Dare to speak ill of the clan...
Today was a big step. I dared to speak ill publicly of the family. In a sermon I preached a few months ago, I shared the anecdote about the time I nearly died when my dad unwisely tried to fjord a river with his young children. I did not go into detail about how he shamed and blamed me for the event, how his primary emotion seemed to be embarrassment (for himself) rather than concern (for me) or terror (at the fact that I almost died). I didn't mention any of that. What I did say was something like this: "I want to honour my dad by saying that he spent a lot of time with us as children. We had a lot of experiences in nature, with motorbikes, with guns and dogs. We had a lot of fun! But...my dad did not always have a plan. And...honestly, we were not always safe..." Then I launched into the story about sliding down the waterfall, and how a random stranger saved me. I related how I had come to resent missions because while in Africa, I felt similar unprotected. Su...