Last night, I added the category “Books By And About Women” to The Bookstore. When time permits, let me know what books written by female authors have inspired, encouraged, edified, and empowered you.

Currently, this new category only contains a few books because I want all the critically thinking members of our blended, extended family to actively participate in the initial phases of the construction of our culturally diverse community.

Imagine how empowering it would be to know that we worked together as one for the greater good of all who dwell under the rising and setting sun. Imagine what would happen once we learn how to live without limits, love without conditions, and lead by example like Jesus did.

Today’s post is inspired by something I read in Jesus CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom For Visionary Leadership, by Ms. Laurie Beth Jones. In the chapter, “He Treated Them As Equals,” Ms. Jones writes,

“Jesus declared himself to be related to God yet mingled with prostitutes, thieves, and tax collectors. You can imagine how this upset the religious hierarchy. Not only God’s identity, but their identity (and power base) was being threatened.”

Are you secure enough to mingle with social outcasts, to love the unlovable, to dance to the beat of a different drummer? Do you possess the inner strength to do the right thing even when doing so is unpopular and politically incorrect? If you answered, “No,” to either question, do you know the reasons why you treat people differently?

In the very next paragraph, Ms. Jones continues with,

“Jesus, representing God, treated everyone as his equal. He could move mountains, raise the dead, heal the sick, and make the lame walk and the blind see. Yet he called fishermen and prostitutes his brothers and sisters. He not only accepted these ‘less than pure’ individuals, he radiated so much love for them that people swarmed to him. People felt so good about themselves in his presence.”

Do you treat the less fortunate, those to whom little “appears” to be given, the working class poor differently than the powerful, wealthy, rich, and famous? Why? God doesn’t. According to Acts 10:34 NASB, “God is not one to show partiality.” In other words, God is no respecter of persons.

In a fatally flawed world filled with imperfect people with great weaknesses, how can we clean up, clear out, and level the segregated field of our big dreams? Is it unrealistic to honestly believe that we can achieve the unrealized ideals as stated in “The Pledge Of Allegiance” to the flag of the United States Of America? Do we, as Americans, individually and collectively honor our pledge by treating people equally, justly, and fairly if their personal preferences, religious beliefs, cultural lifestyles, and personal appearances differ from ours?

Studying the law unearthed a legal loophole that hides behind, beneath, and between what differentiates a “policy” from a “practice.” Policies are “written” and are typically documented in a “Policies And Procedures Handbook.” Practices are usually “undocumented,” “unwritten” rules of condoned, socially acceptable behavior. How many times have you heard the words, “don’t rock the boat,” or “when in Rome, do as the Romans do?”

“Politically correct” and socially acceptable practices are frequently established by clandestine cultures that co-exists within corporate business environments, law firms, law enforcement agencies, politicians, religious institutions, houses of worship, institutions of higher learning, and the television, music, fashion industries.

Remember when the word “clique” became popularized and symbolized the culture that’s created whenever “birds of a feather flock together” absent any accountability to anyone except one another? How many cliques have you been denied meaningful access to simply for refusing to “go-along-to-get-along” with unwritten rules of acceptable behavior that you knew were wrong?

Have you ever pondered the possibility that there still exists an “unwritten” U.S. Constitution, or an unwritten “codes of conduct” that condones the clandestine practice of social injustice, misogyny, systemic institutionalized hatred and bigotry?

What unwritten rule is preventing women who get up and go to work from receiving the same salary and wages men receive for performing the same tasks as stated, with specificity, in their job descriptions? Are women any less qualified than men because of their gender? I don’t think so.

Does anybody know when America’s immigrations laws changed? Does anybody know if the “Torch” that is still lifted high in the hand of the Statue of Liberty still symbolizes what its creator intended for it to represent? Can anybody explain the reasons why Haitians who reach the shores of America are still being rejected and returned to their homeland while Cubans are accepted with open arms and allowed to stay?

Who, or what, is currently preventing you from treating all God’s children as your equal? Culture. Ethnicity. Tradition. Peer Pressure. Fear. Ignorance. Hate. Politics. Religion. Imagine a world where all people are inspired by God’s unconditional love to treat one another as equals. Doing so gives me hope and inspires me to get up, show up, and share with each of you a love that’s worth giving and receiving.

If nobody has taken the time to smile at you, look you in the eye, and say, “I love you. I need you to live. I need you to survive,” let me be the first to do so. Now, I challenge each of you to “pay it forward” by loving the unique, culturally diverse people you meet on the street where you live and work today unconditionally.

Imagine how many mountains you could move today, how many of the sick you could heal, how many dead things you could resurrect, how many cast down souls you could inspire to rise to their feet so they, too, can raise their heads and open their spiritually blinded eyes long enough to see the greatness of God’s faithfulness.

As always, the choice to love one another enough to “reach one and teach one,” to “care and share,” to “give and forgive” is yours alone to make. Together, we can “begin something new” and beat impossible odds with God’s help as we strive to make a difference. Matters not how big or small the difference may appear upon first glance.

Imagine how differently you would feel about yourself a year from now knowing that you made a choice today to begin actively participating in the shaping and making of our history. Are you willing to try? I hope so.

Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.