12-14, NRSV
I confess that the race-less life is the only one that I can live. It is the only life that makes sense to me; the only road worth traveling as I know where the paths of cultural pride, xenophobia, hatred, prejudice and segregation lead. I live each day in the hope that I experience a deeper awareness of unconditional love for my God, my neighbor and myself, that I am bound tighter to my conviction to see persons without stereotypes and be drawn closer to the reality of peace with all of humankind. Thus, I resolve that with every new year of my life, I will:
1. Regularly examine myself and the motives of my heart as it relates to the fellowships and friendships that I choose;
2. Expand the reach of my love, its depth and commitment to others, myself and God;
3. Work to make the race-less life a continuous reality in my life and in the lives of others;
4. Fully develop a theology of race-lessness, a race-less gospel and a pre- racial theology;
5. Serve the Lord with my mind, recommitting my thoughts daily to the ministry and message of Jesus Christ, proclaiming his faith without race;
6. Die daily to race (I Corinthians 15.31);
7. Live more deeply into the truth of a race-less holy community: God, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit;
8. Forgive and be ready to reconcile with myself and my neighbor;
9. Accept responsibility for my words and actions, their contribution to my ignorance and hatred of others; and,
10. Boldly declare God’s judgment against race and its progeny, God’s desire that we live peaceably with each other (Romans 12.18) and the freeing power of a race-less life lived in Jesus Christ.