God’s kingdom is one of diversity. God created us with such a
beautiful diversity and God loves the way we continue to express that
diversity. The participants of the wedding week highlighted inclusivity and
diversity.
A middle aged couple travelled from New Zealand. It was Sarah’s host father
when she was an exchange student there as a youth. Keith was a chef and
prepared our Sunday morning breakfast with his wife, Ro.
A young lady who lives in South Korea joined us. Sarah met Salgu
with Teach for America in
Mississippi. Salgu, one of our wedding
photographers, brought her friend, Maryam. Maryam is a beautiful Muslim young lady whose
family is from Pakistan.
Sarah’s former co-worker in South Africa also travelled here for
the wedding. We all enjoyed getting to know Pinky and appreciated her hard work
and calm spirit.
There were friends returning from visiting family in places like the Netherlands and Israel.
A couple was heading out to live in Jordan
after the wedding. Others travelled from California,
Washington, Georgia, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee, New York, Connecticut, North
Carolina, Massachusetts, Illinois, and many other places across our
country.
The diversity included people of
different religious traditions including Buddhism,
Islam, and agnosticism. It included different races and cultures including African-American, West Indian, Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern,
and more. There were all ages represented from babies, young children and up to my parents in their eighties. All were made to feel welcomed and
valued. The week was full of storytelling, laughter, teasing, and a light-heartedness.
We all had the chance to interact with people who are different than us. We
experienced a "big gulp" of God’s kingdom.
My wife, Lori, wrote about it,
saying:
As I
continue to process the awe-inspiring commitment celebration of my beautiful
daughter, Sarah, and her life partner, Ali—I have concluded the surreal
experience was akin to living inside a rainbow for 3 days. There were people of many colors, ages, abilities,
faiths, languages, life orientations, values, socioeconomic levels, and
geographical areas. As people came to
know each other, lines disappeared, blending one person into another, becoming
a loving, cohesive community. And it was
an experience I have seldom found in our world.
Sarah
and Ali are so gifted at honoring people for who they are—not what society says
they should be. I found myself feeling
in awe of these two beings who live in the heart of grace and pray I can steal
a bit of their approach for my own life.
Michael
described it not as “a taste of God’s Kingdom,” but as “a gulp of God’s Kingdom.” Lord, Help us to erase the lines society has
drawn between us and others, blending together into a loving, cohesive
community.
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