We Are All God’s Children

April 15 is celebrated as Jackie Robinson Day by Major League Baseball teams in America. It is a day to commemorate the man who broke professional baseball’s unwritten color barrier in 1947.

If our founding fathers had truly believed that all people are created equal, there would be no Jackie Robinson Day. Or any other day commemorating people who broke down racial barriers.

We are all God’s children. He created all of us in his care. None of us can pick the circumstances in which we come into this world. Which makes bigotry, racism and prejudice problems that man created and man controls. If man wants them to end, it will.

What has caused bigotry, racism and prejudice to exist in America is complex yet simple. There are people who feel entitled and superior to others by birth. And there are people who feel that they have been slighted and made to feel inferior since birth. These learned beliefs have caused division amongst us.

How do we solve this problem? How do we get rid of these learned beliefs?

We simply see everyone we meet as a child of God. This makes us equal in His eyes. We may not look like each other. We may not act like each other. We may not have the same background as each other. We may not have the same beliefs. But all of us begin in the same way.  Wonderfully created by God.

Then we need to recognize that we need each other to succeed. By suppressing one group of people we supress everyone including ourselves. There is no way that anyone can do anything without the help of others. No matter how much anyone has done in life someone has helped them to do it. Relying on each other leads to learning about one another which leads to helping one another to succeed.

Then we need to appreciate the gifts that all of us have. And the many packages they come in. All races have talented people. And the talents are not exclusive.

There are talented musicians, athletes, doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, artists, writers, world leaders in every race. When given the chance this has been proven time and again. And all of us have reaped the benefits from this.

America is one of the most unique countries in the world in that it consists of so many different races. Because of our platform on the world stage, we have the chance to show everyone what living in harmony under God’s guidance is about.

There is hope. It can be done. Jackie Robinson and many others have shown us as much.

It is not a good mark on this country that we have a Jackie Robinson Day to celebrate.

It would be a great day in this country when we can celebrate everyone as a child of God.