Handshake
Theme of the Week: Colorblind? No Way!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
 1 of 1
Who Said It … Matthew Wangerin
Matthew Wangerin is single, 37, and the son of award-winning author Walter Wangerin Jr. He played both high school and college basketball, serving as team captain at both levels. He enjoys public speaking and has dedicated himself to encouraging others to avoid pitfalls like the deceptions, negativity, and squandering of opportunity that once ensnared him. He now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he manages a restaurant. What He Said … Handshake
Our family moves to this inner-city neighborhood so that Dad can be closer to his job, but also so Talitha and I can have a relationship with those of our own ethnicity.
"What's up, youngblood?" Philip Lawrence greets me. He reaches out to me, but different from what I've seen before. He doesn't crouch down, lowering himself to my line of sight. Instead he bends his right knee and leans his body to the right but only as far as he has to. His hand isn't vertical as with a formal handshake; it's more horizontal. I grab his hand while thinking of a reply.
"Uh, the sky?" I say, feeling stupid.
He wraps his fingers around the back of my hand, as if making a fist with my hand inside his, then opens his fist, sliding his now flattened palm across mine, then locks his fingertips in mine.
Dad watches as I shake hands with this black man the way black men do. Phil understands quickly that I don't know how to "give dap." He chuckles, then begins conversing with Dad.
Adapted from Father & Son (Zondervan, 2008) by permission.
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Lord, give me a fresh appreciation for the diverse richness of the Church you are forming.
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