We’ve been thinking, during this pre-Lenten season, of some of the gaps that exist between us - gaps of generations, or sex, between neighbors, and so on. It has been our contention that God has a word for the gaps, and in Jesus Christ has provided a means to bridge them - from the little ones to the big ones. Today - Race Relations Sunday - we stop to look at the racial gap, and as we do we find ourselves enmeshed in confusion!

There once was a time when I knew what to say on Race Relations Sunday, when things seemed - at least to me - to be absolutely clear-cut. Our aim was for an unsegregated church in an unsegregated society, and our words were accept and integrate. The word may still be "accept" but I’m not sure "integrate" is in the black lexicon any more. Five years ago, on the Syn…