Breathtaking Beauty

The Amahoro gathering in Africa came to an end Thursday. It’s hard to imagine a more impressive and inspiring group of people – the East and South Africans, and the non-African guests who came as well.
Through the week, participant after participant shared stories of amazing creativity in embodying God’s love and goodness in the African context. On Thursday afternoon, Tom Yaccino of La Red del Camino shared some parallel stories from the Latin American context. The cross pollination was wonderful to see … and nobody can imagine where all of this could lead.
It was encouraging to find the same questions I address in my new book being raised by Africans in various ways … A global conversation truly is emerging, as evidenced by profound interest in talking some deep theology at every meal, in dozens of walks, along with scheduled conversation sessions.
These last two days I’ve had the chance with a small group of new friends to enjoy some of the natural beauty of Kenya. Earlier today, as I looked over a sparkling African landscape, I thought of the theme of the gathering – Christ, Creation, and Community – and my soul felt the echo of God’s original words about creation from Genesis: “And it was good.” I think back over the sounds of the day … wind, the songs of weaver birds and the call of a majestic fish eagle … and as I write this post, an elephant is trumpeting in the darkness against the background music of crickets and tree frogs … They all seem to be joining with the Creator in celebrating the original goodness and original blessing which are inherent to all things in God’s good world.
Tomorrow and Monday will be travel days, landing me in Burundi. If you want to get an idea of what I’ll be up to there (among other things), put “twa” in the search box here on my site. Hopefully I’ll be able to post again in a couple of days. Thanks for your interest …