Intercultural Responsiveness

As I write this, autumn is turning to winter. The trees are growing increasingly bare as they shed their fullness, bringing to view the branches that compose their strength. I love this time of year. It’s cold, it’s crisp, it makes me feel truly alive. Interesting how when the weather brings changes that seem to expose death, it’s really a time of rest in preparation for a time of renewal. Look close enough, and you can see the true depth of life in all that becomes exposed.

My family is my strength. I am blessed with a father and mother who gave me all that I needed and more. The gifts they gave me, my brother, and my sister are embedded so deeply in my being they cannot be taken away. So rooted are these gifts that they not only persist in their existence, they are brought to life again in my wife, Cristin, and my daughters, Gwenyth and Eden. My legacy is not what I take with me; rather, it’s what remains of me. When the seasons change, and it’s time to wrestle to wake my soul in the hearts of my children, I want nothing more than to see love and compassion blossom as they become the women I hope them to be.

I have failed as a husband and a father. I have made errors in my life I will always regret, even though they’ve been fully forgiven. My numerous faults, however, don’t change a single truth: There’s no doubt in my mind I would lay down my life for my wife and daughters. Nothing in the world would stop me from protecting them with all that I am. Even as I stumble repeatedly, I try to demonstrate over and over again how certain they can be of my love for them.

We are made to be in relationships. Quite often we confuse this to mean that we are only in relationships if we have a boyfriend or girlfriend, a husband or wife, a son or daughter. But, what it really means is that we are meant to be connected, loving one another, helping one another, learning from one another. We’re naturally going to hurt one another while we’re in relationships, but it lessens not the importance of them. It lessens not our obligation to attempt to fix our faults and forgive the faults of others. And, if we miss the point of relationships, we miss the point of family. Treat those you serve with and those you serve as family. Take the good with the bad, the bearable with the seemingly unbearable. Treat them all, each and every single one of them, as family, because, after all, that’s exactly who they are.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 14th, 2010 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.