Colorblind

I often joke with friends of mine that I may be colorblind. Sometimes I have trouble distinguishing between two similar colors. And I can't usually match clothes either. Haha one time I really couldn't tell the difference between a pink Starburst and an orange one. I threw the wrong one to my friend. This much is true. And it's ironic since I've been working on colors with my students here in Ethiopia. I'm probably not officially colorblind, but I really do have trouble with colors. But here in Ethiopia I'm colorblind...in a different way. As I walk down the bumpy road, I see people. People who are just like you and me, yet also different. The culture here is different, but that changes wherever you travel. Let me tell a little story...

One day I was walking down another bumpy road here in Ethiopia (there are many of those) with one of our team's translators and I saw a student of mine. He smiled and waved to me. I was so excited that one of my studens recognized me outside of the classroom during the first week of school! You know, it took me until that evening to realize that he didn't need to recognize me because I stand out. I'm the white girl walking down the street. In that moment I laughed out loud at myself. It was pretty funny and I felt stupid, but I laughed anyway.

I know I'm white. And I know our group members are white, but I don't think about it. I don't see the color difference. I see faces with expressions. I see people who have names and identities. I see people who have so much to offer to the world around them. That is what I see.

Some of you may have heard of the musician David M. Bailey. He was a Presbyterian who wrote beautiful songs and loved drinking coffee. The other night I was laying in my bed and decided that I needed to decompress. So, I pulled out my iPod and listened to a number of Bailey's songs. If you haven't heard his music, then I encourage you to look him up. His songs always touch my heart and bring up feelings that are deep down inside of me. I love listening to these songs. I love thinking back to when I was able to hear him perform before he died of cancer. I love the way he expressed himself and the jokes he included in his songs as well.

One of Bailey's songs is called, Colorblind..."And then the colors didn't matter. They were all the same. The voices in the darkness, shadows with a name. And they had to work together to get back to the light. And when they arrived, folks marveled at the sight. Cus no single color shined any brighter than the rest and then nobody was posting about who looked the best..."

In Bailey's song he touched upon the fact that all the colors looked the same when someone turned out the lights. Well, someone has turned out the lights. I may not have the same skin color as the people who live here in Ethiopia, but that doesn't matter. We all have wants, needs, likes, dislikes, easy times, and hard times. We were each created in God's image. I am a child of God. You are a child of God. Each person here in Ethiopia is a child of God. We are all children of God. And God has shown me that no matter how alike or how different I am from someone, I must show them compassion. God is love. And love is God. This is important for me and for you to remember each day as we continue to honor and serve Him.

Alright, enough ramblin' for a few days...

Peace out ya'll!

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