"I do not want to take any hatred home"

At our final debriefing last night, the elder statesman of our Team said, simply: "I do not want to take any hatred home." Like many on the Team, he has felt his share of anger on this journey, as well as deep sadness, sometimes confusion, and near-despair. What I take from the wisdom of our travelling mate is that what we have experienced could easily push us from sadness and anger to hate. And, also in his wisdom, he is reminding us we cannot go there. We have powerful invitations from many we have met here, to intercept our tendency to hate, with the opportunity to love. How often did we hear a story from a villager who had been subjected to violence, yet refused to return it in kind. Or a farmer who responded to threats of land confiscation by sowing again next years seeds of hope. Refusing to hate. Choosing to love. As people of the Jesus faith, all things are possible.