Thin~Spaces

I'm up with a cold and somehow re-discovered my own blog. I began reading through my old posts and simply cannot believe my eyes.

When you step away from something for a long time and then return surprise is often what you find. I don't remember who i was back then on an emotional level. Yet I have enjoyed many of my old posts.

My journey has continued but without my chronicle of how I've gotten here. Hmmm. I may have to reconsider my rejection of the "Echo Chamber" we call the blog sphere.

I have lots to say but no need to say it as i once did. How do I go forward? What motivation?

Remember. . . WLYAS!
"Without Love You Ain't S#it"

~D~

People in America are very spiritual yet they simply do not trust the Church as we have historically misused our cultural influence.  Therefore the spiritualy minded in America look to other sources for spiritual guidance as the church has been deemed untrustworthy and has been marginalized.

How do we inoculate people from the Gospel?

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."  
--  Mahatma Gandhi

Cheryl and i have been spending the last few days at her parents house. They do not have power either but at least they have a small generator and gas heat. With are baby due in 10 days, staying in a cold house was not an option. At least i can use a PC at work as i have not had access since last Thursday's wind storm.

Keep warm!  D~

Cheryl and I had a couples shower thrown for us. I’ve never been to a “baby shower†and am glad that four other brave men joined me. We were the minority of course but at least we could share this alien social ritual.

We saw old friends Cheryl has barely kept touch with since high school show up for this event. The list of people stemmed from friends of her parents who had known her since she was 3yo and new friends that Cheryl and I made in the past two years.

Reconnecting with people was the best part of this event. I was amazed to see how many people we were once close to 15 years ago. Life often gets in the way and over time you loose touch with people. This is a function of geographic change as most of these people still live in the Seattle area.

We have moved quite a few times in my former ministerial career. I never realized how many people we left behind. Good friends! No wonder Cheryl and I make it such a point to call people who are important to us. I just wish we would have discovered that 10 years ago instead of after our move in 2002.

While we both appreciate all the gifts as first time parents, seeing people who we never thought would show up was a blessing.  I think that this may be the true value of these social events. Now we need to keep in touch with those we have re-connected with.

What a wonderful morning! Cheryl has her car back - $1200.00 and a new engine later. I drove it in to work to give it a shake down. That is not what made my morning though.

Last weekend we skipped our usual gathering to spend the weekend in Portland with Ken and Deborah Loyd. We spent most of our time just hanging out at their place drinking coffee, talking about church, going on walks, meeting new people and watching television. A very low-key weekend.

On Sunday we went to The Bridge to worship God. I’ve been to many churches and hear most of the same songs. This was not the case last Sunday. Each song was unique to their community and sung from the depth of their souls. You could hear the angst, joy, pain, hope and life of this band of travelers.  Authentic was the only word their worship.

Cheryl’s car has a CD player and I had picked up a few CD’s from their house band. It was full of new songs that just resonated with the longing of my soul. I totally forgot about the traffic as I drove in to work today. I wonder if our faith community will decide to have a deliberate time of corporate worship. It just may. When it does, I’ll encourage our own brand of expression.

Life in a small community is much different than being in a large “church.†During our last gathering, Julie received a call from her husband over in Iraq. He informed her that his unit will no longer be stationed in Tacoma when he returns from his tour. She was rather shaken by this as this would mean that they have to move after he returns.

She asked us if we would pray for her and her family. We stopped our discussion and switched gears to support Julie. You simply can’t do this in a “Service†as we commonly think of it. There is just too much of an agenda at work. Sure there are some exceptions but most churches would keep on going as Julie exited the sanctuary to field the call.

Her news did not affect her family alone. The entire feel of our community will change when Julie’s family leaves. The emotional loss will be greater than anything. Part of our family will be moving away. . . Small communities make for Big relational connections.

Small community can be hard some times.

It has been a long week. My wife's car has blown a head gasket so now we are down to one car and she is expecting our 1st child. Given that we live 10 miles outside of town this can be a large inconvience. 

We are starting to get settled in our new place - it has been a long summer! Too much going on and not enough time. I am amazed at how much of my day is eaten up by the longer commute of 40 miles.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
  - Dr. Seuss