The highest grossing movie of this weekend is a historical biography from the world of baseball.  The story of Jackie Robinson remains critical and relevant to our society today.  I learned about his life at a very young age being a baseball fan.  He was the very first black professional baseball player in the major leagues.  Branch Rickey ran the Brooklyn Dodgers for years and would be instrumental to making this happen.  Robinson played sports during his college years so his ability translated well the the diamond.  America was in a very ugly phase in 1947 when Jackie made his first appearance in the majors.  No one expected the road to be easy but perhaps they could not imagine just how horrific the reaction would be.

You can perhaps find previous posts here that discuss the poor job American history displays us doing with matters of race.  Not even our founding fathers were able to bridge the gap of this sin while framing our constitution.  Lincoln could years later offer another attempt to deal with slavery but the realities were far harsher than the proclamation.  By the time that Robinson broke the color barrier we were about as racist as ever.  Hotels, restrooms and transportation would still be segregated.  This is the world one lone ballplayer would enter.  Sports would be the cultural vehicle to instigate change in a wider level. 

Tomorrow is another anniversary of the first ballgame that saw a black athlete in a sea of white players.  Every player on every team will wear the 42 jersey in his team's colors.  That number was retired for every franchise several years ago in tribute to Robinson.  Only one active player remains wearing it each game.  That will end this year when the player retires.  We are being reminded of how difficult the journey was to any degree of equality even in baseball.  Jackie Robinson would be asked to have the guts not to fight back in the heat of unbelievable racism.  He would succeed beyond the wildest expectations of his greatest supporters. 

Racism really bothers me even though I'm a child of the South.  Now it is also very probably that old stereotypes remain entrenched in my being.  One can never afford to be blind to possible shortcomings.  Hopefully my views are shaped by scripture along with relating to God.  Some of my views just are because of interacting with black students while growing up.  We will sing the song of Jesus loving children of all races yet still harbor a mindset that puts people of other colors down.  Heaven will be filled with people from all over the globe.  Odds are good that it will not be segregated either.  I am grateful that Jackie Robinson was courageous enough to shatter the color barrier in baseball.  I can only hope God will keep working on the rest of us to shape our heart as well.

Bro. Trey