The Joys of Family AND a Sermon

I was in Blue Mountain, PA, for independence day weekend. The area is known for its retreat centres and skiing, and for very good reasons too: I don't think I know another place more serene or more in tune with nature. It's my personal theory that the serenity and closeness with nature over there brings out a sort of reflectiveness and happiness that is crushed out by the hustle and bustle in more urban areas. I want to live there! Back to the weekend: to put it in the mildest terms, IT WAS A BLAST!! I don't really know what a high feels like (not yet, no) but this must have been it AND it was legal!

It was a Bible conference but much more than that - lots of talk with friends from Princeton and with my bible teacher's family. By the time we were headed back, I truly believed I had found family. They've always been extremely nice to me - and they are the nicest and kindest people in the world if you ask me. I have not said, and will never say, that they are the nicest people because they are Christian. No! Some of the funnest, most moral people I know are not. (I had to say this - I find people assume I mean this a lot) I am no Jerry Falwell. But this I KNOW: they are the way they are because they have given their life over to Christ and to the radicality of love that he stood for. And that is what I want for myself too. I'm glad I can share in the joys of family with them.

On another note, I gave a bit of a sermon on Independence Day, not that it had anything to do with independence. I preserve it here for my own future reflection but if you wish, I invite you to read. It's rather long. But the main points are these:

1. I am both a Christian and a skeptic. I see no contradictions. Life is not all white and black -- tints of grey permeate everything.

2. The main thrusts of the Christian life for me are threefold, as reflected through Jesus' life: --1.) a commitment to the weakest among us (the poor, needy and the sick) -- 2.) a commitment to the search for God and the truth through prayer, reason and meditation on scripture. -- 3.) a transformation of the self and re-ordering of our desires that can come only through the two commitments above.

Actually, no, I will not post the sermon. It's way too long. But the above points, I believe, sum it up. One image will stay with me perhaps for ever from the conference: One of the guys on the trip has a son who's autistic. So one night, his son comes back with moss and grime all over his feet, shoes and pants. And then, without even batting an eyelid, his father took him to the bathroom and washed his feet. The bathroom door was open -- and I watched. I want a world where such love and kindness is abundant. This love and kindness is what Jesus was about - what God's message is about. He sided with the suffering, with the sick, with people like me - certainly not with the firebrand pastors and the proud of today who pronounce anathemas on other groups and measure their faith by how much they think others do not live up to it. Love is the answer.

Shalom, Peace and Life to You,

Kwesi