What Section Will You Be In in Heaven?

As we sat there, the food was great.

What is my role? What is my gift? Someone asked.

A comment was, you need to be rooted in one church, Greater Joy.

Here is the reflections as articulated in that restaurant, some good old Hibachi Chicken.

Hispanics worship one way; Mexicans worship one way, Puerto Ricans another way altogether.

The language is the same, but the songs represent different cultures. The old ways are represented in the Puerto Rican church, versus, the “new style of worship” in the Mexican churches, modern choreographs.

Black people have a distinctive style of worship. Their songs are of a different legacy.

The people in action, the white church, Wendell Baptist, are doers. They help. They get out there. Hence, tonight, I was supporting them and supping with them, and, they had tacos, good stuff too.

Hephzibah has the songs, the white songs, but I have long been departed from them. The are the Hills Song type, awesome at times. They worship moreso with Hymns, etc. of the white tradition. The preaching tends to be sounding brass and tinkling cymbal because no field work from the head, but the body is not the same.

So, what is the reflection. You cannot get everything from one church. Nobody fellowships with each other. Blacks stay blacks, Hispanics with Hispanics, whites with white.

A stark example, was in the lobby of the church, a church picture of all the members there, all white, not a Mexican in sight; but, the Hispanic church is housed in the White Church. Some Hispanic churches have services in the evening, but, can attend other services during the day time. So too, the whites in the morning, but can come back in the evening to fellowship with the Hispanics, in the same building, but, that does not happen.

The days in New York, at Universal Temple, included 7:30 AM service, 11 AM service, and 4 PM service. But during the week and on Sunday evenings, it was often going on the road to visit other black churches, all over, Get on the bus and go to that Revival in the Bronx, etc.. It was always attending other church services.

Because I love all worlds, I visit multiple racial churches.

It was hard in the parking lot of Colonial/Shepherd’s church, when she told me, “I do not feel comfortable with the whites in our services”. But, the Hispanic church there housed in the White church, did not want the mixing of races.

Tonight, I asked my son, you want to go to the white church with me, he said “no”. Why I asked? Because they look at me funny, look at the monkey “they don’t want me there”. I told him that despite others, you have to show yourself friendly. I feel out of place at most churches, because, there are just no other wheelchairs there.

We discussed when I first came to North Carolina. Elevation Baptist church had slews of church vans bringing the wheelchair and elderly and the disabled in. That was the discussion with two brothers, one from Word Tabernacle and one From Primera Asemblea.

I feel most comfortable at Word Tabernacle because, they have the most disabled people. The second place is Greater Joy. But, Word also, like Hephzibah and other churches, have slews of vans and autos that are not used to bring the disabled on Sunday Mornings or during the week.

If we all are Christians, then, there should be a universal membership and no balking at attending services at different churches, “all whom are called of God” they say. She said, tonight, but they have different beliefs. Pharisee, Sadducee, argument I heard tonight. Then, they left my table.

The scripture never changed to invite the disabled to be with you and take care of the widow, etc.. Not only are the churches divided based on race and culture and keep that boundary intentionally, but, they also elect not to have the disabled in their midst.