Reflections
As I write this newsletter Kathy and I are awaiting the arrival of our daughter Tabitha and her family from Houston, Texas, for the first leg of a Thanksgiving journey that will culminate in a large extended family gathering later in the week in Sewanee, Tennessee. As I have mentioned before, Tabitha first came into our home in 2005 as a foster child, a war orphan refugee from Sudan. Her husband, John, came to this country through the same U.S. State Department/United Nations program that resettled thousands of young Sudanese refugees during the height of Sudan’s brutal civil war in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Tabitha was brought to Jackson, Mississippi, while John came to Pennsylvania.
Their arrival during this Thanksgiving week is another reminder of the extraordinary diversity that makes up this country that we so love. All of us are taught the traditional story of how Native Americans nurtured those first Pilgrims and helped them survive the devastating winter of New England, and we celebrate with eating and drinking together in thanksgiving for the grace of God through that particular historical moment and in our own lives (Of course, we are rarely taught about how our English ancestors returned those early kindnesses in subsequent years, but that’s another story!).
The contributions of John and Tabitha to the remarkable matrix of this country always reminds me of the untold numbers of immigrants who have come, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, to this country and have given to us a depth of diversity unequaled to anywhere else in the world. The merging of cultures, sometimes with considerable difficulty, has given to this country a breath of experience that contains an inexhaustible richness, if we only dare to see it. We are not monochromatic as a nation, as much as we are often tempted to view our country as such.
So much of the culture wars that we are fighting these days is about what version of our nation’s history we are going to teach to our children. Most of us are acutely aware that our history is a mixture of things we have done well, and periods of time that we failed miserably. To acknowledge both is difficult, but terribly important.
I idolized my father for most of my life, and believed he could do no wrong. It was only later in my life when I began to understand his failings as a normal person could I take him down from my pedestal and love him deeply as a beautiful human being. So it is with this nation. Until we allow our national myths to be seasoned with other, often painful, truths can we embrace the deepest gifts of our native land.
That is what I will be embracing this week. This will be my deepest prayer this Thanksgiving. I will be giving thanks to God for my family…and for a nation who, though it has dramatically and tragically failed far too many times, still dares to say, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men [women] are created equal…” and offers Tabitha, John, Deng, Ajak and Ayak a place to call home.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Other Matters of Importance
Financial Pledge Cards Due This Sunday- November 26
As we wind down our financial stewardship campaign for 2024, please make every effort to return your pledge cards by this Sunday, November26 ( by mail or in the offering plate) that show your financial commitment to Nativity for 2024. The Budget Committee will begin work in early December on Nativity’s budget for the new year. A reasonably accurate projection of revenue will be enormously helpful!
December 13- Holiday Gathering at Home of Liz and Tommy Reynolds
Tommy and Liz Reynolds have invited the congregation of Nativity to their home for a casual, pre-Christmas gathering of good food and fellowship. Details will be forthcoming, but mark your calendars now!
Blessings and Peace,
Duncan
(601)260-1937
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