A young man I love is at 36,100 ft somewhere over southern Minnesota headed to Seattle. A loving father sits next to him. Thankfully, they are in an airplane. Thankfully, there are bags in the hold that contain what he needs once there. Thankfully, there is a rental car waiting to help him get to his final destination; a university where Christ is honored and a wonderful group of young adults grapple with life in community, questions of faith in a changing and diverse world, the structure of Shakespeare's sonnets and the beauty of quantum physics. In this young man's mind and heart are memories of a rich summer working with courageous refugees from many countries, people determined to learn and wanting so much to smile again, willing to live with differences.
If other young men in the world had these blessings, would we be mourning the loss of an ambassador and faithful Muslim guards who tried to protect him and his staff? My prayers are for those who hate because they do not know there is Hope. Paul tells us we are Christ's ambassadors. Or, as The Message says, "We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you." (2 Cor 5:20)
If other young men in the world had these blessings, would we be mourning the loss of an ambassador and faithful Muslim guards who tried to protect him and his staff? My prayers are for those who hate because they do not know there is Hope. Paul tells us we are Christ's ambassadors. Or, as The Message says, "We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you." (2 Cor 5:20)