by The Rev’d Nathan Baxter
And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.” – Colossians 3:15, 16.
My wife and I come from very large and extended families. Our parents were born to share-cropping families which migrated to northern urban areas in the 1920s and 30s. Like their migrating parents, they and their siblings were hardworking laborers, domestics and tradesmen. They lived in “enclaves of rural culture” in Pennsylvania cities. These enclaves, which included church and civic organizations, preserved their stories, values and dreams. My generation (Baby Boomers) is comprised of various professions and diverse middle-class life styles, cultural interests and political persuasions. We live in communities on the east and west coasts, and many of us have returned to the southland of our grandparents. So when we are together for reunions (200 or more people), there is the usual catching up and hugs, laughter and introductions. Often there are “pick-up” basketball and softball games. I particularly enjoy the hilarious story-telling by the elders and the arguments about whose recall of the “old days” is more accurate.
As the day wears on, my cousins who are politicians encounter others who think politics is all about conspiracy against “the people.” There are the few vegetarians who are angry that no provisions were made for them in the meal plan, and they prophesy that we will all die of southern fried cooking. The entrepreneurial “capitalists” clash with the social reform idealists on how to solve national problems. And you can imagine what happens when the Pentecostals stop by the beer-bearing tables of the non-church-going clans of the family.
But in the evening, something very special always happens. Read it all.
