fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Your Working Boy’s Best Friend

  Julie texted that photo to me last night while I was in Michigan. “Roscoe went to the groomer today,” she said. “He won’t get out of your chair now.” Roscoe is not allowed to sit in that chair without me. Ever. But he wanted me home. This evening, he got his wish. I sat […]

get-attachment-16

 

Julie texted that photo to me last night while I was in Michigan. “Roscoe went to the groomer today,” she said. “He won’t get out of your chair now.”

Roscoe is not allowed to sit in that chair without me. Ever. But he wanted me home.

This evening, he got his wish. I sat in the chair with him on my lap, and scratched behind his ears. I love to travel, but my favorite journey is always toward home.

UPDATE: You can take the guy out of Grand Rapids, but Grand Rapids will follow him home. Sort of. When I got home tonight, there was a box of books sent by the Acton Institute, of new translations of the work of Dutch Reformed colossus Abraham Kuyper (Grand Rapids is a place where the adjective “Kuyperian” shows up in casual conversation, I found). And the two copies of James K.A. Smith’s Imagining The Kingdom showed up from Amazon while I was gone — too late for me to get him to sign them for me, though we did spend an intense and stimulating hour together yesterday, talking about the faith and our culture. I wish I could convey how cozy it was to sit with my hosts Matt and Dorothe Bonzo at their farm, around their kachelje — a wood stove — and drink hot tea and talk about God, and life. What a gift to have made so many new friends. Thanks to all the folks at Cornerstone for being so nice to me, and to the Bonzos for being such generous hosts.

By the way, Dorothe is the daughter of Dutch immigrants. Her mother worked for the Dutch underground during the Nazi occupation. One of the people she sheltered from the Germans, at the risk of her own life, thanked her after the war by making a small wooden tray (below; the image is under glass) for her as a remembrance. Dorothe now has it, as a family relic. Can you imagine having a mom who did something that heroic? Can you imagine owning such a treasure, made by the hands of a grateful man who was saved from the Nazis by the kindness of a Dutch Christian who loved God, her country, and a perfect stranger more than she loved her own life. What a heritage! The translation: “With God and Orange” — the Dutch royal house — “For The Fatherland”. I held this precious thing in my own hands this morning. It nearly brings tears to my eyes to think of it:

get-attachment-17

Advertisement

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Subscribe for as little as $5/mo to start commenting on Rod’s blog.

Join Now