A number of years ago, I decided to go to a local bar-restaurant in downtown Denver, not to drink beer, but because it was owned by an alumnus of Michigan State University and was known as the “Spartan” place in Denver. The annual football brouhaha with the University of Michigan was on TV, and I wanted to see how many MSU Spartans there were in Denver.
Proudly sporting my 1966 Spartan Marching Band Rose Bowl jacket, I was an instant hit. I found “family” in minutes.
Not long after I got there, a group of University of Michigan alumni decided to crash the party, and the result all through the game was, shall we say, riotous. But not in the way you might think.
Everyone immediately agreed that, while there is no stronger rivalry than Michigan – Michigan State, we band together far out west in Colorado as proud members of the Big Ten Conference. We ended up cheering for each other!
An elevated sense of common ground can become a display of perfect unity, not conflict.
Think of times when Christians gather with brothers and sisters outside their own churches. Whether it is “faith day” at the ball park, a concert featuring a well-known artist, or a satellite feed from a major conference, many gatherings are special events, once a year or even less frequently.
What would it take to develop a place that we would choose to visit regularly, as often as our daily trips to the local coffee shop or burger joint? Is there a “town square” where this could happen?
And has there ever been a place where all children of Abraham could choose to gather in peace?
Not that I know of, not willingly anyway.
In fact, why would we ever try to have Christians, Jews and Muslims all aggregating regularly to support causes common to all people of faith, such as worldwide persecution?
The answer lies in completing the spelling of the word “ACE.”
Stay tuned – this is powerful.
Proudly sporting my 1966 Spartan Marching Band Rose Bowl jacket, I was an instant hit. I found “family” in minutes.
Not long after I got there, a group of University of Michigan alumni decided to crash the party, and the result all through the game was, shall we say, riotous. But not in the way you might think.
Everyone immediately agreed that, while there is no stronger rivalry than Michigan – Michigan State, we band together far out west in Colorado as proud members of the Big Ten Conference. We ended up cheering for each other!
An elevated sense of common ground can become a display of perfect unity, not conflict.
Think of times when Christians gather with brothers and sisters outside their own churches. Whether it is “faith day” at the ball park, a concert featuring a well-known artist, or a satellite feed from a major conference, many gatherings are special events, once a year or even less frequently.
What would it take to develop a place that we would choose to visit regularly, as often as our daily trips to the local coffee shop or burger joint? Is there a “town square” where this could happen?
And has there ever been a place where all children of Abraham could choose to gather in peace?
Not that I know of, not willingly anyway.
In fact, why would we ever try to have Christians, Jews and Muslims all aggregating regularly to support causes common to all people of faith, such as worldwide persecution?
The answer lies in completing the spelling of the word “ACE.”
Stay tuned – this is powerful.
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