Freedom through Jesus Christ and Brotherly cooperation.

Memories of Aunt Lydia are sweet and lovely. An occasional whiff of an odor or fragrance can send me right back to her kitchen with the mismatched cupboards, pie safe, stand-alone sink, and coats hung behind the back door. Through either doorway sat the small dining table, jams, jellies, butters, and condiments were gathered to the center of the table, and an oil-cloth neatly covered it all. To the side was a smaller roll-top desk, always open because there were just too many papers to close it. Not just bills, but writings and plans for the next garden club she began some 30 years before and often hosted; then there were several articles waiting to add to the local paper column she had been writing for several years; and, of course, 4-H papers for the many lives she impacted, along with many cards of thanks for her selfless work.
How sweet these memories were as I think back on the summers I spent with her as a teen, and my mind treasured and carefully put away as the sweetest of memories. These memories are sweet beyond saying, and they have had a significant impact on who I am today. Grandma Buttolph, although I barely knew her, also made an impact on my life that has influenced me to this day. And the stories through the diary of my Great, great Grandfather, Rev John Buttolph, makes my heart swell with gratitude for my heritage.

But, what if the family stories passed down had been of slavery, of cruel and humiliating treatment on a daily basis, with every day filled with hard, back-breaking work, and no thanks given, as the work benefited a 'massa' and his family, while Great, great Grandparents  returned to accommodations unfit for animals. What if those memories were of a child's Momma being 'sold' like cast-off merchandise and the child ripped away from his Momma's side and given to others who were so beaten down they had nothing of kindness to give. What if my stories had been of my Great, great Grandmother being whipped until blood flowed to the ground because she refused to give her body to whomever it may have been demanded.
These are stories that throb in the terrible memories of many people who are our neighbors, and we do not understand what drives them because we have chosen, over the decades, to remove history from our schoolrooms.

Yet, what if we could bring out the true history of this mass injustice, and see a people who often put all their life on the line to escape enslavement, and with great courage, set their hearts to escape their captors and find a new life!  Many did not survive such a venture, either by death, or a return to the living nightmare of forced hard labor and certain torture for even considering escape. Death, was indeed, preferable to forced labor, and solely for the benefit of another. Then their was great courage as those who did escape returned to help others find a way out of their living hell.
Where did this courage come from? Courage, justice, kindness, and civility come solely from God Almighty, through Jesus Christ, who is the one and only original source of civilization, because He is the Creator of all, and saved humanity through His sacrifice for our sins. Freedom and the Judeo-Christian faiths are inseparable, historically so, and can be seen throughout the past thousands of years.

As we learn, and pass along, this three-fold history of Black and White cooperation, and love of Jesus Christ, we can build bridges where division seems nailed in place.