Community

How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!

Your dwellings, O Israel!

Like valleys that stretch out,

Like gardens by the riverside,

Like aloes planted by the Lord,

Like cedars beside the waters.

He shall pour water from His buckets,

And His seed shall be in many waters.

Numbers 24:5-7

Three Better

Two are better than one …

And a threefold cord

is not quickly broken

Ecclesiastes 4:9,12

Family

A father of the fatherless,

A defender of widows,

Is God in His holy habitation.

He sets the solitary in families …

Psalm 68:5-6

Ruth Meets Boaz

The story of Ruth and Boaz is a fairytale romance of two lives being interwoven by the wisdom of God. On the one hand we have Ruth – a poor widow who finds herself in a new land experiencing a strange culture. On the other is Boaz – the noble gentlemen of kind faith and charming strength who wins the heart of a lady who comes to be loved and accepted by her community – her new family so to speak; and in the middle of it all, like the God-inspired match-maker, we have Naomi, who forgets the sorrow of losing loved ones as she brings together two lives that had always been destined to meet. It is a tale of journeying, exploring, and embracing, and of many individual tales being knit together into a legacy of all that God can create when we trust Him and when we give ourselves to love others in many different ways.

The heroine of the tale, of course, is Ruth. How can one not admire her courage and graciousness in following her mother-in-law, Noami, stepping into a whole new world which she made her very own. The lady from Moab made Israel her home. At the critical moment when she could have returned to her homeland (at Noami’s bidding), she clung to Naomi and said:

 

Entreat me not to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;

Your people shall be my people,

And your God my God.

Ruth 1:16

The beauty of the story is in the bitterness of loss becoming the sweetness of finding; the despair of sorrow becoming the celebration of joy; the ache of loneliness becoming the solace of belonging. The story of Ruth is one of those sweet, soul-stirring stories that paints a lilting love song that promises kindness, love, loyalty, friendship, family, healing and perfect endings in God.

The Perfect Body

The beauty of difference and diversity is in mutual acceptance and a sense of comfort with the fact that we need each other. That is how God has designed creation and this is how he has designed us. Just think of the intricacy of an ecosystem. If one variable is eliminated it upsets the balance of the entire community of life. Similarly, if we think of the human body, we understand that the life and health of one member – teeny or not – breathes life (so to speak) into the whole.

God is never after just an individual. His sense of purpose is far more expansive. He called Abraham and then out of Abraham he called forth nations and a universe full of star-studded royal heirs – sons and daughters of righteousness. God sent Jesus to earth to live a life of perfect obedience and then called many more sons and brothers to walk the walk of perfect righteousness in Him – many branches connected to one vine.

When we walk through trouble and turbulence it can be a very solitary and lonely kind of experience. However, from God’s vantage point, He sees and delights in the complete tapestry which He is weaving together – your joy, my sorrow, your sorrow my joy, my faith, your righteousness, my quest, your courage, my sacrifice, your kindness, my prayer, your strength, my trust, your wisdom, my hoping, your patience. God takes all those threads of our individual experiences, colours them with His ways and His character and then weaves them into a masterpiece of kingdom artistry.

I am a thread of many colours, every experience dipped in the hues of how God works out His righteousness in every dimension of what makes life life. As a thread I stand alone, but when I am woven with others, my life takes on meaning which goes way beyond the singularity of my simple spool. I become part of a panoramic tapestry where my thread finds its place – significant yet sharing significance with others. Together we make God’s purpose for creation complete.

The Summer Festival

Lanterns lit up the night with a festive glow, their glowing colours hanging about the evening and showering the neighbourood park with warm delight. Children, families, grannies, grandpas, everybody were there. They greeted, played, laughed, enjoying all kinds of yummy treats that you can find at Japanese festivals. What I loved most, though, was how they danced. One by one they came, until there was a ring of merry-makers circling the Taiko drummers with graceful steps and elegant hand motions. Round and round and round they danced, weaving in and out of a merry folk melody, stepping ever so gracefully in their elegant kimonos. It was a dance of celebration, a dance of village pride, a dance of delight in so many people coming together to share a singular experience. I joyed in their joy. Melody poured mirth into my being, lanterns lit up my soul and I was as drunk with delight as a field of flowers drinking in a drizzle of sake-wine. Circling, circling, lanterns glowing, circling, circling, round and round, music dancing, elegance clapping, round and round, circling, circling. Giddy, giddy with joy. Dizzy, giddy joy and delirious delight circling through the night.

The River Tribe

The River Tribe

Stretched out along the river

Where slim reeds kissed the bank

Fair fine tents of blue striped joy

Lined the water’s length

The dwellers there were nomads

They journeyed from afar

With young ones in their bosoms

They dreamt under the stars

And when the new dawn blooming

Shimmered in the streams

They cupped the crystal waters

Drinking long and deep

Morning’s songstrels dancing played

Elders taught the youth the art

Of weaving ancient legend tales

Lyrically upon the harp

Afteroon glades sleepy ease

Stirred by whistling archery

Maidens young and milky youths

Long bows curved and arrows knew

Menfolk fished with breezy lines

Ladies stirred the pot

Chatting o’er their simple feasts

One tribe together supped

And as the evening settled

Into starry night

The fathers drew their children near

Neath glowing silver light

They spoke of kings and love and war

Of mighty men and more

Of noble women and their deeds

And of One still grander yet than these

They spoke of ancient fathers

Their wisdom and their age

Faithfully taught young, tender hearts

Secrets of the Sage

Trusted these young, tender hearts

To turn the final Page

Entrusted to their future seed

The sealing of our Faith

©NnekaEdwards2004



Joie Journal: Home Sweet Home

Dear Journal,

I am grateful. Though I did not come from a perfect home, I am thankful. I thank God for my family. I thank God for my father who taught me to love music. I thank God for my mum who gave me my foundation in English and essay-writing. I thank God for my sister who sent me a plane ticket as a graduation present. I thank God for my other sister who helped me make sense of Spanish and French. If it were not for her care and kindness I might not have become the linguist that I am today. I thank you God that you are the God who builds bridges between people. Darkness seeks to destroy and dislodge relationship, but God brings people together.

I am grateful for my second families all across the world. I thank you God for my Korean families who I will never forget; people who welcomed me into their homes and treated me like one of their own. I thank you for all the special times we had together, laughing, learning and growing to love and appreciate each other. I thank you God for family in Christ – for village chiefs who counsel through character, and little ones whose simple faith, innocent trusting and insatiable curiosity about the world leave little pitter-pat footprints that lead me to discoveries in God. I thank God for fellow tribesmen who all go through the same rite of passage to become true men, battle-ready warriors and mature sons of God. I thank God for the village women who fetch water from wells and springs, refreshing kinsfolk with the life-giving Word of God; and women who sing and pray in chorus as they harvest in the fields of Your Kingdom. Thank You God for many tribes streaming into one Tribe. Thank you for Family!

Taking Care of Family Business

Abba Father,

Thank you for family. Thank you that you are so generous that you don’t keep all your goodies for yourself. You take one man and multiply him into many. You take a single person and set him within a family. You take your righteousness and pour it into as many vessels as tip towards you. As many as you call sons, you bring into your family. I thank you that I am part of your family and that you love me. I thank you because Jesus is not only my Saviour, but he is also my brother. Thank you, God, that I can call you Abba Father. You are so close and so caring and so kind. I value your advice and incline my heart towards your ways because I know that your thoughts concerning me are always good. Thank you for my many brothers and sisters in Christ – those who I know and those who I don’t. I pray that you will make my sisters women of grace, wisdom and strength. I pray that you make my brothers men of nobility, loyalty and courage. Help us to treat each other as you would treat us. Help us to think of each other as You think of us. Cause our hearts to be knitted together. Cause our bonds to be unbreakable. Teach us to be one in You.