In rural parts of our country, people are often known by the people to whom they are related. "Oh, you're one of the Jones from over near Smithville," they might say. Or they may ask, "Say, are you Joe Green's boy?" In rural America folks want to know about your people.

Today, we are a rootless society--much on the move. In an average year, some 40 million Americans move. Put another way, every ten years, between 40 and 60 percent of an average America town's population leaves. We have lost much of the connectedness of our rural past. In a sense we have to carry our sense of identity with us. We are closer to the nomadic existence of Abraham than we are to rural America of the early 20th century. Abraham's people always knew who they were in spite of their existence as wanderers--not simply because Abraham was their father, but because they felt a real connection with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That gave them their identity. It still does today wherever the children of Abraham may roam. We claim that same heritage. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is our God--not by birth, but by adoption. That's who we are. We are God's people. His family. His children.

Ron Newhouse