Thoughts

God is so much bigger and better than my imagination
Yet I cling to what I know and have "figured out" much more desperately
Than to the one I glimpse and know a bit
But who is so much more lovely and loving than I know

Advent giving...

Miroslav Volf, in Free of Charge, writes on page 75:

The advent of the light into the darkness of the world is not the goal;

it is part of the movement toward the goal. At Christmas we celebrate this movement.

Gifts should therefore chiefly flow out to the needy;

they shouldn't largely circulate among friends.

How will this change the way I give this year???

Week two...

So, last night was good. A sense of community. Sharing stories of who we are and some caring that begins the process of connecting.

This morning, I began reading "The Dark Night of the Soul" by Gerald May.
He quoted Dag Hammarskjold, the first Secretary General of the UN. In 1961, a few months before he died, he wrote:

I don’t know Who – or what – put the question.

I don’t know when it was put.

I don’t even remember answering.

But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone – or Something –

And from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that,

Therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.

Reading that made me think of the Anne Rice video on http://www.iamsecond.com/. A willingness to not have all the answers, but to believe that Someone cares. Someone gives meaning to life. And that we can connect with that Someone. Faith isn't about seeing with 20/20 vision or certainty that I have it all figured out. Faith is entering the unknown, catching glimpses, trusting the Someone who does know and who does care...

First Gathering

So, a few of us got together on Sunday. There was some good conversation. To me, it's amazing when we find a safe place to open up about our lives. And it's also amazing to hear/see what just flows when we recognize that trust exists and we can really be ourselves...

On Monday morning I was thinking about some of the conversation. Here's a bit of the flow of thoughts coming after Sunday...on Monday, if that makes sense...
Am I uncomfortable with the things that make God uncomfortable? Death, injustice, poverty - things like these "bother" God. I can comfortably omit them from my radar...
Weird expressions of faith - certain language, music, mannerisms and practices that make the "in crowd" (variously defined as "believers", "church attenders", "Christians", etc.) comfortable, but others uncomfortable - do these make God uncomfortable? Are these "expressions of faith" "sins of commission" by churches and those who claim to be followers of Jesus?

Next Sunday, the 17th, at Mark and Lyn's at 6PM...hope to see you there.

Join us

Sunday, 10/10
From 4-6PM
@Mark & Lyn's
If you get the chance before then, listen to Anne Rice's story at http://www.iamsecond.com/.

More thoughts...

Along the way, there are some other thoughts that made it to another blog...sometimes it seems like a galaxy far, far away...other times those thoughts don't seem so far away. Anyway, they're at www.marksbytesoflife.com.

Well...

For sometime now, we've been wondering, "What's next?" While we're still not sure, we want to begin to explore this question with a group of people...
What if together we explore some ideas like:

• This life thing isn't a solo voyage...
• IF God does love us and wants us to know him individually and collectively...that's worth investigating.
• Individually and collectively, we have choices. One choice is to be givers or takers. We can be individual or collective givers or takers. Most of my experience is as a taker, both individually and collectively. I want that to change. How about you?
• I can't bring about this change on my own. I need God and I need others. I contend that you do too.
• St. Ireneus of Lyons said, Man fully alive is the glory of God. When are you fully alive?
• If the first shall be last and the last first, where am I?
• God is better than I can imagine.
• He has entrusted his image to us. That is a crazy plan. But we are his image bearers.
• We've all heard, It's not about me...OK, what does that mean?
• How do we set love land mines???