Born on New Year’s Eve 1952, I grew up in “lily-white” Irvington N Y with 3 brothers and a sister. It was a time of oppressive discrimination in the North and Jim Crow laws of segregation in the South. My dad was 2nd generation Irish-American and mom 1st generation Italian-American. Their personal views and prejudices seemed to contradict what I was learning at church.

As the years went by, my siblings and I were taught the meaning of being a Christian. God used our innocence to question our parents. When I heard another race or religion referred to as something less than and not equal to us, I began to say “Mom, Dad, that’s not right. Father Brown and Sister Helen Marie told us in religion class that Jesus accepted all people as God’s loving creation. They said we should strive to do the same.” Well that, along with many of the events that took place in the sixties, were used by the Lord Jesus to initiate an amazing transformation in my parents thinking. They tried much harder to be more compassionate to those who were “different”.

Dad was a freight train worker. I remember him coming home and complaining about having to work with the Harlem Division track crew which was all Negro (the term used then). But as the weeks went by, working with them he earned a healthy respect for their work ethic. When I asked how it was going with the track repair crew, his reaction was – “They are the hardest workers I ever saw. All they really want is to make a good living and support their family.” Gods Spirit was working in my Dad and riding along those tracks with him no doubt. By the time he passed in 1992, he was a much more committed Christian, having learned from his children and the raucous events of the decades we lived through, that God demands better behavior from all of us.

Well you say, and what about your title line? OK. Remember the term “lily-white” Irvington, New York? Well most of the affluent in our town were white Anglo-Saxon Protestants. The middle and lower middle classes were predominantly Irish and Italian Catholic, with a sprinkling of Spanish and Jewish. That is, except for my street. It was referred to as “The League of Nations.” We had Italian, Irish, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Jewish and Black!

My Christian journey was a witness to help my own parents. God had put people of different stripes on our street to help us understand that we were all equal in His loving eyes. Truly we are Gods “League of Nations” meant to love as He loves, and to forgive as He forgives.

Whatever your race, creed or color, you are His precious child. He loves you. He loves you unconditionally.
Amen, Maranatha
Joey

John 13:34-35 34″A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”