7 Sugar Takes

One
We are nearing the end of a whirlwind week. Daily visits to the school, a quick dash of the elephant orphanage, bountiful meals with friends, and constant trips to Carrefour for stuff we forgot on the last trip are taking up every moment. Yesterday we staggered into Carrefour four separate times. Today we’re throwing a party for the children and their families—beef stew, chapatis, cake, and other forms of sugar—it should be thrilling.
Two
Kenya, just like everywhere else, is a curious mix of contradictions. The quiet gentleness of the people gives way to the combative horror of trying to drive down the road. The rich splendor of the Hub with its elegant restaurants and bright shops fades away as you plunge headlong into the Dagoretti market and its notorious gang troubles. One moment you sit back warming yourself by a roaring fire in the spacious home of the very rich, the next moment you find yourself perched in the chilly, spare tin shelter of the very poor.
Three
Every culture manifests internal contradictions that seem strange and perhaps even wrong and bad to the passing outsider. It’s so easy to see what’s wrong with other people. They should organize their lives like I do, you might want to say. Because the way I live makes sense to me. But no culture really makes complete rational or ethical sense. A peculiar blend of sin and common grace make each place a unique expression of human need for God’s saving goodness. When you’re looking in from the outside you might imagine that it would be very easy to organize everything differently to make it better, but while you’re doing that you are perhaps not seeing the strange mixture of perversity and kindness that makes up your own worldview.
Four
On the other hand, sometimes it’s too easy to throw your culture away as beyond hope. Everywhere is better than where I am, you might say to yourself. Whereas, the delicate balance between appreciation for the charm and grace of human people, and clear eyed acknowledgement of human sin and evil, should produce gracious forgiving acceptance of people who are not like you, whether they are next door or a world away.
Five
Two conversations have been uppermost this week. The first is that one popular brand of sugar has possibly (though I don’t know that it’s been proven) been contaminated with mercury and copper. Every time anyone anywhere reaches for the sugar bowl there are cries of, “What kind is that?!” Last night we took a large container of sugar to a friend so that he and his family could throw theirs out. If I come home and I’m not myself, you’ll know why.
Six
The second conversation has been the felicitous thrill of Germany being knocked out in the first round of the World Cup. Having to throw away all your sugar is worth this profound joy. As another friend said last night, “If you lose, but you knocked out Germany, you win.” Now the great hope is that England will lose and Belgium will win. These are not my feelings. I merely report the hopes and dreams of others.
Seven
Go check out more takes! I must arise and dress for the party.