Welcome Gift, Half a Bison
Journal 2004 11 10
Welcome Gift, Half a Bison!
An Indian chief, Chief Coal, leaves a gift of half a bison for the men. He and his wife then cross the Missouri to return to their own camp. They used a “bull boat” to cross the river. A small, light tub-like boat. Chief Coal’s wife manned and carried the boat the three miles from the river to camp.
How different is our culture? How does it impact our view of God?
Gifts of raw meat? Women carrying the load. Dirt huts for homes with horses and dogs inside. No bathrooms. No malls. No modern conveniences.
Our life may be technologically more complicated, but our needs are pretty similar to those outlined yesterday. Protection, shelter and comfort. Our basic human needs may look different, but they are still the same.
If we lived in a state of anarchy we would spend a lot of personal effort on our security and safety. Hard to work on theoretical ideas when someone is assaulting you or your loved ones.
Shelter follows protection and is basic to survival over the course of one year. We are pretty fragile beings really and require a barrier from the elements to survive. Shelter allows us to begin to subdue that which we’ve been given charge over.
Comfort. Comfort can become a means to an end when protection and shelter are in abundance. The pursuit of comfort can obscure our pursuit of God.
All this said to bring home the fact that as much as we think cultures are different, the basics will always be the same. Are we addressing people in these areas of need?
The homeless need shelter. The vulnerable need protection. Those seeking “comfort” will only ever find it fulfilled by the God of all comfort.
A long way to say that what in the world would our church do if someone dumped half an elk or bison at the church today as a gift? What if a family from a foreign land wanted to set up a urt or teepee on the field to see Francis Frangipane this week? What if some debutante seeking spiritual comfort chose to roll their entourage of limos and servants attempting to purchase that which cannot be bought or sold?
Would we, would I, be able to see past the cultural differences and extend a welcoming hand, in Christ? Could we receive whatever gifts they may bring?
Welcome Gift, Half a Bison!
An Indian chief, Chief Coal, leaves a gift of half a bison for the men. He and his wife then cross the Missouri to return to their own camp. They used a “bull boat” to cross the river. A small, light tub-like boat. Chief Coal’s wife manned and carried the boat the three miles from the river to camp.
How different is our culture? How does it impact our view of God?
Gifts of raw meat? Women carrying the load. Dirt huts for homes with horses and dogs inside. No bathrooms. No malls. No modern conveniences.
Our life may be technologically more complicated, but our needs are pretty similar to those outlined yesterday. Protection, shelter and comfort. Our basic human needs may look different, but they are still the same.
If we lived in a state of anarchy we would spend a lot of personal effort on our security and safety. Hard to work on theoretical ideas when someone is assaulting you or your loved ones.
Shelter follows protection and is basic to survival over the course of one year. We are pretty fragile beings really and require a barrier from the elements to survive. Shelter allows us to begin to subdue that which we’ve been given charge over.
Comfort. Comfort can become a means to an end when protection and shelter are in abundance. The pursuit of comfort can obscure our pursuit of God.
All this said to bring home the fact that as much as we think cultures are different, the basics will always be the same. Are we addressing people in these areas of need?
The homeless need shelter. The vulnerable need protection. Those seeking “comfort” will only ever find it fulfilled by the God of all comfort.
A long way to say that what in the world would our church do if someone dumped half an elk or bison at the church today as a gift? What if a family from a foreign land wanted to set up a urt or teepee on the field to see Francis Frangipane this week? What if some debutante seeking spiritual comfort chose to roll their entourage of limos and servants attempting to purchase that which cannot be bought or sold?
Would we, would I, be able to see past the cultural differences and extend a welcoming hand, in Christ? Could we receive whatever gifts they may bring?
posted by @2007 Dick Cinkovich | 11:13 PM
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