And

the penny sord hof drope when i started to read cultures cultural anthropology over the mediterranean area, which is where ancient israel and first century people of godwa the audience that the bible was written to. And started to realize that these were communal cultures very different from my talian or now canadian, western culture, which is highly individualistic. And theyv kind of negotiated their lives in terms of belonging. Who do i belong to? I belong to my family. I belong to my clan. Maybe i belong to a bigger people group than that as well. And the crisis that the bible often addresses is a crisis of belonging. We might see it, you know, the bible might say the gleanings of the field, and we tend to think that's social justice, but it wasn't. It was a crisis of protection and a crisis of belonging. And so the bible, in both testaments, we argue, and we think, was calling on god's people, and perhaps, in a sense, by extension, calling on all humanity, to enfold funderable people who are seeking a home as family, as kin.

That word kin is really important to the glanville's whole approach. It's an anglo saxon term originally, that basically means family. So kinship is that sense of belonging to, or commitment to that we experience in healthy families. And it's a really important concept in the bible. It's

significant for the biblical authors that were all descended of adam in the old testament. And then in after the flood descended, of noah. And so there is this sense, i think, of the familiar kind of belonging of all people. But there's be a stronger theme, again, in the old testament. It's not just the family of humanity. Iis god's kinship, in particular with vulnerable people, which is, which is quite an important thimg in the old testament.

For

the lord, your god is god of gods and lord of lords, the great god, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in egypt. Deuteronomy chapter ten, verses 17 20.