“Discipleship”
SCRIPTURE
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. —John 21:4-6
DEVOTIONAL
In 2006, Kevin Salwen was driving his 14-year-old daughter home from a sleepover when they pulled up to a red light. On one side of their car, they saw a black Mercedes coupe and on the other side, a homeless man begging for food. His daughter, Hannah, saw this and said to her father, “Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man over there could have a meal.”
While the light changed and they drove on, Hannah persisted long after they arrived home. She asked her parents what they could do. She challenged her family to be “a family that makes a difference in the world, even if it’s a small difference.” After some time, her mother finally responded, “What do you want to do, sell the house?”
After a year of discussing, planning and researching different charities, Hannah Salwen sold what her father called their “dream house” in Atlanta, Georgia, to purchase a house that was half the price, giving the difference ($800,000) to an international development organization called Hunger Project. The money went to help sponsor better healthcare, microfinancing, food and other programs for about 20 villages in Ghana. A Book about the family and this process, entitled “The Power of Half,” 1 was published in 2010.
During the year that the Salwen family researched and planned to follow their unconventional request, the word spread. And while there were those voices protesting this illogical idea, their new approach had a ripple effect. The family that sold the Salwens their new, smaller, home, heard about the project and were inspired and decided to donate $100,000 of their own money to the project. One of Hannah’s friends heard about her idea and pledged half her baby-sitting savings to an environmental charity.
Turns out that for the Salwens, being in a smaller house, the family was forced to spend more time together. Researching and deciding how to spend the money as a family gave them the chance to learn more about each other, the vast challenges that the world faces, and the ways that they (as a family) could respond. Hannah’s father, Kevin Salwen, said that while it was not the purpose of the project, “We essentially traded stuff for togetherness and connectedness.” Through those interconnected moments, Hannah said that, “We learned how to really trust each other.”
Hannah, told a reporter, “No one expects anyone to sell a house…. That’s kind of a ridiculous thing to do. For us, the house was just something that we could live without. It was too big for us. Everyone has too much of something, whether it’s time, talent or treasure. Everyone does have their own half, you just have to find it.” 2
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- What is your metaphorical “half”? That “something” that you can share to make the world a better place, to make the light a little bit brighter?
- Jesus asked Simon and the other fishermen to adjust their everyday work. While it didn’t seem logical, their nets came up full. How can even the small adjustments to your life help reveal the love and compassion of Christ?
PRAYER
Lord, help us be illogical, irrational, even reckless with your love. Open our hearts to what is possible and fill us with the courage to cast our nets in a new direction. In the name of your abundant love, Amen.
1 Salwen, Kevin and Hannah Salwen. The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back.”(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcort) 2010.
2 https://boldergiving.org/stories.php?story=Kevin-Salwen
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.