Many years ago I was asked to be a part of a presentation at my church. Each of several exceptional speakers was given a famous person from the Bible to present on a given Sunday.
What an honor!
Only I was given "The Mother of the Sons of Zebedee." She wasn't referred to by her name because most of the women in the Bible aren't named. But she wasn't even called "John and James' Mom." She was called the mother of her husband's sons. Yes, I spent the first five minutes kidding around about this title.
This morning, as part of our "Front Porch Series" the minister told the story of "Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath." While she too was named as an appendage rather than a person, it's a cool story in which she comes out great.
(Unlike the Mother of the sons of Zebedee who, in trying to push her sons ahead of the other disciples, does them and Jesus a disservice. Jesus said to her, and I paraphrase, "You have no idea what you're asking, lady.")
Then, our preacher for the day, Gary, told us a few "Front Porch" Olympic stories. One of them is about this runner, Guor Marial. Born in the Sudan, he came to the U.S. when he was eight years old after 28 members of his family were killed by the Sudanese government. He's known a kind of horror that few of us can comprehend.
Since he has no U.S. passport he cannot be on the U.S. Olympic team - and he refused to be on the Sudan team. So the committee has granted him special status. He's running as a man with no country.
Strangely, I can relate to all three of these stories. They make me want to weep but they make me feel proud.
This photo of Guor running on a Phoenix street, was taken six days ago. I hope he does well in the Olympics. He'll be representing ...our world.
***
What an honor!
Only I was given "The Mother of the Sons of Zebedee." She wasn't referred to by her name because most of the women in the Bible aren't named. But she wasn't even called "John and James' Mom." She was called the mother of her husband's sons. Yes, I spent the first five minutes kidding around about this title.
This morning, as part of our "Front Porch Series" the minister told the story of "Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath." While she too was named as an appendage rather than a person, it's a cool story in which she comes out great.
(Unlike the Mother of the sons of Zebedee who, in trying to push her sons ahead of the other disciples, does them and Jesus a disservice. Jesus said to her, and I paraphrase, "You have no idea what you're asking, lady.")
Then, our preacher for the day, Gary, told us a few "Front Porch" Olympic stories. One of them is about this runner, Guor Marial. Born in the Sudan, he came to the U.S. when he was eight years old after 28 members of his family were killed by the Sudanese government. He's known a kind of horror that few of us can comprehend.
Since he has no U.S. passport he cannot be on the U.S. Olympic team - and he refused to be on the Sudan team. So the committee has granted him special status. He's running as a man with no country.
This photo of Guor running on a Phoenix street, was taken six days ago. I hope he does well in the Olympics. He'll be representing ...our world.
***
