Susan Lafferty“Just sing to Me.”
Memory rises up. From twenty years ago.
I’m traveling in the river of motorcycles and public transport vehicles. Cars and buses. All pressed together in the rush of a mountain city’s traffic.
Navigating the ebb and flow as I drive. Mentally engaged. But not.
Thoughts drift far away. Heart sits heavy.
All around me, the hum and blare of engines revving, horns blowing, peddlers calling.
Exiles in Babylon.
God’s Word to them felt deeply personal to us. During a particularly violent and unsettling season.
People were leaving our city. Families sent back to their home countries. Anti-American sentiment had ramped up more than ever.
Should we leave?
At one point my dad—who never, ever tried to interfere or direct us in any way—wrote “In my daily Bible study I keep seeing the words, ‘Flee Babylon…flee Babylon.” (Jeremiah 49:30; 50:8,16; 51:6)
First grade.
Walking out the side gate of our backyard in Surabaya, I turned right, and headed down the driveway to Aunt Wilma’s house. My Dick and Jane book clutched to my chest.
After climbing her front steps, I knocked on the screen door. I could hear the ceiling fan turning. Her dog, Si Nakal, gave a soft bark.
Aunt Wilma opened the door and welcomed me in with a smile.
I eagerly showed her my book. Then we sat on the couch and I read it aloud.
