Sermon Tone Analysis

Grandfathers info: Circa 1941-1943, “Again being in the right spot at the right time.

The first 11 black employees hired by the company were put in our department on my shift.

They hired 10 women plus a man by the name of King as an assistant foreman under me.

It was a very touchy situation and thanks to Mt. King I muddled through.

Mr. King had a BA degree and had sold life insurance before starting with the company.

Before WW II was over the company hired many blacks but none rose to the more skilled and higher paying jobs.

I do not remember the company pay scale but the top of the line skilled mechanics probably made $1.00 per hour.

Let me inject something I have never forgotten.

One night one of my black women employees asked permission to see me.

I do not remember the problem in detail but it involved her daughter and being black.

After we had talked and I gave her a couple of ideas she thanked me and then in a very polite way said , “You will never know what it is like from the day you are born till the day you die to wear black skin.”

I have never forgotten that remark and because of the many black employees under me I found that I could put on black skin and see there problems but I will be the first to tell the world that when the black skin gets tight and starts to pinch I can take it off which is more than my black friends can do.

Years later a situation developed that proved to me I had not lost the value of the lady’s statement.

When I was active in politics in the 1960’s the position of Postmaster for La Mesa opened.

At the time I was on the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee.

Harry Wiley who lived in La Mesa was after the position.

One of the things he needed was a favorable vote of the County Central Committee.

I felt Harry was qualified and deserved the position so I agreed to support him.

He was appointed Postmaster and later told me as he canvassed the Central Committee members for their support the minute he told one of the black members I supported him they would say, “If Francis Smith is for you, that is enough for me.”

So he said, “I always made sure they knew it.”

I was and am proud of the trust they put in me.

From Journal entry July 28 and 30, 2018

, "For he is our peace, who made both groups onej and tore down the dividing wall of hostility.

In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might createk in himself onel new man from the two, resulting in peace.

16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one bodym through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.A 17 He came and proclaimed the good newsn of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.o

18 For through him we both have accessp in one spirit to the Father.q

19 So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,r with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

21 In him the whole building, being put together,s grows into a holy temple in the Lord.t

22 In him you are also being built togetheru for God’s dwellingv in the Spirit."

Bible Study Notes, "God has torn down the dividing wall of hostility and removed the hatred forever."

Bible Study Notes, "God has torn down the dividing wall of hostility and removed the hatred forever."

Paul is discussing the issue here of Gentiles and Jews and that if they are both believers in Christ and they have asked for Him into their life there is no more seperation between them.

There was hatred that exsisted between these two groups and the Jews could not fathom Gentiles being on the same level as them, even if they gave their life to Jesus.

There was the issues (in their mind) of circumcistion, what was eaten, and the simple but not changable what group you were born into.

What drove a large part of this at the time was the laws of man and the opinions of individuals that continued to grow the hatred between each other.

When reading my grandfathers history that he put together he discusses a conversation that he had with a black women that was part of about 11 or 12 black workers that were new to the plant.

My grandfather as a lead ensured to listen to the employees and try to help where he could.

There was one occasion that one of these women were having some issues and my grandfather heard her cause/problem.

At the end of teh conversation she made a profound statement that my grandfather would never know what it is like to live in the skin of a black person their whole life.

(There is more to this in the family papers chapter 4).

Paul is discussing the issue here of Gentiles and Jews and that if they are both believers in Christ and they have asked for Him into their life there is no more separation between them.

There was hatred that existed between these two groups and the Jews could not fathom Gentiles being on the same level as them, even if they gave their life to Jesus.

There was the issues (in their mind) of circumcision, what was eaten, and the simple but not changeable what group you were born into.

What drove a large part of this at the time was the laws of man and the opinions of individuals that continued to grow the hatred between each other.

My grandfather took this to heart and tried to live his life with not having those walls of hatred exisiting in what he did.

He continued to talk about that in his writtings and how though he would try to help where he could he realized his help was not the same as having to actually walk through it.

When reading my grandfathers history that he put together he discusses a conversation that he had with a black women that was part of about 11 or 12 black workers that were new to the plant.

My grandfather as a lead ensured to listen to the employees and try to help where he could.

There was one occasion that one of these women were having some issues and my grandfather heard her cause/problem.

At the end of the conversation she made a profound statement that my grandfather would never know what it is like to live in the skin of a black person their whole life.

(There is more to this in the family papers chapter 4).

Today we have so much hatred that is filling the world.

It seems each generation and most individuals want to be different.

We want to stand out, be it through clothes, actions, words, tattoos, piercings, hair color, and many other ways.

We each are looking for ways that we do not conform to the next, while at the same time hoping that we are accepted by the other.

My grandfather took this to heart and tried to live his life with not having those walls of hatred existing in what he did.

He continued to talk about that in his writings and how though he would try to help where he could he realized his help was not the same as having to actually walk through it.

Within these differences there are some things that truly do show distinctions between us and it is there where the devil is using these differences to drive hate and disdain.

It is from being male or female, color of our skin, the place on earth that we come from, the accents that we have, the way we worship (even within Christian Churches), and in many cases the quality of the materials that we have/ can afford.

With these examples there are many that the enemy is using to drive individuals to want to be different and not to recognize who God made them.

Within that there is differences that are healthy and we need to recognize those as Gods creations and there are some differences that are morphed by the devils twists of truth and we need to be cautious in not being trapped in the hatred and fight it with love.

What I mean by healthy vs not is that we are all gifted differently for His Kingdom and it is in those differences that we are able to do what we are called to.

We see this in v21, "In Him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."

Today we have so much hatred that is filling the world.

It seems each generation and most individuals want to be different.

We want to stand out, be it through clothes, actions, words, tattoos, piercings, hair color, and many other ways.

We each are looking for ways that we do not conform to the next, while at the same time hoping that we are accepted by the other.

When I look at what is happening in the world today and those areas I mentioned I see hate seeping out like a flooding river.

These flooding rivers have the ability to destroy so much.

They have power that is not seen as the currents underneath can cause damage in seconds.

Just looking at what water can do to a car, "Water weighs 62.4 pounds per cubic foot.

When a vehicle stalls in water, the water's momentum is transferred to the car.