Land of the Unlikely

I live in the land of the unlikely, always striving to live my own life, to accomplish my own accomplishments, create my own success and to establish my identity; and most efforts against profound odds.  Uniquely and paradoxically, I become predictably unpredictable, meaning the more I work to establish my own unique identity, the more there is to understand about me.


I live the the land of the unlikely.  My wife's family lives in the land of the unlikely.  My dad-in-law chased his future wife from the Netherlands to the United States and well before even being awarded citizenship, he was drafted into the American Army to go to Viet Nam, fought and lived, and was again denied citizenship.  It was eventually awarded.  My mom-in-law's family moved to the U.S., some moved back to the Netherlands, than moved back to the U.S. again.  All suffered searing anxiety and stress.  I'm not sure that my wife's Grandma ever truly found her identity in the U.S.


My in-laws have spent a total of about 32 years in Europe, many as American citizens, meaning they went "home" as foreigners.  We live in the land of the unlikely.


It seems there's so much that separates us, drives us apart.  It seems we get hung up on our presuppositions or ideas about any one thing, and many deem petty.


Even Oma K. has lived uniquely.  And yet when we were there, on one of her surfaces set a silver teapot, the kind of teapot that graces many Dutch homes.  I felt connected and familiar.  Familiar things, familiar foods and familiar activities connect many who live unlikely days.


Christ himself lived uniquely.  Despite his unique life, and despite my unlikely days, his people were never meant to separate one from another.  We're called a "body" and the body, no matter what might seem to separate one part from another, the body continues in support of the rest of the body.  Each unique body part, full of their own needs, their own ways and their own identities, exists in tandem, in connection to the rest.


I, like many of you, live an unlikely life living in unlikely days, always striving to live uniquely, to accomplish my own accomplishments, and to establish my identity. 


But I am not an island; I am familiar.  And I am...we are connected.