Kissed by the Spirit

“When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”

1 Samuel 18:1 (RSV)

The Bible describes the friendship between David and Jonathan as “soul knit to soul”. David had a closer relationship with Jonathan than he had with his own seven biological brothers. Besides having siblings, David and Jonathan both had wives and families of their own, and yet their friendship was so special, that it formed an eternal bond. Their “soul knit to soul” relationship can occur between two people, whether they are friends, spouses, siblings or a parent/child relationship. 

I can imagine that Jesus and His mother, Mary, shared this type of bond, and that their souls were also  “knit together,” according to the bible’s terminology. I can imagine it because I had a “soul knit to soul” relationship with my own mother. 

After she retired, my mom sold her home in Illinois and moved to the warm sunshine state of California, where my older brother, his family and her first grandchild lived. The geographic distance between us never changed the bond between us. We visited each other yearly, and spoke on the phone every other day. A few times, when I was going through a problem or a difficult situation, before ever telling my mother anything, she would either have a dream about it or receive a strong premonition to call me. When she was dying and became unresponsive, she waited for me, until I was at her side and then breathed her last. I believe that our souls were knit together, just like David and Jonathan’s.

I once recognized knit souls like this between two elderly sisters, my friend’s mother and aunt, (her mother’s sister). When Wendy’s aunt passed away at 95, I attended her funeral. I shared my condolences with Wendy and her relatives, and then walked over to talk to her mother, who was grieving for her only sister. They were the closest pair of sisters I’ve ever known, totally inseparable throughout their lives, even into their mid 90’s. Their souls were knit together like David and Jonathan. 

Wendy’s mother was now sitting at her only sister’s funeral, crying while tenderly holding a framed photo on her lap, caressing and stroking her sister’s face in the picture. I couldn’t get that heartbreaking scene out of my head, and I remember praying for her for weeks afterward. 

As sometimes happens with “knit souls”, Wendy’s mom, the surviving sister, died suddenly only three weeks later. It was all so strange since I had been praying for her since seeing her grieve at her sister’s funeral that day. Three weeks later, I was  attending her funeral. 

As I was thinking about all these  knit souls, I realized that it’s a gift from God, since He is the prototype of every “soul knit to soul” relationship. God the Father always was and is infinitely knit together with Jesus, His Son. 

Knit souls are gifts from God that He shares with His creation. He gave it to David and Jonathan, the two elderly sisters, to my mother and me, and to multitudes of others, since the creation of the world. Many who are reading this may be thinking about a particular “soul knit to soul” pair, whether it be souls knit between spouses, parent/child, siblings, or close friends.

We only need to look at the Trinity, to see that God is the originator of all souls knit together. It gives us a taste of what God the Father and Jesus have infinitely always shared together. Now He wants to include us in their relationship.

Here is what Jesus said to His Father, about us:

“I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

(John 17:26)

Jesus is the One who helps us to know God, His Father. He makes His Father known to us in ways that God has never been made known before. He does it so that the love that the Father and Son share together may now live in our hearts. Through Jesus, our souls are knit to God. 

Lord, thank you for the gift of knitting souls together and for the greatest gift of all, Jesus, who has eternally knits our souls to God. Amen

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Psalm 91:1 (NIV)

My son Jon, had a best friend from his late teen years through to adulthood, but for some unknown reason Joe never visited Jon after his traumatic brain injury from the motorcycle accident. His other friends visited him, but we always wondered where Joe was. Jon’s brother even tried to contact Joe, but received no answer. 

One day, thirteen months later, while I was visiting Jon at the Nursing Facility, Joe suddenly walked in. He walked straight over to Jon, who was sitting in a wheelchair, put his arms around him, and hugged him, saying, 

“I love you, man.”

It was obvious that Jon instantly knew who Joe was, because his face lit up and he started crying. As Joe kept his arms around Jon, it was an emotional moment for all who witnessed it, and I’m glad I was there to enjoy that moment.

To watch the embrace between two friends, whose friendship spanned over 25 years, was touching, but I still wondered why it took 13 months for Joe to finally show up. Joe told me that he moved to Tennessee a few years prior, and then he opened up further, telling me that he was struggling in the past few years with substance abuse. He was finally hospitalized and received the help and rehab that he long needed. 

Joe shared how God stepped into his life, and with rehab and the intervention of the Holy Spirit, he was now living in the shadow of God’s rest, sober, drug free and trusting Jesus. He looked directly at Jon, as he told the story of his own redemption and healing, and then he prayed for him.

Joe’s visit was as great a gift for me as it was for Jon. I had no idea about his struggle with drugs or how the Lord intervened in his life, but I was grateful to hear his story and see their reunion that day. Later, while I was driving home, it seemed that God was saying to me, “Rest in My shadow and everything will be alright.”

I believe God is saying this to everyone who is in a situation that overwhelms them with anxiety. To dwell in God’s shelter and rest in His shadow, for me, means talking to Him daily through prayer, keeping His words of scripture in my heart, and releasing the worries of each day to Him. 

We may not receive all the answers or solutions to our problems, but God will send the blessing of His shadow into our storm. As we persist to live in His shelter, His shadow sweeps over us, giving us assurance that He is truly with us, as we find our rest in Him. 

A shadow is evidence that someone is there. It’s possible to see a shadow without seeing the actual person. In the same way, no one can see God, but His shadow indicates His Presence, which brings us peace and rest. God sent His shadow to Jon that day, through the loving presence of an old friend’s visit. He also sent His shadow to me by letting me witness the reunion between them. If we keep our eyes open, we will see how God chooses to send His shadow next into our life.

After leaving the Nursing Facility that day, I felt assured that God is in control. It doesn’t matter how many questions are unanswered, or how uncertain tomorrow may be. If we choose to dwell in God’s shelter, He sends us His shadow, which is a blessed reminder that He sees us, is with us and has everything under control.

Lord, tomorrow is in your hands and as we choose to dwell in your shelter, may we all find rest in your shadow each and every day.  Amen

“My flesh and my heart may fail,

 but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Psalm 73:26 (NIV)

There are numerous accounts in the entire bible when calamities and hardships came upon God’s people, who had no where to turn, but God stepped in to deliver them, and His deliverance begins with two words, “but God…”

As we put our hope in God, those two words keep us from giving up. The words, but God, reveal a powerful and particular meaning to each of us. God is not just standing by watching us struggle, but He is about to step into our situation and make a difference.

It means that whatever we are facing, whether illness, pain, grief, loss, chaos, fear, the attack of an enemy, financial loss, depression or emotional anxiety, His help is on the way, and it all begins with the phrase, “but God….”

It’s a phrase that we read many times in scripture, in various situations, but it keeps us holding on to a hope that is within us, that God knows us, loves us and wants to intervene in our lives out of His great mercy. He has done it before, and He will do it again. 

The problem may look bleak, 

“but God” is about to step in, to give us strength and deliverance as these scriptures declare:

“Day after day Saul searched for

him, but God did not give David into his hands.”

(1 Samuel 23:14)

Joseph said to his brothers, years later, after they had sold him into slavery, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” 

(Genesis 50:20)

“but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.”

(1 Corinthians 10:13)

“but God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

(Romans 5:8)

“but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loves us, made us alive with Christ”….

(Ephesians 2:4-5)

In the same sentence that Jesus told us the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, He implies “but He”came so that we might have life more abundantly. 

Each time we read “but God”, He is telling us that in any dilemma, it’s never the end of the story. We can look to the Lord, telling Him how severe our need or problem is, but God knows what He is about to do. Out of His great love and mercy, He intervenes to give us strength, healing, deliverance, comfort and peace.

As we apply this phrase to all the needs in our life, it helps keep our hope in the Lord, who never fails us, but is our heart’s strength and portion forever. 

Lord, restore our hope and remind us that You are not finished yet, as we believe and speak these words of faith, “but God”….believing a miracle is on the way. Amen

“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.”

Acts 1:1-2 (NIV)

This is Luke’s introduction to his second book, the Acts of the apostles. His first volume was the gospel of Luke, which contains more details of the early events surrounding the incarnation and birth of Christ, than any other gospels. 

Luke gathered all his facts from eyewitnesses, telling his friend,  Theophilus, “I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus.” (Luke 1:3)

Luke and Theophilus were friends from way back. They grew up in Antioch and were both educated Greek homeboys from the same city, as well as gentile converts to Christianity. 

Luke became a Christian in 51 A.D. and is considered to be the only New Testament writer who identifies as non-Jewish. Every other writer of the New Testament was either born Jewish or became a Jewish convert. Luke was from the city of Antioch, in Syria, which today is Turkey, so he didn’t even grow up in the holy land. 

Antioch, was once the center of Hellenistic Judaism, but later became the cradle of Christianity. It’s the first place that the name “Christian” was ever used. Living in Antioch, the third largest city in the world at the time, which was a center of arts and sciences, was like living in New York City today. 

Luke was trained as a physician in Antioch. While Matthew and John wrote their gospels after living with Jesus for three years, Luke, on the other hand, never even met Jesus personally, but he meticulously interviewed many people who did. He spent time with the apostles in Jerusalem, gathering details from them and from Mary as well.

Scholars of archeology and ancient literature, rank Luke among the top historians of his time period, with intelligent, well written accounts of Jesus and the apostles. He was also Paul’s biographer and his loyal friend and partner, joining him in many missionary journeys. Luke was among the few people who stood by Paul during his final imprisonment in Rome. After Paul’s martyrdom in 66 A.D., Luke continued to preach the gospel throughout that part of the  world. 

This brings us back to Luke’s good friend, Theophilus, who the book of Acts was addressed to. Luke refers to him as “most excellent Theophilus”, because he was not only a high ranking official and devout Christian, but the wealthy benefactor, who supported all of Paul’s earlier missionary journeys. 

I hoped not to bore anyone with all this history, but since it was Luke’s gospel that gave us the most details regarding the incarnation and birth of Jesus, which is read every year at Christmas time, I wanted to give him some honor, at the close of this holiday season. Without Luke, we would never know all the details of the Christmas story.

Dr. Luke, the great physician, became St. Luke, the faithful disciple of Christ, and a loyal friend of Paul, who was the apostle to the gentiles. Luke authored not only the gospel, but the wonderful stories of the early church in the book of Acts. He was gifted as a historian, biographer, artist, an apologist who defended the faith and a loyal friend to Paul, the apostles, Theophilus and many others.

Lord, we thank you for Luke, for leading him to author his gospel and the book of Acts, which you used to give us all the details regarding the birth of Christ and earliest days of your holy church. Amen

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 (RSV)

To become a historical character  in a living museum, was the classroom assignment once given to my granddaughter’s class at her school. Every student was to choose a famous character in history, pretend to become that person and then present their life story to the class. 

The students made their own posters displaying quotes made by the famous person who they were representing. Each student had to conclude with a speech to explain what their life was about, as if they were temporarily changed into that person who they chose to represent.

My granddaughter Emery, chose Anne Frank, the teenage girl who kept a diary while hiding from the Nazis during WW2. Although her life sadly ended like millions of other Holocaust victims, her diary was later found in an Amsterdam attic, and published for all to read. 

Anne Frank’s legacy was in her diary, which has kept her alive to this day. For eighty years, people have been inspired by the depth of her writing, for her young age. She expressed through her words an attitude of kindness, gratitude and hope, even though she lived during one of the worst times in history. Anne Frank was Jewish, but she had a natural grasp of one basic principle of Christianity, that good overcomes all evil.  

(Romans 12:21)

Emery completed her assignment of personifying Anne Frank by telling her story to the classroom, displaying posters with quotes from her diary, stimulating a good classroom discussion. 

As I thought about this kind of class project, I realized that we all share a similar assignment during our lives, except the person we represent is Jesus. Instead of making posters filled with His quotes, we are becoming living posters, who exemplify all that He taught, and hopefully will inspire others to think about Him.

The more we surrender ourselves to Jesus, the more He is changing us into His likeness, “by one degree of glory at a time”, as today’s scripture describes. 

The assignment in our school of life, is to develop character more than to gain textbook knowledge. There is a due date for everyone’s assignment, though it varies from person to person. When we meet the Lord one day, He will let us know how well we did in a lifelong assignment of representing Him. 

A new year brings opportunities to be further transformed into living posters of Jesus Christ. His Spirit within us, helps us to light up the lives of others. As living posters, we are spreading an aura of living hope to everyone around us. Our greatest hope is to one day hear:

“Well done, my good and faithful servant.” 

Lord, may we all light up the darkness, by becoming living posters of you, that inspire others to put their faith and hope in you. Amen

“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

2 Corinthians 4:7 ( NLT)

Although the word “resilience” is not mentioned in this scripture verse, it is certainly implied. We are like fragile clay jars, who hold within our hearts, the powerful light of Christ, who is our treasure of resilience. Webster’s dictionary defines resilience as the ability to recover, spring back or recoil after some sort of compressive stress. 

Compressive stress is like the intense pressure or trials that we occasionally go through. At times we may feel like frail, breakable clay jars, yet God gives us the grace of resilience, and strength to recoil and spring back. I believe we are all more resilient than we think we are. Though we may get tossed about in the eye of the storm, resilience has a way of developing within us, over time, as we recoil and recover. 

Our mind, emotions and bodies are like the fragile clay jars that Paul writes about, but resilience comes from someplace deep within our spirit, which is in union with the Spirit of God. We have resilience because of Christ and His light that dwells within our spirit. 

Resilience is a mystery because it seems to emerge when we don’t recognize it. Like David, we face giants from time to time, but are not trying to be heroic. We simply put into action, the stone that is in our hand and the mustard seed of faith in our heart, while God does the rest. The power to overcome giants comes from the power of Christ’s light within us. It’s what keeps us moving forward, one day at a time. 

It’s not positive thinking or mind over matter. It’s not some “thing” that empowers us, it’s “someone”, and His name is Jesus. Whether the giant we face is a medical problem, the loss of a loved one, a financial burden or any other source of anxiety, our spirit is becoming resilient through it. 

I remember the anxiety of taking on the first time role as a primary caregiver for my husband in 2019, and watched the progression of his disease, ALS. A caregiver’s job is not without sleepless nights, financial worries, and continual adjustments to the medical equipment brought into the home. There are exhausting daily routines, with little chance to leave the house or run errands. 

On top of that, there’s a sadness in watching your loved one suffer with an illness that has no cure, but even in the darkest places, the light of Jesus is deep within our fragile clay jar. Some days it feels like our jar is about to crack, but through every stage of pressure, somehow, He gives us resilience, helping us to spring back again. 

This verse defines it:

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

(2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

We will definitely be perplexed at times, but we will never be abandoned because Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. His powerful light of love dwells deep within our clay jars. He is the one holding us together, and promises to never let us go. 

Lord, thank you for the treasure of resilience through your light that dwells within us, giving us the power to overcome all things in your name. Amen

“I will be a father to you,
and you shall be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”

2 Corinthians 6:18 (RSV)

I was touched by a true story about a ship in the Arabian Sea in 1942, that was carrying 740 Polish children who were rescued from German labor camps during the war, but lost their parents due to illness or starvation.

The British Empire controlled the region of India at the time, but refused them entry at port after port along the Indian coast. The news finally reached a palace on the western coast of India. The Prince ruling that area was named Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, and he heard about the 740 orphans stranded on a ship. He could have silently looked away, like all the others did, but instead he decided, 

“The British may control my ports, but they do not control my conscience.”

He ordered the rescue of all the children, providing homes for them and then convinced the Red Cross to get involved and together they provided food, shelter, medical aid and education, until Germany later surrendered and the children could be returned to their relatives in Poland. 

It only took one man to stand against the mainstream of apathy during a very cruel period in history. That Prince who acted according to his conscience, changed the whole world for those orphans, and they grew up to live full lives. When the Prince died in 1966, the nation of Poland honored him by naming schools after him, but since his name was too long and hard to pronounce, they simply called him, 

“The Good Maharaja.” The word Maharaja means Prince in the Indian dialect. In Warsaw there is also a public square called, “Good Maharaja Square.”

Our identity as Christians, is like those orphans who were treated with dignity and adopted by that Good Maharaja. Jesus is our Good Shepherd and the Prince of peace, whose whole ministry highlighted the message that His Father in Heaven is also our Father here and now. He taught through parables and action, that the love of God transcends all barriers of ethnicity, race, gender or social status. 

We are all adopted children, according to the letters written to the Ephesians, Galatians and Romans. There are many scriptures that remind believers to live as beloved children which we are, and not orphans. We did not receive a spirit of slavery or fear, but a spirit of adoption, by which we cry out, “Abba, Father!” 

(Romans 8:15)

I heard a woman speaker once say that some believers may be living more like orphans than children of their Heavenly Father. It made me think about the mindset of “orphan living.”

An orphan lives in fear, relying on outside sources for help, but a son or daughter goes first to their father.  An orphan has many insecurities but a child knows they’re loved and wholeheartedly trusts their father. An orphan strives to earn someone’s love, but a child knows they are loved unconditionally. 

As believers, Jesus gives us a new identity, and the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit, that we are children of God, not orphans, and all because of one good Prince, whose name is more powerful than any other name and yet easy to say-Jesus, who is our Prince, our Lord and our Savior. 

Lord, help us to live as your sons and daughters should, not as orphans, so that we will place all our reliance on you, as you show us how to put compassion into action.  Amen

Some of the orphans rescued by the Good Maharaja in 1942

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

Carole Ward is a missionary who chose a ministry that spans across ten nations in the Sahara desert, on the African continent. She is a nurse by education, but calls herself a prayer warrior, driven by her passion for people. She goes to places where more than half of all terrorist killings in the world have taken place. For twenty years, she has ministered to the poorest of the poor, and victims of terror, who are living in the most dangerous places, where Al Quada and other militant groups are.

Since Carole’s ministry began, she and her team of prayer warriors have started schools, churches, orphan care and trauma healing. She taught and trained others who became missionaries, and are continuing her good works in the scorching hot desert in that part of the world. Through her ministry, five formerly radicalized men from the terrorist group, 

Boko Haram, have come to believe in Jesus, converted to Christianity, and are preparing to spread the gospel message, by becoming missionaries. 

God has blessed her fearlessness with fruitfulness. He goes before her and stays with her, keeping her alive and protected, to keep spreading His love and showing Christlike mercy to a desperate land. It must be in Carole’s DNA because her grandparents were missionaries in China, and her parents were missionaries on an island in the South Philippines, during very challenging times. 

Her father bravely ministered in spite of death threats, with a price on his head, for over forty years,  pursued by communist militants and an Islamic terrorist group. His passion for people cast out all fear, and he never considered leaving the Philippines. Carole recalls her father once saying that he would rather die serving than sitting. 

It brings a new depth to the meaning of the verse,

“perfect love casts out all fear.” 

(1 John 4:18)

This was the specific scripture verse that the Holy Spirit used to motivate Carole. Even though her parents prepared her for ministry, at first she was afraid. She prayed for the perfect love that casts out all fear, and this is where God took her. 

Carole Ward is to missionary work what a heroic fireman is to an inferno. She runs straight into the fire, fearlessly toward danger, and then snatches souls out of the flames, bringing them into the arms of Christ.

When asked how or why she does it, she replies, “You can’t live like this unless you die first, meaning that once you die to yourself, the devil cannot kill a dead man, so there’s nothing left to fear.” Wow, that made my jaw drop. She is the most fearless human being I have ever seen or heard of, like a present day character out of the bible. 

May we all start this year seeking God’s perfect love, which casts out fear and leads us forward in courage, knowing He always goes before us, and will never leave us. 

Lord, deliver us from all fear and discouragement, so that we may live in the power of love and fulfill  whatever you ask us to do for you. Amen

“Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

Hebrews 12:14 (RSV)

This scripture in Hebrews tells us to strive for peace with “all men”not just our friends. We are to strive for holiness, without which, “no one will see the Lord.” These words are not meant to leave us in fear, but rather to be motivational, to inspire and stimulate us to make holiness a priority, so that we may live in peace, prepared for the coming of the Lord. 

Since we live in very contentious times, with so much of conflict, division, and hatred often turning into violence, there is a great need in the world for peace, but peace can only come with forgiveness. If we think about it, peace really is the result of both forgiving and being forgiven, which is where holiness comes in. 

The word sanctify means to make holy, which is mentioned multiple times in the New Testament, yet hardly at all in the Old Testament. Jesus is the reason for the difference. He now lives in us, by His Holy Spirit, and sanctifies us, giving us the ability to forgive and be His peacemaking people. 

Believing in Jesus has a far deeper purpose than having a “Get out of Hell free” pass. He forgives us in order to make us more like Him, a Spirit filled project of holiness that takes a lifetime. We are told that the God of peace sanctifies our spirit, soul and body, for the day of His return. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

He sanctifies us through every test, trial and tribulation, we go through. He is making us a little more holy each time we learn to forgive the unforgivable. If we try to achieve holiness in our own strength, we would thoroughly exhaust ourselves and give up. 

Striving for peace and holiness means never allowing ourselves to think,  

“This is as good as it gets, I can never be any better.” God knows that we are getting better. We persist in striving for peace, holiness, and forgiveness, since Jesus persisted all the way to the cross for us. 

We are all becoming better, even through every difficulty and hard time we face,  because Jesus is sanctifying our spirit, soul and body. He is making us holy because God knows we cannot do it ourselves, in fact, we can do nothing without Him. 

God is still writing our story, so let’s not take away His pen. He isn’t finished with any of us yet. 

He proves it by giving us another year to strive for peace and holiness, as He makes us a daily reflection of His son, to the world around us. He is preparing all of us to see His glorious face, one day, when He returns. 

Lord, thank you for making us holy as you sanctify and transform us to become a people who spread your love and peace wherever we go. Amen

Have a Happy, Healthy New Year!

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”

Matthew 5:46-47 (NIV)

Sociologists would say that it’s  only human to be aligned with a group, tribe, sect or a community of those we consider to be our own people, but God sees all people as His own people, since He created every person for Himself. Jesus calls us to meet, greet and show kindness to those who are outside of our own familiar community.

A team of people from my church have been working to help a  family of nine, who journeyed 7400 miles, just to live in safety and freedom. The family is from Afghanistan. Hamid, the father, is one of many Afghani men who risked his life to aid our US military when our troops were involved in the war there. 

When the US suddenly pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, the terrorist Taliban regime came back, regaining their oppressive control of the country. They imposed rigid laws on the entire population, restricting the people’s rights, but the main mission of the Taliban was to hunt down and murder all those who aided US coalition forces during the war. 

Many Afghani families fled for their life, seeking refuge here. Hamid was one of the fortunate ones, who escaped, saving not only himself, but his wife and seven children. He now has a job, and gets help from a team in our church who hooks his family up with the agencies, education and material goods that they need. 

This year I spent Christmas Eve in a way that I never did before. Cathy and Tom, who are part of the team working with them, took me along to visit Hamid’s family, who live in the Chicago area. We brought toys for the children, who are ages 3 to 14, and enjoyed a three hour visit with them. 

Sara, the seven year old, attached herself to me. She brought me books to read to her, served me tea and Cheetos with a little tea set, and later, Cathy and I played a few games of Uno, with her and Fahima, her mom. I picked up some words in Dari, a dialect similar to Persian, and learned a special phrase, “Beh tarindost”, which means “my best friend”. 

Hamid’s best friend, who is like a brother, was also there with his family. He escaped from the same town in Afghanistan five years ago, and his two children, are now teenagers, fluent in English. Bibi is a high school junior who dreams of becoming a doctor. She was the one who translated for all of us that day. Her brother, Obide, is an avid soccer fan, who wants to become a dentist one day. He was watching a soccer game on TV, during our visit. 

Fahima asked how Cathy and I knew each other, and we told her that we go to the same church. Obide perked up and asked if we went to the Hillside church. I told him I did not, and then he went back to watching TV. I thought to myself, how would a Moslem teenager be familiar with a particular church by name?

I later searched on my phone and discovered there is a Hillside church in their neighborhood with a website that emphasizes their student outreach ministry. Obide must have heard of the church through his high school friends. 

It seems that in every culture, the adults tend to stay within their own faith community, while the younger generation is open to learn about other faith traditions, through school friends. I am sure that’s how Obide knew the name of that particular church. 

As Fahima graciously served us tea, cookies and pistachio nuts, she asked Cathy what Christmas is, through Bibi, who translated for us. Cathy said it’s a celebration of the birth of Jesus, who we believe is the son of God. She left a tiny seed of our faith, while we had an entire afternoon of exchanging mutual kindness and respect. 

After spending most of my time with Sara, as the time came to say goodbye, I called her, “Beh tarindost,” my best friend. She filled my heart with lots of love and big hugs during those few hours. I can still see her in the doorway as we left, asking me to come back again.

Jesus told us to step outside of our comfort zone and greet those who are not our own people. He knew that when we do, we would be overwhelmed with the warmth of God’s love that flows through all people from every culture. I learned from Sara, my best friend that day, that love really does transcend all barriers.

Lord, make us a bridge to peace by sharing your love with those outside our own community of faith, so we may be blessed by your love that flows through all people. Amen

Sara and me