Nowadays

I am the last person in America--or at least the last person below the Mason-Dixon--to read Kathryn Stockett's NY Times Best-selling debut novel, The Help.

I'm only about 1/6th in but it has made me laugh out loud, and frown in a way that's bad for the long term status of my forehead. Set in the 60's, the novel is written from the perspective of Black women serving in white households, and the white women who grow up in this kind of environment.

And, today, I am so glad for change! The engaging thing about this novel is the way it tells the rose and gray on both sides of the racial divide. It makes me so grateful for the progress we've seen and hope for the progress we can still see as we strive to love the world like God does. It makes me grateful that "in Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free." My internet is slow, being as I'm in a hotel, but if biblegateway ever comes up, I'll give the reference.

Life is better when lived rightly. Sure, the short-cuts and easy routes upon the backs of those at our disposal look simpler upon a glance. But really, truly, life lived as God intended, a life of love, is the best. May God grant us the wisdom to see this, the courage to pursue it and grace for the times when a short-cut leaves a footprint between our shoulderblades.