Navigating with Abraham

The Quad City Times carried a lead story in their Celebrate Section on Thurs., Jan. 14, 1999 that is a Genesis 12 story. Genesis 12 begins the journey of Abraham when he is called by God to leave the city of Ur.

The Call of Abram

“1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”  (NIV)

I encourage your reading about Abraham starting with the 12^th chapter of Genesis. I will be reflecting on the Genesis story of Abraham and others more than once in these blogs. 

The headlines in the QCTimes read "Strangers in a friendly land." The stories by Paula Parrella begin with this line, "Imagine yourself in an unfamiliar country where everyone around you speaks a different language." I wonder, did Abraham know the Egyptian language? Or did everyone speak Arabic? When did Hebrew come in?

The article documents four families: Two are from Bosnia and two are from Vietnam who left the familiar for the unfamiliar. As America becomes more multi-cultural Genesis 12 takes on more meaning. America has been a place to dream, vision, learn, work, etc., a promised land. Have we not been a gathering place for Genesis 12 folk? Thomas Jefferson wanted to have "a cloud by day and a pillar of fire" on the dollar bill. We do have “a new order under heaven.” He was proposing a direct image from the book of Exodus and the way Moses and the Hebrew people traveled in the wilderness for the promised land ... another journey story and a continuation of the journey of Abraham.

All my ancestors left the familiar as Abraham to come to this unfamiliar land of promise. They came for different reasons and from different places, there is more than one Ur. The Whitmer’s came to escape religious persecution, first out of Switzerland. My Great Grandfather came with his wife from Germany to escape military conscription or jail. We have more than one story. My Irish Great Grandparents came to escape starvation. My Scottish Great Great Grandfather, I am not sure about the reason. He came early but moved along with the Whitmers to become a well know blacksmith in the early days of Cedar and Muscatine Counties, Iowa.   

The result, my mother's first language was German. She grew up on a farm near Louden, Ia. When I went to the Kreinbring Reunions as a boy I heard the elders speaking German. My mother understood. My father did not speak German. He felt out of place. Plus he didn't play cards or drink beer. There was one other man with a German background and a farmer who did not play cards or drink beer. They would visit.

During World War 1 my mother abruptly stopped speaking German while in grade school. America’s participation in the war brought criticism Germans for using their language. Iowa passed a law forbidding the spoken language. The trauma of that event continued for my mother’s lifetime. She would not even share a German word or phrase when asked.

I remember going to a Japanese New Years party in Chicago. I was the only Caucasian. My friend George Hayashi, seminary classmate, had invited me as we were on our way back to Virginia Seminary. It was a great party. They had plenty of food, mostly pickled. The women said they had been preparing for months. I like pickles and it all tasted good even if I didn’t know what I was eating.  They had plenty of drinks, warm saki. Wow! Laughter was also plentiful although I didn't know what they were laughing about. George would occasionally translate. It must have been funny in Japanese. George had been in the Japanese internment camp during WW11. Another story.

This reflection was first writing in January 14, 1999. Now under some revision I submit this with the acknowledgement that Donald Trump is the President of the United States. He must have an entirely different interpretation to Genesis 12 with the rhetoric of the building of a wall along with deportations and severe limits on immigration. He reminds me of our previous mistakes. Would the Times article have the line "strangers in a friendly land?"

Do you have any Genesis 12 memories and/or current Genesis 12 happenings in your neighborhood?  I think it is important to reflect on these stories as we struggle with our post 9/11 world that lives in fear of the “other.”

Shalom,

Marlin

Founder of the Befrienders in 1966 and the Art of story metaphor listening in 1975.