Sons of God

"But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." Galatians 3:25-26

Different cultures, different religions, different styles of worship, so many different perspectives, yet as Christians, we are all called "sons of God."  We are Christ's body, we are one in our faith.

"Sons of God" was written on the front of the windshield of the tro-tro I rode home from the beach in yesterday.  What a fitting title for my thoughts this week.  What you can't see in the picture, is the twenty-something people packed into this van.  The physical tro-tro here was originally one of those white vans with no windows or seats in the back, cheaper than purchasing actual vans with seats and windows.  The "windows" were crudely cut out of the sides of the van, rows of seats were attached inside - maximizing the number of passengers from 14 to nearly thirty seats available.  This is the public transportation here.  Sitting shoulder to shoulder, packed in like sardines but looking more like a clown car, with more people pouring in and out at each stop than one can possibly fathom, bags tied to the top, arms hanging out the windows.  We had just left Ada, which I feel is just as close to paradise (other than the bathrooms) as I have ever been.

This is the same beach where we saw sea turtles in December.   Sea turtle season is over - but it was a full moon again.  It is just beautiful - the ocean on one side and a fresh water bay on the other - maybe 30 or 40 feet across.

We took our mattress to sleep on the beach again, amazing.  The tide goes way out and the water level goes down so far that it looks like people are walking on water in the morning - and the shells leave the coolest patterns in the sand.

I ordered one of my favorite Ghanaian dishes - ground nut soup with "amulto," or rice balls.  It is like peanut butter soup - it's delicious - I think y'all would like this? Maybe I'll try to make it while I am home?

You do have to eat it with your fingers.  Ghanaians don't use utensils - you just break off a piece of the rice ball - which is just over cooked rice rolled into a ball, dip it in the soup and eat from your fingers - messy but fun and delicious.

While catching the tro-tro to Ada, one of the "hawkers" or people selling the most random assortment of items on the side of the street came by selling books, one of which caught my eye.  I had read it in English class at Auburn, I think - and remembered parts of it - but I was intrigued to read it again, being in the culture here.

"Things Fall Apart" is written by a Nigerian author, not Ghanaian - but so much of the culture is the same.  It is such an interesting story about the culture here, where everything in the social structure of the village is built on honor and everything has spiritual significance.  We talk often about how different the African perception of spirituality is so different from ours, but this book painted a picture of it, and it's contrast to our spiritual senses so well.  

The Ibo people in the book, as well as the Ghanaians see a huge distinction between a person's physical body and their spiritual self.  The main character, Okonkwo is constantly wrestling with his "chi," and trying to find his spiritual path.  The whole village's structure of ancestor worship and priestesses of different gods is turned completely upside down, and perceived by Okonkwo as "things falling apart" when the white man on his "iron horse" (bicycle) comes to town to teach them of the one true God.  

"The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God.  And he told them about this new God, the Creator of all the world and all the men and women.  He told them that they worshiped false gods, gods of wood and stone.... At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad.  He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine."

We are all Sons of God - through our faith.  So much is different here, and so much is different from individual person to person, even in the same culture.  There are so many things that I like better about the culture here - there is a stronger sense of community and respect for each other and politeness.  The people here are not constrained by appointments and schedules - they are open to interruptions in their life - it is easier for them, and for me here to make time for God, because I am not so busy planning my days and weeks and months out.

Someone emailed me, saying that from my blog - they think that I am in "a place" where I can hear God easier. And, in so many ways that is true.  I feel like I am there more often here - but I don't think it is necessarily a physical place.  I could be "there," even in America - it's just a whole lot harder in America.  There are so many things there that quite literally lie to us - so many things in America that say we are in control - we touch our ipods or computers and life happens with the tiny movement in the tip of our fingers, we drive our cars wherever we need to go, we dial phone numbers and set appointments, we have calenders to, in a sense, plan or control time itself - which is just bizarre that we could somehow control time - it is completely bizarre that we can control anything - and yet it is somehow so easy to believe in America - so many choices in America, you walk into a store and have control of your choice of what to purchase - control of your possesions.

Here, however, there is very little that I have any control of at all - nothing here I can depend on - nothing here I have much choice in - the power goes off, the computer dosen't work, the tro tro dosen't come on time, nothing comes on time - complete lack of control - total need for God.  If we want to be in a "place" to hear God, we need to take time to embrace that lack of  control - to embrace that God is in control - and that is the "place" or the posture we can all be in to hear God.

Different cultures, different people, so many things we can learn from each other - from all the many "Sons of God."