In 1949, Vermont Royster wrote this Christmas editorial and it has been published annually in the Wall Street Journal ever since. My Dad had me read it this morning and I wanted to share it here. Food for thought on this Christmas Eve...
In Hoc Anno Domini
When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.
Everywhere there was civil order, for arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.
But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression -- for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?
There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?
Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render until Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.
So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.
But it came to pass for a while in diverse places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.
Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.
And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Friday, December 24, 2010
"Don't Forget"
At the end of our time in South Africa, we spent a couple days at a place called Klein Kariba to debrief, enjoy our last couple days together, and try to mentally prepare to return home. One of the things that Pat asked us to do on our own was to take the time to make a list of ten things that we didn't want to forget from the trip. Well, mine refused to be limisted to ten (no surprise there). Though they might not all make a lot of sense to someone outside of the situation (or in some cases, even outside of my brain, haha), but I thought I would share them here. To remind me of them again and perhaps even accountability - feel free to ask me or remind me about these things!
SOUTH AFRICA "DON'T FORGET" LIST
1. Don't forget the feel of a little girl's arms around your neck as she clings goodbye after a few short minutes' interactions.
2. Don't forget the poem on my class board and the poem the girl read at the talent show that were such the heart of our mission.
3. Don't forget what it sounds like to sing praises in a chorus of voices unified in heart and drive.
4. Don't forget the letters my students wrote, displaying their tragedies, determination, joy and desire.
5. Don't forget the look in Perseverance's eyes as we hugged and I gave her a Bible of her own.
6. Don't forget "Date Night" and how much it made me feel that I am worth.
7. Don't forget the splendor of the Lord, made so clear in sunrises, sunsets, the expanse of Swaziland, the wildness of the game reserve, and the wonders of South Africa.
8. Don't forget understanding the unity of the Body of Christ like I did at Mamelodi Baptist Church, through joy, hugs, and individual translators.
9. Don't forget that it takes intentional boldness to live wholeheartedly for the Lord (and tough decisions) - it won't happen passively!
10. Don't forget the woman that Cort, Chris, Natalie, and Claire described in our car affirmations - the woman I desire and am striving to be.
11. Don't forget what the night looks like when it is completely blanketed by stars.
12. Don't forget how much it meant to the students and youth of Mamelodi to know that people from somewhere else know that they are there and care.
13. Don't forget that it takes intentional vulnerability and the decision to love in order to build a community like this.
14. Don't forget that the life of a Christ follower is an ADVENTURE!
15. Don't forget to live a rhythm of life with God at its center.
16. Don't forget understnading that the point of my short life is not my comfort or happiness, but God's glory.
17. Don't forget how important encouragement is to people.
18. Don't forget Will Franklin's names, jokes, and "pound it" adaptations.
19. Don't forget how much joy comes with playing games - ultimate, cards, ninja, signs, mofia, "Good day, Bob"...
20. Don't forget the welcoming attitudes of the people we served, those who served us, and those of chance encounters.
21. Don't forget how grateful I am for these people and how much I want to keep up with them.
22. Don't forget the power of prayer.
23. Don't forget that gratitude is a choice.
SOUTH AFRICA "DON'T FORGET" LIST
1. Don't forget the feel of a little girl's arms around your neck as she clings goodbye after a few short minutes' interactions.
2. Don't forget the poem on my class board and the poem the girl read at the talent show that were such the heart of our mission.
3. Don't forget what it sounds like to sing praises in a chorus of voices unified in heart and drive.
4. Don't forget the letters my students wrote, displaying their tragedies, determination, joy and desire.
5. Don't forget the look in Perseverance's eyes as we hugged and I gave her a Bible of her own.
6. Don't forget "Date Night" and how much it made me feel that I am worth.
7. Don't forget the splendor of the Lord, made so clear in sunrises, sunsets, the expanse of Swaziland, the wildness of the game reserve, and the wonders of South Africa.
8. Don't forget understanding the unity of the Body of Christ like I did at Mamelodi Baptist Church, through joy, hugs, and individual translators.
9. Don't forget that it takes intentional boldness to live wholeheartedly for the Lord (and tough decisions) - it won't happen passively!
10. Don't forget the woman that Cort, Chris, Natalie, and Claire described in our car affirmations - the woman I desire and am striving to be.
11. Don't forget what the night looks like when it is completely blanketed by stars.
12. Don't forget how much it meant to the students and youth of Mamelodi to know that people from somewhere else know that they are there and care.
13. Don't forget that it takes intentional vulnerability and the decision to love in order to build a community like this.
14. Don't forget that the life of a Christ follower is an ADVENTURE!
15. Don't forget to live a rhythm of life with God at its center.
16. Don't forget understnading that the point of my short life is not my comfort or happiness, but God's glory.
17. Don't forget how important encouragement is to people.
18. Don't forget Will Franklin's names, jokes, and "pound it" adaptations.
19. Don't forget how much joy comes with playing games - ultimate, cards, ninja, signs, mofia, "Good day, Bob"...
20. Don't forget the welcoming attitudes of the people we served, those who served us, and those of chance encounters.
21. Don't forget how grateful I am for these people and how much I want to keep up with them.
22. Don't forget the power of prayer.
23. Don't forget that gratitude is a choice.
Thinking, thinking, thinking...
It has been four months since I finally arrived back in Raleigh after leaving Joburg some twenty-odd hours earlier...twenty-odd hours of layovers in Frankfurt and Boston; napping on airport floors; plane food; congregating in the back of the plane for one last game of Kemps; all plugging our headphones into the armrests and picking the same music station, thus allowing us to have a silent dance party in our seats and aisles (though the flight attendants weren't quite as thrilled about this); affirmations; and lots of goodbyes and tears.
Anyone who knows me well will be shocked not at all that I was crying since that is pretty much how I process everything - happy things, sad things, scary things, overwhelming things, spiritual things...my heart cries most emotions :) Thinking about those tears reminds me of so many different aspects of the trip because they flowed for so many reasons...
I was crying because I was saying goodbye to this group of people who had become so dear to me. The sense of community that we shared on the trip was very eye-opening and wonderful for me. It was a very diverse group in terms of interests, life experiences, areas of study, etc, but our group formed and was held together with our shared love of Jesus. In our pre-departure meetings we talked specifically about how we were going to love and support one another while we were there and we did. One of the most important things I learned on this trip was about community because of what I was a part of with this group - how to handle conflict well, how to offer advice with grace instead of judgment, how it takes intentional vulnerability to build real community...We were a 33-person family and I couldn't believe my time with them was up.
Along similar lines, I was crying because I wasn't ready to go back home. I was really impacted in South Africa and I felt like I was closer to the woman of God that I desire to be in that place, with those people, doing that work. So I was not excited about coming home, mainly because I knew it would be hard to return to home and especially Rhodes where people already had expectations for me and it would be up to me to adjust them as necessary. Part of that nervousness was the fact that I was going back to Memphis while about 96% of the rest of the group would be back in Boston for school. I was preemptively missing their accountability. [Needless to say, I was immensely grateful to be able to go to Boston for my fall break, so we could have a mini-reunion - so refreshing and life-giving!]
Those things and semi-shock at being back in the States accounted for most of the hug circle tears in the Boston airport. The "arrival crying". The "departure crying" that started literally as soon as I sat down in my seat on the plane to leave Joburg, haha.
Those tears weren't about where I was heading back to, but where I was leaving. I was crying about the students that I was leaving - the eleventh grade class that a friend and I tutored regularly who had opened up to us, shared their lives with us, laughed with us (and at us when it was clear that we were totally lost - who could blame them? we were laughing, too), played games with us, sang for me, and cried and hugged with me on our last day. These students completely captivated my heart with their stories, their passions, their dreams, their hurt. They know where they are and they know where they want to be and, while they respond to their reality differently, the majority of them know that working hard at school is what will give them even a chance. What frustrated me was how the floundering education system in South Africa is in such a state that it will be the lucky ones of those who put everything they have into their studies and do the very best they can that will actually have the chance to continue to university. The combination of shortage of teachers, huge lack of resources (as a school and as individuals), and the attitudes and environment of some of the community seems almost impossible to overcome. But I don't believe that it is.
We spent a lot of time on the University of Pretoria campus talking to students about everything (faith, cultures, the recent events in South Africa politically, prejudices, etc), but especially about the tutoring that we were doing in Mamelodi, looking for students who would be interested in continuing work their after we had returned to America. The response that we got from the school was phenomenal. We had been praying for 33 people - the same number as in our group. We ended up getting the contact information of over 100 students and had the Head of Student Affairs and a few professors very excited about continuing the work. We even had a few students who were coming with us for the last week that we were tutoring. It was a phenomenal answer to our prayers! A group from Boston is going back in January during their J-term break. I will pass on anything that I learn from them after they return.
One of the dangers of short term missions is that one can go to a place and feel superior to the people one is "serving" for whatever reason. Of all of the things that God taught me while I was there, one of the greatest was humility. How I am capable of so little on my own. How I can offer myself, but that isn't very much when it is not given wrapped up in the grace and love of God. How I have so much to learn - about myself, about life, about God, about others, about other cultures and viewpoints.
I wish I was reporting about how my life looks completely different now from how it looked before I went to South Africa. But it's not true. The past four months have been a roller-coaster ride of joys and struggles and wanting to serve and being self-focused...but I am grateful for the fact that I am not stuck where I was before. I have pictures, letters, blogs, and two journals full of prayers and songs and notes and thoughts that remind of me of who I was and who I want to be; of how to say "I love you" in Zulu, Sepedi, and Tsonga (a lesson from my student Kiketsu- I was teaching him some Spanish in exchange); of the majesty of God I was so keenly aware of while hiking in Swaziland; of the importance of grace and honest communication in relationship; of the total transformative power of Jesus in the lives of people...
In some ways, this trip will never be over. And for that I'm grateful.
Anyone who knows me well will be shocked not at all that I was crying since that is pretty much how I process everything - happy things, sad things, scary things, overwhelming things, spiritual things...my heart cries most emotions :) Thinking about those tears reminds me of so many different aspects of the trip because they flowed for so many reasons...
I was crying because I was saying goodbye to this group of people who had become so dear to me. The sense of community that we shared on the trip was very eye-opening and wonderful for me. It was a very diverse group in terms of interests, life experiences, areas of study, etc, but our group formed and was held together with our shared love of Jesus. In our pre-departure meetings we talked specifically about how we were going to love and support one another while we were there and we did. One of the most important things I learned on this trip was about community because of what I was a part of with this group - how to handle conflict well, how to offer advice with grace instead of judgment, how it takes intentional vulnerability to build real community...We were a 33-person family and I couldn't believe my time with them was up.
Along similar lines, I was crying because I wasn't ready to go back home. I was really impacted in South Africa and I felt like I was closer to the woman of God that I desire to be in that place, with those people, doing that work. So I was not excited about coming home, mainly because I knew it would be hard to return to home and especially Rhodes where people already had expectations for me and it would be up to me to adjust them as necessary. Part of that nervousness was the fact that I was going back to Memphis while about 96% of the rest of the group would be back in Boston for school. I was preemptively missing their accountability. [Needless to say, I was immensely grateful to be able to go to Boston for my fall break, so we could have a mini-reunion - so refreshing and life-giving!]
Those things and semi-shock at being back in the States accounted for most of the hug circle tears in the Boston airport. The "arrival crying". The "departure crying" that started literally as soon as I sat down in my seat on the plane to leave Joburg, haha.
Those tears weren't about where I was heading back to, but where I was leaving. I was crying about the students that I was leaving - the eleventh grade class that a friend and I tutored regularly who had opened up to us, shared their lives with us, laughed with us (and at us when it was clear that we were totally lost - who could blame them? we were laughing, too), played games with us, sang for me, and cried and hugged with me on our last day. These students completely captivated my heart with their stories, their passions, their dreams, their hurt. They know where they are and they know where they want to be and, while they respond to their reality differently, the majority of them know that working hard at school is what will give them even a chance. What frustrated me was how the floundering education system in South Africa is in such a state that it will be the lucky ones of those who put everything they have into their studies and do the very best they can that will actually have the chance to continue to university. The combination of shortage of teachers, huge lack of resources (as a school and as individuals), and the attitudes and environment of some of the community seems almost impossible to overcome. But I don't believe that it is.
We spent a lot of time on the University of Pretoria campus talking to students about everything (faith, cultures, the recent events in South Africa politically, prejudices, etc), but especially about the tutoring that we were doing in Mamelodi, looking for students who would be interested in continuing work their after we had returned to America. The response that we got from the school was phenomenal. We had been praying for 33 people - the same number as in our group. We ended up getting the contact information of over 100 students and had the Head of Student Affairs and a few professors very excited about continuing the work. We even had a few students who were coming with us for the last week that we were tutoring. It was a phenomenal answer to our prayers! A group from Boston is going back in January during their J-term break. I will pass on anything that I learn from them after they return.
One of the dangers of short term missions is that one can go to a place and feel superior to the people one is "serving" for whatever reason. Of all of the things that God taught me while I was there, one of the greatest was humility. How I am capable of so little on my own. How I can offer myself, but that isn't very much when it is not given wrapped up in the grace and love of God. How I have so much to learn - about myself, about life, about God, about others, about other cultures and viewpoints.
I wish I was reporting about how my life looks completely different now from how it looked before I went to South Africa. But it's not true. The past four months have been a roller-coaster ride of joys and struggles and wanting to serve and being self-focused...but I am grateful for the fact that I am not stuck where I was before. I have pictures, letters, blogs, and two journals full of prayers and songs and notes and thoughts that remind of me of who I was and who I want to be; of how to say "I love you" in Zulu, Sepedi, and Tsonga (a lesson from my student Kiketsu- I was teaching him some Spanish in exchange); of the majesty of God I was so keenly aware of while hiking in Swaziland; of the importance of grace and honest communication in relationship; of the total transformative power of Jesus in the lives of people...
In some ways, this trip will never be over. And for that I'm grateful.
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