It must have been some 30 years ago when I saw a film entitled “The Gods Must Be Crazy.” It was a clever comedy about a tribe that lived in the Kalahari Desert of southwest Africa. The Kalahari is a tough place in which only a community survives through its cooperation, assistance, and support of each other. The web of individual and communal relationships are a key element by which life is sustained. And so, the people work at maintaining the relationships through the cycle of seasons and over the generations. Yet the tribe also understands that the essential element for life is favor from the gods; favor that is undeserved, unearned, and all gift. These key and essential elements are what our western and Christian perspective would call a community of Grace. Continue reading →