Rod saw one of our friends drive up yesterday afternoon bearing a carton of eggs. It was a wonderful surprise. Not having grown up with hens, or having neighbors or friends who raised chickens, this was only one of two times in my life that I’ve been blessed this way. The first was when a niece arrived at a family gathering with cartons of eggs, each one looking like the white eggs I purchase in the grocery store.
This morning, I opened the carton to prepare my breakfast, and was surprised and startled to see eggs of different sizes and shades, including one humongous brown egg which I fried and ate. I had no idea that there was such a variety of chicken eggs. I did a bit of research, thanks to Google. According to the Michigan State University Extension site, “All eggs start out white in color, and the shells are tinted by pigmentation in the hen’s oviduct.” That’s basically what we do with a bit of vinegar and food coloring for our Easter Eggs. According to the University of Illinois Extension site, “Other than appearance, there are no major differences between eggs from different breeds of chickens.”
That sounds a lot like us humans. We might have different nationalities, races, genders, socio-economic status, educations, but on the inside we are the same. Galatians 3:28 says, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
That’s a good reminder as I think about the significance of tomorrow, June 19. Wednesday, June 16, the US Congress passed a resolution declaring the 19th of June, Juneteenth, a federal holiday by a vote of 415-15. Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19 and commemorates the arrival of Union troops in Galveston, Texas, following the end of the Civil War, marking the effective end of slavery in the United States more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
“I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Help us to do the same, loving God. ~ Anne
