Metropolitan United Church

    On the fourth of July, our Americans on staff put their heads together after lunch. One more quick consultation to get it right. Dinner would be a celebration of America's birthday, and we were all invited. Later, in the kitchen, some of the young women, floured to the elbows, formed dough into hamburger buns...from scratch. Jello cooled in the fridge, and last night deep-dish apple pie-making session bore much fruit...with pies lined up on the sideboard.

     You've got to love 'em, those Americans. We have them here from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, and from New England to the California-Oregon Coast. Great people, patriots, painfully aware of the negative image in which their country is so often held in various parts of the world, apologetic for political and military bullying, long-suffering when it comes to their current government and hopeful for change.

    Here among us they are leaders. They work hard, rise early and go the extra mile. They are kind to each other, interested in strangers and anxious to create a first-class team of hosts for this amazing and unique community. They are bright, musically gifted, well-spoken, concerned about the environment, international poverty and the plight of the oppressed. They regared their education and freedom as privileges that call for responsibility. They seek to make their lives count in the big picture. 

    America....love it. Americans are our nearest neighbours and as close as family. Look beneath the rhetoric, behind the stereotypes, to find and enjoy the delightful people living there, and everywhere. Behind every national border, and the blunt ways we label whole groups of people, as terrorists, fanatics, cowards, brutes, there are delightful, generous and loving lives who make friends of strangers, prepare feasts for guests, and make life worth living, simply, in a million lovely ways.