Black & White

Pentecost; John 20:19-23

Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

The older I get, the more I realize how much I still have to learn. When I went to college, I thought I had all the answers. When I left college, all I had was questions. At the time, I didn’t think about it much. Life was good and so I kept it going as best as I could. Everything seemed to be going the way it was supposed to be, but I didn’t know why.

In this world of mine, everything was cut and dry, black and white. It was either right or wrong. And the people I associated with all felt the same as I did. We congregated in our little groups and were very suspicious of anyone who was not in our group. It was safe and felt good, even though I didn’t know why.

Then, as happens to most people, I began to mature. And those questions once more began to resurface in my mind. Slowly, but ever so slowly, all my certainties began to get a bit fuzzy. I became worried that my eyesight was going bad. No longer did I see things as black and white. Everything was now a shade of gray. Right and wrong became uncertainty. I began to look at my circles with discernment. I knew this was right, but I didn’t know why.

There were neither right actions or wrong actions, there were consequences to every action. I began to look at my circles and realized that I no longer connected with everyone the same way. I did not want to be suspicious any longer. I decided I wanted to love, and to be loved. My world view shifted – no, that’s not quite right. My world view had radically changed.

When I read the accounts of the original Pentecost, I like to think that everyone in the Upper room experienced this radical change too, and the 3,000 who believed [Acts 2:41] felt their world transform in a dramatic way as well.

The cause of this change, both on Pentecost and in my life, is the Holy Spirit moving and entering souls, hearts and minds of everyone who is open. In my case, it was more of a two-by-four to the forehead, but you get my point. Those who are younger, still learning their way through this world, do not yet know to rely on the wisdom of God. If they go to church, they’ll hear the message, but they are too busy succeeding at their jobs and raising a family. They feel it requires hard work to succeed. They believe peace comes about when they finally “succeed”.

The plan is that we all will mature and grow in wisdom and understanding in order to realize that God is present at all times, and the peace we seek is not in our jobs, cars, houses or clothes. I look around and see that many of my friends have indeed matured. Yet, I remain mystified to see that so many have not. They remain stuck in an immature mindset of black and white. They rail at “injustice” and “inequity” and look for someone to blame for all their problems.

How is it that I can look at the same world and see generosity, hospitality, and kindness? I think my definition of “injustice” and “inequity” are different than theirs, and I no longer look for scapegoats. I just see love in a terribly flawed world.

The power of love sent by the Holy Spirit is available for all to receive and become a new person. But, unfortunately, not everyone knows that. It is my role to be an example of God’s wonderful, hopeful love to everyone I meet. I’m far from perfect, and I have so, so much more to learn. But I know that with the presence of the Spirit of God, I can let the world know that there is hope and there is love. And, perhaps, someone's black and white world will become more and more gray as mine did.

Every day.

© 2025 by Timothy J. Doppel

All Rights Reserved