I’ve been around heaps of different people. Some of this comes from growing up as a pastor’s kid. To that end, different people whom I remember include: The Cross-Dressing Greeter: When I was around 10 years old, in the late 1970’s, we had a greeter in our church who was a crossdresser. I asked my dad about this person since he had a full beard and wore a dress to greet people on Sunday mornings. My dad explained that everyone needs Jesus. Reflecting back now, I think my dad was a few decades ahead of his time. Cranky Alice: She was a tough old bird. I’ll never forget when she read the riot act to a guy who was being sketchy with me, a 4th grader at the time. Alice was prickly and sour, but for whatever reason, occasionally, she had a soft spot in her heart for me. Hungarian Csaba: This guy was part of the Hungarian revolt against the Soviet occupation in 1956, and he came to our church when I was a teenager. He was wiry, insightful and very intense with piercing blue eyes. Unfortunately, he died too young.

There is lots of concern in our modern world about “family values,” and when I use this term, it can evoke strong feelings, reactions, disagreements, moral evaluations, memories, pain, righteous indignation, etc. We seem to have plenty of ideas about what family values should be and how these should be employed in our modern world.