Hey

“What is M?” the stranger asked. The seer warmed his hands by the fire and looked up at the man. “Exactly,” he answered.
http://myimn.com

“Mom!” I heard from down the hall. “What?” I said from the kitchen. Pause…”I started a fire.” I ran down the hall. She was standing at the bathrooom sink with the waste paper basket in the basin.
“What happened?” I asked as I’m trying to get through the door, smoke filling the hallway. When I got in she had candles lit and the tub full of bubbles.
“I thought I had put the match out. I threw is in the garbage and it started on fire. Then I blew on it (the basket is full of tissues and other paper) to put it out.” Anyone who has built a fire knows what happened next.
I’m glad she had the sense to put water on it after that. There was no damage, just a lot of smoke and a lesson learned.
She’s in the tub now, with her candles and bubbles, the window open and the fan blowing. I am glad for mishaps like that. The ones that show you how potentially dangerous your actions can be without actually causing any real damage. I bet she never blows on a small fire to put it out again. You can’t just blow on it, cooling it so that it’s not so hot. You have to totally put it out so that it can’t come back and create a full blown disaster.
Does this parallel anything else in our lives?

Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing His name. People are being lost because they cannot reconcile Jesus’ association with Christianity. Christianity has become docile, domesticated, civilized. We have forgotten that there is a kingdom of darkness stealing the hopes and dreams and souls of a humanity without God. It is time to hear the barbarian call, to form a barbarian tribe, and to unleash the barbarian revolt. Let the invasion begin…

“The Barbarian Way” Erwin McManus

Peter/Riverwood’s Alpha asked an interesting question about hearing from God. I have a funny/ disturbing? story.
I had a meeting with a group of people from my Sociology class the other day. I saw them at 10am and said, “I’ll see you guys at 1pm”. Headed to another class, then to an art sale. Around 1pm I started for my car. I had totally forgotten about the meeting. ( I know, I know, pretty lame) As I was heading off campus I saw a headset laying on the ground. It reminded my of one of the guys in my group in the Soc. class. He always has these in his ears and I always wonder if he can hear me. So I thought, “I wonder where he is? I wonder if these are his?” Since I had no idea where he was (duh, he was where the group said we would meet) I put the head phones down and went to my car. I was almost home when I realized that I had totally missed the meeting. Wow! Could I have had any clearer reminder? How did I miss it? I thought it was really sad that there was this BIG reminder warning me to stay on campus and find the dude with the earphones and I totally missed it. It didn’t click at all! Gee, I wonder if I ever miss what God is saying to me!! Duh.

Community, is it really that important? “Just me and you God, just me and you.” is what I tend to say. I’ve been struck by the call to community that Jesus gives in John. Do you remember the account of Jesus raising Lazerus from the dead? Who took the death clothes off of him? Did he unwrap himself? Did Jesus do it? No, Jesus instructed those witnessing the event to do it. “Get in there and help the man. Take off those stinking dirty, rotting clothes.” (not a literal translation. And then there is the foot washing scene. Jesus puts a towel around his waste and cleans the followers feet. The followers are then told to do the same thing with each other. What does this mean? We need to help each other get clean after walking in the filth all day long. They weren’t told to go home and wash their own feet or have the servants do it but do it for each other. Am I willing to be in this kind of community? It takes vulnerability and humility and the admitance that I can not do it myself. I need to admit that I NEED other people to cleanse my filth. I need to be willing to help wash the dirt off of others. What do you think Jesus meant?

I am amazed at what is coming about. It seems like a few short months ago a group of people gathered in a living room. We talked about a cafe’ and culture pub. Why we wanted it, why we longed for it and why we would put ourselves into it. It seemed like only a dream back then, a cool thing that would be amazing to do “someday”.
Well tomorrow night is Event #2. We learned a lot from the first one. What to do, what not to do…There is a ton of running around involved all month to get ready for something like this. It’s fun and it can be exhausting but here is the coolest thing about it, the thing that will keep me involved month after month. People. We are meeting people, fabulous people who love the vision and want to join us. Musicians that are off the scale amazing! Visual artists who want to jump in and be a part. These are people that we have never met before but that are becoming a part of this community. I stand amazed!

I am directionally challeged. I always have been and I will, most likely, always be. It’s something I’ve come to except.
I went downtown to meet a friend for lunch the other day. I went to where mapquest said the place was. I parked, payed the meter, and walked to the corner to find “Jack’s Urban Eats.” As I was looking around two friends rode up on their bikes. They asked where I was going. When I told them they said I was at the wrong intersection. They rode along side of me and showed me where Jack’s was.
How was it that they were there at that very instant that I needed them? Had I asked for devine intervension? No. Did I even know that I was lost? No. Do they hang out in that area often? No. If I had parked a few seconds before or after that exact time I would have never seen them.
Mystic experience? I think so. How many times do I miss these little interventions? How many times am I guided to where I need to be before I even know that I am lost?

Another story. I am downtown at Second Saturday. Lots of people milling around listening to music, looking at art. I am standing in the middle of it all just looking around. A man walked up to me and said, “are you a christian woman?” “I am” I answered. He said, “Will you pray for me?” “yes” was my answer. He began telling me in a barely audible voice what his concerns were. I took his hands and prayed with him. He then asked me for money. I looked staight at him and said, “I’m sorry James, I don’t have any cash on me.” He imediately pulled away from me and yelled, “don’t you lie to me” I reached out for him and said “I’m not lying to you” He continued to yell at me and walked away, very angry. I won’t explain more or tell you what was going on in my head because I’m very curious as to what someone elses take on this is. What was the message for me? What is the message for you?

A friend of mine just recently visited Georgia.  She said that the people were hospitable, kind, respectful and polite.  There was a church on every corner and it was the norm to go to church on Sunday.   She wanted to move there pronto.  My emotional response was not what I expected.  I thought, “wierd.”  Hmmm, weird because it’s not what I am used to or weird because my goal is not to surround myself with christians at all times of the day?  After giving it somemore thought, I realized that I have been so consumed with making friends that are not just like me, that my desires have changed.  I don’t want to live in a community where everyone thinks the same things and acts the same way.  I like the diversity, I like to hear thoughts that are different from mine.  I like the idea that those that are not like me might bring something fresh to my life.

What are your thoughts?

  I had been cleaning all day today as well as managing paint mishaps that were occuring while my daughter painted her room, turquious blue, with her friends. I wanted to do something fun.  So when my husband got home we decided to go to dinner on the river.  We went out to Blue Gekko and sat outside.  It was really nice, breezy and cool.  Which is a nice change from the 105 degree weather we have been having lately.  The waiter came to take our orders.  I always like to interact with people, so I asked him what he would suggest.  He willingly shared his favorites and why he liked them.  Then I asked him what he would drink with that.  He gave me a few suggestions.  Then I had to decide whether I wanted lemon or lime with that.  “Lemon…no lime goes with Negra Medello, no lemon….no lime.”  He and my husband began making fun of my indecision.  Then he was off to get our drinks. Now  let me proceed by saying that we had been laughing and joking this whole time.  So when he came back with a lime in the neck of the bottle I looked at him and said, “I said lemon.”   Before I could reinforce my levity with a smile he yanked the lime from the bottle, threw it over the railing, into the river, and stormed off.  “I was KIDDING!” I said. to the already closed door.  I turned to my husband, “I was joking! He must be having a hard day.  I thought he would get it.”  I sat there feelling really bad.  When he got back all was explained and everything turned out fine.  But it reinforced my new found insecurity that people do not alway understand my intentions.  I used to think that we were all on the same page.  We all understood each other.  Oh, I was so wrong.  My fun was someone elses annoying.  “Sorry Danny at Blue Gekko”  I will try and be on your page next time.