This weekend our kids marched in a county parade. Our home town band was entree number 90 of about 100 entrees, so we had a long wait. Other high school bands were waiting, too, although not quite so long. What was fun was watching the youth decide to enter act through music. They shared fight songs, drummed common rhythms while others danced, or invited other schools to participate in crazy dances. It was great to see music bring people together. Isn't this kind of interaction what we want for our youth? For ourselves? For our countries?
Richard Rohr this past week wrote about male initiation rites. He comments that most cultures have traditionally seen the lone, unattached, uninitiated male as dangerous. Initiation, among the many things that it does, is give the participants a larger perspective on life as the those going through the process are robbed of their place and role in the cosmos.
Perhaps this is one reason I struggle with blind patriotism. In realising more and more that I have been initiated into something larger than town, county, state, country boundaries. I've been initiated into the Kingdom/Kindom of God which transcends these boundaries.
Wishing you a blessed Memorial Day.
Joel
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