Early morning hopes

You know those first minutes when you wake up in the morning?
How sometimes it all feels like a dream?

If you aren't too tired,
and haven't been woken in the night by tiny visitors called children,
or the invasion of old nightmares and overwhelming pictures of life,
the way the light throws itself into a dim room
or birds sing outside a window,
can be magic.

And into this ethereal luminosity of another day,
we reach for what is good,
in the hope that maybe this day
I won't raise my voice too often,
or get angry,
or be hurt by others who probably didn't mean to hurt me...

We look forward,
breathe deeply.
Good morning.

As I consider the possible thousands of new days my children will see,
and what I hope for them,
I want to imagine
pursue
dream
pray
believe
for a day without racism.

And I believe it starts in my own home,
around my own dinner table,
in moments of play
or conversation.
In the jokes I tell
in how I treat every person I meet,
I can change a future.
Not by disregarding color,
but by completely regarding humanity...
acknowledging
embracing
holding tight the
precious
priceless
infinite
life of every human.

Yes,
may we inhabit our lives
in the intimate moments of first light,
when all is still magic
and the honest vulnerable minutes of a day are before us.
May the clearest truth about us be in those first seconds,
that the Light is extending our reach
past what has been dark for so long in the caverns of our hearts.
And its luminosity is making reality of the dream.

How do you teach your children about racism? How do you talk about it in your home, with your friends, in the community? What are your thoughts on making sure what happened last week in Charleston never happens again? Comment welcome.