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I grew up in a time when racial tensions were at their zenith. The Civil Rights Movement was beginning to take shape and people were starting to realize the grave injustices done against races which were formerly thought to be non-people in our society. That microcosm of society, that great reflection of what was happening in the United States, professional sports, was starting to show the nation what needed to be. However, incidents still happened which, through the filter of time, are better understood.

One such incident happened forty-nine years ago today at old Comiskey Park in Chicago in a game between the home Chicago White Sox and the visiting New York Yankees. Larry Doby, the first black to play for an American League ball team, was at bat for the ChiSox with Art Ditmer, a fierce competitor, on the mound for the Yanks. Ditmer threw a high hard one inside to Doby who bailed out quickly to avoid being hit. Doby charged the mound and his teammates followed.

In the melee that ensued Doby hit Ditmar with a left that sent him sprawling and emptied the benches. When order was finally restored there were several ejections, including Doby, but not Ditmar. He remained in the game and won a 4-3 decision that sparked a winning streak for the Yankees and spurred them to the league pennant by eight games over the second place ChiSox. Spokesmen on both sides of the race issue used the incident to "prove" their point. However, with history as a map, it was simply a matter of a major league pitcher who didn't want to give an inch to a feared hitter. That was acceptance not prejudice.

Unfortunately, racial prejudice is still with us. Please don't translate that as whites not accepting other races. There is no color that does not show preference and even intolerance of races unlike their own. It is still in professional sports, so it is still in our society. Not just here in the U.S.A. but worldwide. The current World Cup soccer tournament is the world's mirror. What is particularly comforting to me is the fact that I don't serve society and I hope you don't either. I serve God. God has no racial agenda other than every race is lost without Him.

The apostle Peter finally had to come to grips with this fact in Acts 10 when God prepared him to go to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. Peter's understanding should serve all of us, who call Jesus Lord, to lead us in our racial attitudes. "In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." Acts 10:34, 35 Salvation may have come through a Jew, but that Jew had the blood of other nations in His veins; the same blood that saves us all from our sins.

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

Things that go bump in the night