God created Heaven and Earth - Hell is up to us.

I love reading Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) in the original language. Hebrew is incredibly concise. From the beginning of creation to the end of the first day requires about 80 english words. Hebrew does it in 50. The Hebrew language has an ambiguous quality. The same word or phrase can have a wide range of meaning depending on how it is read. Heaven (Sham’yim) has an obvious connection to Water (m’yim) and Sea (yim). Water is simply From-Sea. The Hebrew expression Ha-Eretz can be the entire planet earth, any dry land, or even the land of Israel. Ruach can be Spirit, wind or breath and yom is a period of time - anything from a day to a geologic epoch. In Hebrew, the entire creation process from a formless, empty void to a revolving planet with continents and oceans is done in a series of 3 divisions (B-D-L) - between light and darkness, earth and sky, land and sea. According to the Torah, the entire creation process ended on the seventh or Sabbath day. Sabbath (SBT) having a direct connection to seven (SB’H) and to “rest-from-work” (SBT). In Hebrew, the number seven also signifies completion, wholeness or fullness.

Last December I was asked to teach an introductory Bible course at the Koinonia home school. This gave me a much-needed excuse to refresh my Hebrew language skills, which I had learned more than 20 years earlier, and devote some time to the Torah. I read the first chapter of Genesis (B’RoSHeeT) in preparation for the first class and I was struck by verse 31.

It goes something like this; “And God saw Everything that was made - IT was Very Good”.

The next day, Bud and I were unloading pecans from a wagon into the sizing shack. It was cold, noisy and cramped. There were almost as many sticks as nuts which made the work slow and tedious. It was a terrible waste of time.

I thought, “You couldn’t pay me enough to do this job”.

At that very moment, I realized that I was blissfully happy!

We had witnessed a beautiful sunrise. The air was fresh. The sky was blue and clear. Birds were chirping in the trees. I was working with Bud. He is a wonderful man and a good friend.

I couldn’t think of anywhere I would rather be.

What happened?

Then it hit me. God created Heaven and Earth. As for Hell, we create our own.

The other day, we were driving down the highway to Mill Bay and our youngest daughter spoke up from the back seat. “At least there was one good thing about Georgia. I’m no longer afraid of death because I’ve already been through Hell.”

It certainly didn’t matter what the rest of us thought - and I guess that’s the point.


PS: That's sunrise over the Koinonia chapel.

President Barack Hussein Obama

Tuesday undoubtedly marked an historic day for the United States of America - and for all the other citizens of this planet. Barack H. Obama was sworn in as the 44th - and first non-white - president of the USA. I must confess that we were riveted to the television for most of the day as we watched the spectacle unfold.

While we sat comfortably in our home on the socially progressive West Coast of Canada, our appreciation of this unlikely inauguration was heightened by our recent internship at Koinonia Farm in Southern Georgia. Koinonia had been established in 1942 as a Christian statement against the racial exploitation of the deep South. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, Koinonians had to survive bombings, gunshots, beatings and economic boycotts for standing up against socially-sanctioned and religiously -sanctified apartheid policies. While things have certainly improved, and this black mark on the gleaming history of America seems a part of the distant past, we were constantly reminded of its lingering effects.

During our time in Georgia, we became close friends with men and women who grew up in a world where it wasn’t safe to be seen in public with Whites - especially of the opposite sex. They couldn’t eat at the same table, drink from the same water fountain or even use the same public toilets. They remembered friends who simply disappeared and were never seen again - except for the rumors of unidentified remains found in the woods along the highway. As children, they would lay awake in their beds at night, terrified that the KKK would break down their door and take them - or their parents - away. As teen-agers they faced the angry mob when the national guard enforced the integration of public schools and as young adults they marched in protests. In spite of all the progress, shadows of this dark time still linger today. A clear example of this is the case of Troy Anthony Davis, who was convicted of murder in 1991. In spite of the fact that there was no physical evidence and the eyewitnesses later recanted their testimonies, Troy has spent the past 19 years on death row in Georgia. He came within hours of execution this past October - and a majority of Georgia supreme court judges still feels justified in executing him - as opposed to hearing the evidence that will prove his innocence. Could this ever happen to a White guy?

This backdrop of unbelievable racial injustice made Barack Obama’s presidency all the more unlikely. During the election campaign, we volunteered with Sumter for Change - the Democratic campaign organization in Sumter county - and helped voters get to the polls. We had the privilege of door-knocking along side black civil rights veterans who shared their stories of the bad, old days. Apparently the most dangerous thing you could do was to help other blacks register for the vote. Even in the the enlightened 21st Century, we found that fraudulent voter information cards had been regularly given to blacks - and these cards directed them all the way across town to the wrong polling station. Or “official” phone calls were made to remind them that only Whites voted on Tuesday (election day) - Blacks couldn’t vote until Wednesday!

Amazingly, and in spite of these odds, Barack Obama not only received enough votes to win the Presidency of the United States, he also carried Sumter County, Georgia!

The picture on the right shows the scene that occurred in the backroom of Wood’s Swinging Wings - also known as Sumter County Democratic campaign HQ - the very moment that Obama was declared president.

Now you can see why I still believe in miracles.

Jubilee Partners

Well, what can I say. Life at Koinonia is anything but dull!

Since the election and Millard's visit, lots of things have happened here and there has been no time to add to the blog!!

Among the highlights - On the weekend of November 9th the Kiononia intern group went up to visit Jubilee Partners. Jubilee is a daughter community of Koinonia that was formed in the late 70s. Koinonia Partners bought the land - about 250 acres near the town of Comer in Northern Georgia - and three families from Koinonia started the community. Don and Carol Mosley were among the original families and they still live in the community. In fact, Don gave us a guided tour of Jubilee and also a very personal history of a vital period in the life of Koinonia and Habitat for Humanity.

It was the height of the Arab oil embargo and Koinonia was a leader in exploring alternatives: solar techniques for energy - and ferro concrete for house construction . In fact, it appears that one of the main reasons that Jubilee was conceived was to bring this technology to Northern Georgia. As Don pointed out, God had different plans for Jubilee.

Once the land was acquired, the Mosley's, Wier's and Karis's moved from Koinonia and began to homestead at the new site. For the first few months they camped on the land, bathed in the cold creek and struggled to build houses before winter settled in. Increasingly they began to feel as if they were refugees trying to survive in a new land after being driven from their homes. At the height of their experience, the news media started daily coverage of the plight of the Vietnamese boat people who were fleeing the fall of South Viet Nam. The two realities came together in a powerful way and Jubilee Partners heard the call to assist refugees and help them get established in the USA.

As of today, they have helped more than 3500 refugees learn English and get a fresh start in America. These people have come from every major conflict zone over the past 30 yrs. More details about Jubilee and the Mosley's will follow, but for now you can read more here

http://p13643.typo3server.info/56.0.html