My Reaching “Point of No Return” Elmina Castle Photo by Sam McDonald
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether one has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when that person has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule that person, saying, `This person began to build and was not able to finish.” Luke 14:28-30 What is haunting in this parable is that Jesus points to the natural ridicule between promises made and promises not kept. Intending to build a tower, a city on a hill, a light to the nations, are images that date far back—probably to when human beings could first speak. What strikes me about Jesus’ use of such an image is how it relates to my pilgrimage to Ghana courtesy of the Presiding Bishop’s Office and Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD). The most impactful “tower”I saw was part of Elmina Castle, famous in17th and 18th century Europe as the most renown tower constructed in tropical Africa. What was not so famous, however, was that Elmina Castle was the largest torture camp for African slaves. “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost …”