Everything That Rises

Doors. Have you ever given any thought to how many doors you walk through in a given day? It’s likely you walked through several doors inside your home this morning, only to walk out the door to get into your car or on the bus (through a door). I counted the other day, and, not including cabinets, we have thirteen doors in our home (and our house isn’t very big): thirteen doors, three of which are exterior doors.             Have you ever given any thought to what a door actually does? I suppose we’re so used to them being there, so used to them opening at the turn of a key and the twist of a knob, but doors are actually quite vital to our current, comfortable way of life. You see, doors keep things out, things we don’t want inside with us. Imagine if your home didn’t have a door—just an opening; you’d likely wake up in the morning with squirrels in the pantry, mosquitoes swarming the bathroom, and neighborhood dogs digging thro...

Recently, I was asked to contribute to a weekly feature in a local newspaper. Below is my response to the question: "What religious figure most inspires you?" Aside from the obvious influence of Jesus Christ and all the well-known heroes and heroines of Christian history, I would say that the religious figure who most inspires me is Clarence Jordan. Jordan held a Ph.D. in biblical languages (which he used in translating The Cotton Patch Version of the New Testament ), yet he spent most of his life on a farm in Americus, Georgia, a community he and his wife started with another couple in 1942. The name of their new community was Koinonia , a Greek word meaning “fellowship” used in the New Testament to describe the gathering of believers. Koinonia was (and still is) a place where people of all races were welcome to live in a community grounded in the love of Christ. It began during a time when racism was considered a virtue by many in the South. Jordan understood the g...