All are precious…

Of vitamins and a small mystery solved.

I was at the "Y" the other day—did I tell you I started working out? With this cushy editor's job I noticed I am getting a little bit of a spare tire. Health is important to me, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, so I started with the treadmill and I try to get in some laps in the pool as well. It's a little difficult to get there sometimes, but I have always felt that doing the right thing usually takes a little trouble, so that's OK. I try to go in the off hours so as not to unduly alarm the clientele, who may not be as open minded about mice as are you and I.

Anyhow, I was at the "Y" the other day, and on my way out I like to climb up on the desk and pick out a folded strip of paper from the bowl marked Scripture Vitamins. I picked out a yellow one—they usually have yellow, blue, green, and purple, and I have yet to figure out the code—but I picked out a yellow one that said:

Red and yellow, black and white; all are precious in God's sight. Acts 10:34

I thought, Hey! That's not in there! And then I thought—Acts, towards the beginning. Aha! Peter and Cornelius.

The early church had some problems between those who were born Jews and converts who were Greek-speaking. Actually it was a wonder they got along as well as they did, because in Judaism there were strict rules about not having anything to do with non-Jews. To their credit they did some reorganization and appointed some Deacons—Stephen among them—to make sure noone was left out. But it was a problem.

So one day Peter was up on the roof top praying, the Book tells us, when he got hungry. About that time he had a vision—a large sheet was lowered from the heavens, and it contained all kinds of animals. A voice said, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat."

Now the Jews also had very strict dietary laws, and Peter was a good Jew and kept kosher. He pointed this out, but the voice replied, "What God has made clean, you must not call unclean." Peter, who was not known as "the rock" for nothing, insisted, not once but twice more. Then the vision ended.

While Peter was trying to figure this all out, messengers came from a Roman Centurion—a leader in an army of occupation and certainly not a Jew—named Cornelius. Cornelius, it tells us, was a God-fearing person and had had a vision of his own. An angel told him to send for Peter, so he did.

When the messengers found Peter, Peter finally had his own "Aha!" moment. Peter went.

I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Acts 10: 34-35

That's the New Revised Standard Version—what came to my mind was the old King James, "God is no respecter of persons..."

Red and yellow, black and white; all are precious in God's sight.

Close enough.