Uncle Sajid’s Laugh
I was a boy when my Uncle Sajid passed on.
He was someone who helped me grow into a man.
He did special things in life. And had a special family. And they had a wonderful home.
Uncle Sajid laughed in a certain way and I catch myself laughing that way sometimes.
It is a wonderful reminder of the man who meant so much to me.
On his business trips, he would find thought-provoking books to bring back to me. They were hard hitting books of science. They were not written for a kid, but for an age a little beyond me. I devoured them.
He saw in me a love for the truth, and helped develop in me a special kind of love for the truth -- one that came no matter the cost.
One way he did that was in the books he placed in front of me and the areas of study he encouraged in me.
My uncle was active in a number of global health initiatives, some of the names of which you would recognize.
Such institutions are staffed both with bureaucrats protecting their careers and with scientists who would do anything for the truth.
Such individuals often find themselves in necessary conflict.
While we never know how people from a different time might behave in the present, through 2020, I think my uncle would be a lot less favorable to the bureaucrats of our day and a lot more favorable toward the scientists of our day — no matter the cost.
But what do I know?
I was just a kid.
A kid that still has his uncle’s laugh 30 years later and who still can’t get enough of the drive for truth that he helped inspire in me.
This upcoming month, we’ll be reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the book reading group.
I believe you will find this a book that speaks truth to you, especially at uncertain times such as this.
Written by a German minster as World War Two was looking increasingly likely, he described what it means to live a Christian life that matters, that is costly, that does not come cheaply or easily.
I invite you to join me in reading that.
I believe you will find in its pages a rigorous demand for the truth — in both words and in deeds — no matter the cost, no matter the personal sacrifice.
That’s the kind of encouragement more of us could use in this day.
Tap here to join me — https://realstevo.com/bon
Allan Stevo