One of my favorite authors Anne Lamott writes about sitting in church after seeing the movie “The Whale Rider”.  The movie is about a tribe of people  who are losing their identity to the ways of the world. The grandfather is waiting for the next male leader to make himself known. He is expecting someone who is brave and strong enough to ride the whales. Early in the story you realize his granddaughter is the natural choice, but the grandfather rejects her again and again. At one point in the story a family of whales is beached on the sand, dying like the tribe because they need to be turned back out to sea. The whales are covered with clusters of rough ugly barnacles that have attached to them for nourishment. The young heroine of the story manages to turn the lead whale and rides him deep into the sea by holding on to his barnacles, proving finally to her grandfather that she is the natural heir.

 Anne says “Looking around at the faces of people in my church, I could see their barnacles too- all the usual old failures and sorrows, all the loss and ruckus of life that they have survived, excreted through the skin. Yet in the “Whale Rider”, the barnacles are what the girl clung to like a saddle horn as she rode the whale. Without them she couldn’t have climbed on.” Anne Lamott often credits her community of faith with giving her footholds and for loving her into shape. 

My husband Steve and I have been part of CBF since it’s beginning, when it was a wonderful new creation with smooth skin. As the CBF movement matures, we survive, change and collect some barnacles. CBF is real people who are doing mission and ministry together and are creating entry points or clusters so others have the opportunity to connect. This is our story. Our goal together is to be a body for others to hang on to our clusters, receive nourishment, and ride along with us out to the open seas!