I CALL YOU FRIEND

“I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father.”John 15:15 (AMP)

In 1968, readers of the “Peanuts” comic strip saw something they thought they would never see.  Franklin Armstrong first appeared.  He was "born" after a school teacher, Harriet Glickman, wrote a letter to creator Charles Schulz, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Glickman asked Schulz if he would consider adding a black character to his strip.

Glickman was especially aware of the power of comics among kids. “I realized black kids and white kids never saw themselves together in the classroom.” Schulz responded, saying he was intrigued with the idea.  The president of the distribution company believed that introducing a black child might affect Schulz' popularity and wanted him to change the cartoon. Schulz' response was, “Either you print it just the way I draw it, or I quit."

Glickman continued exchanging letters with Schulz, and he eventually asked her to check the July 31st newspaper. In his strip was a black child saying to Charlie Brown, “Is this your beach ball?” A white child responded “Hey! Yeah! Thank you very much!” 

In a subsequent strip, this black child meets Linus and the exchange is: “Hi, I’m Franklin.” Linus says, “I’m very glad to know you.” There was no big deal. It was just a natural conversation between children.

A friendship with Jesus, who calls us friends, is as simple as saying, "I am very glad to know you."

Lord help me embrace the simplicity of friendship with You.

© 2019 Lucy Evelyn