Gracism: Embracing Freedom of Choice

Freedom of choice is July's value and with it comes opportunity to examine the choices we are making in thought and action. One of Ernest Holmes' most famous quotes is "Change your thinking change your life." He encouraged us all to look at the unexamined and unconscious beliefs running our lives and challenge them, asking "is that True?"; true with a capital T.

My daughter as we explored the Museum of Man exhibits in San Diego.

Recently, I visited the Museum of Man in San Diego. I spent most of my time in an exhibit called Race: Are We So Different? It was fascinating and obliterated many of my learned beliefs about race.

The exhibit used science, like biology and archaeology, to prove false many of society's long held assumptions about race. One of the most interesting things I learned was about classification. Before the British started to travel and conquer the world, there was no such thing as race. People were people regardless of skin color or cultural differences. It wasn’t until the British applied their classification system to the people they encounter that race and racism was born. No other culture, up until that point, thought to put people in boxes based on traits and assumptions. That was such an “AHA” moment for me, and right there I made a conscious choice to release people from classification.

One of the books this month’s value is drawing inspiration from is Gracism by Rev. Dr. David Anderson. He is the senior minister at a multicultural church in Maryland. Here’s what Dr. Anderson has to say about Gracism…

Join us this month to explore the value: Freedom of Choice. Release yourself from hidden unconscious beliefs and race thinking. And, if you are traveling to San Diego this month, I highly recommend visiting the Museum of Man and the Race exhibit.