8 in 11

That is, I passed through eight airports in eleven days. The bulk of the time away from home was spent at Oakwood College for a social justice conference. The picture is of a slave cemetery that is on campus. It is believed that Dred Scott's wife and two children are burried here.

I recently learned that Sojourner Truth was SDA. And did you know that the Rwandan played by Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda was also Adventist? I had no idea. For a supposed list of other famous (and infamous) Adventists go here.

Ron Sider gave two presentations at the conference. Some of you know him as the President of Evangelicals for Social Action or as the author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and Churches That Make a Difference. I just started reading the former. Please join with me. It was chosen as one of the top 100 books of the century by Christianity Today (now in it's 5th edition, it was first published 30 years ago).

I am also interested in reading Less Than Two Dollars a Day by Kent Van Til.

At the conference, one religious leader described the label Christian in its original context. It was meant as a derogatory term, but the followers of Christ took it and redeemed the epithet.

Just a few days earlier, my grandfather described a similar transformation from his youth when his family became Seventh-day Adventists (1930s or 40s?). The church had African-American church members, so people in town would sometimes sneer at my grandfather, "You go to that nigger church!"

They meant the term as demeaning, but our God is in the business of redeeming hurtful words. I'm glad to be part of a church that welcomed diversity long before the surrounding culture. Now if we could just maintain this social example. To me, separate conferences based on race in the eastern U.S. is just wrong.

The trip also included seeing my parents and attending Nick and Korine's wedding. Good times.