On a walk in the green hills above Langmusi village in northern Sichuan, cross the stream rock bridge. Then, turn left. Follow the sheep about a mile and over two hills. Then turn right. You will see a herd of yaks near a tent. The tent is a black tent of yak hair. It is secured by stakes where two barking Tibetan mastiffs let you know you have arrived. Then above the barking, will come a "hello!" A young 12-year old shepherdess will wave her arms and invite you into her family's tent as she knows it. But she doesn't follow. The blankets, the smell of sod, butter tea, wet boots. Outside, three young children will gather around Ren Xin Qiao, who minds dogs, yak and small children with the skill of an experienced shepherd. Still, in her Mickey Mouse shepherding uniform, and letting her little cousins wrestle each other playfully, she will take time to teach you how to use a slingshot to coax back a wayward yak. The slingshot - a simple long piece of rope with a piece of leather tied in the center where she places a perfectly weighted stone and throws with great accuracy. The Goliath of a yak, hit with the stone, stops in its tracks and wanders back to the fold. Ren Xin Qiao teaches slingshotting as patiently as a David of scripture would, not simply recounting personal achievements of killing Goliath, of being related to Jesse, Abinadab at the war front, or the marriage to King Saul's daughter. Out here in the tent, they don't know about front page headlines. Humility is at work in the shepherd who teaches you how to use a slingshot. You can try and get the hang of throwing the stone, and if like me, you end up throwing your own ineptitude around, hitting oneself with the stone. Ren Xin Qiao will then invite you to have tea with her family. And here is God at home among the tent of where true hospitality lives and breathes and throws kindnesses around to any passing soul. In Genesis 18, it is said that God came to Abraham's tent as "three visitors" who were welcomed by Abraham with the best that he had. And too, in the story, perhaps it was not only God who visited, but God who waited and waits at the tent, saying hello among the barking dogs, motioning each of us to visit, to have tea, to use a slingshot, and being on the road, know the meaning of home again.
If we do nothing else in life, let us try to do one simple thing: generate shade.
