Waving or Drowning?

Ontario Tour II

The Tour rolls on; it really is amazing what you can do on very little sleep and illegal levels of caffeine in your blood stream.

Let's see... where did we leave off? Oh yes - Pernell. We hooked up at the other place, and I think we clicked about 3 seconds after I sat down. Our 10 o'clock coffee turned into a 1 o'clock lunch which turned into a 3 o'clock hug in the parking lot of the Burlington Philthy McNasty's - which is a much calmer place by day... really. Pernell waxes elequently (and then gets goofy) about our time together here. Needless to say I can see a lot of plotting and scheming together in our future.

From there it was off to Melinda's (don't worry - I've begged her to kill the music loop on her site...) for dinner and conversation with the Christian TV mogul herself and 4 of her friends. This is a weekly event for them, and it was great to sit in and inject a few heresies of my own into the conversation. That crew bailed at about 10:30 (leaving me to do the dishes - no small task on Taco Night), but Round 2 started when Mel's roommate Zoe came home, and their friend Shant dropped in. Shant is an N.T. Wright fan/scholar, so we talked books for a while (thanks for the reading list, Shant), and then the four of us sat around until way too late trying to solve the church world's problems.

Yesterday morning was something I had been looking forward to for a while. Reid has been a close friend for more years than I can count, and was my best man at our wedding almost 13 years ago. He's also one of those people I haven't been able to connect with since moving to Vancouver 2 years ago. We spent 3 hours in the Oakville office making up for lost time, and it was a pleasure. Those friendships where you can go long periods of time with no contact and then hook up like you spoke yesterday are a gift.

From there it was over to Chris and Barb's place to spend some time with their boys JustUs and Jameson, and "the girls", Merlin and Jester, two of the most beautiful chocolate labs you'll ever see. We go way back - in fact, Sue and Barb met in kindergarten. Life has taken us all in different directions, but by the time we moved to Vancouver two years ago we were living on the same street in Oakville. I had the privilege of participating in "bath time", and then Chris and I went out and ate far too much of the world's greatest sushi. What a great night!

Today is busy too. Ooops... gotta run.

Ontario Tour

The blog has been fairly quiet, but the Easter 2005 Tour continues back here in Ontario.

I spent Easter weekend with family... it was great to catch up with everyone. Sunday morning I managed to hit The Meeting House with my 2 sisters and families. Man, I miss that place. (Next week they're starting a 2 part series on The DaVinci Code, which should be fascinating. You can catch the mp3's on the net after the fact.)

Sunday night was interesting. I got together with 6 friends from my Salvation Army days, and we played cards until midnight. Just as people were getting ready leave a couple them started to ask me questions... about what I "believe now". 3 hours later I crawled into bed. Very cool conversation.

Yesterday I added to the list of bloggers I've met in the flesh by having lunch with Darryl Dash. We had a great time... Darryl is such a positive guy. I admire him for his ability to lead a church through some change and keep his sanity about him. Thanks Darryl.

From there it was straight to the Starbucks Oakville office for coffee with my friend Melinda. We worked together at World Vision, and now she's a high powered Christian TV mogul. We schemed and dreamed and talked about how she could get me on the show without everyone losing their jobs! (I'll be at her place tonight to join her and 5 or 6 friends as they get together weekly to have dinner and talk "God stuff".)

Last night I went downtown - I mean uptown - to see Robert's new offices and have dinner with him. I've missed him the last couple of trips, so it was good to sit down and yak. Thanks man, you are a true friend.

That's it for now - I have to get going. I'm meeting Pernell in Burlington shortly!

Peace.

A Future Not Our Own

I think I glanced at this poem when it made the rounds on the Daily Dig, but I didn't really read it. This morning Wes has emailed it out, and I saw it again with fresh eyes.

It helps, now and then, to step back
and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

Oscar Romero

It's a beautiful thought that stands on it's own. But when you consider the poet, it adds an extra dimension to the words.

 

Midnight Thots

OK, I'm going to try to stay on West Coast time as much as possible while I'm here in Ontario (I'm a wimp when it comes to jet lag), so here I am at the keyboard.

I just finished playing Minesweeper Flags on MSN with Sue (who is back in Vancouver), and now I'm sitting here watching We Will Become Silhouettes by The Postal Service... over and over again. I think Jen Lemen posted on the song a few days ago, and someone pointed out the video in a comment. I love this song. It's bizarre, but I love the song and I love the video. It definitely has the Jared Hess/Napolean Dynamite feel to it.

Love it.

OK... going to go read some more from NT. Well, maybe one more time with the video...

The Real Jesus

While here in Ontario I'm staying at my parents place, and last night I pulled N.T. Wright's Following Jesus from my Dad's substantial library. I love the way the Bishop opens the preface of the book:

"The longer you look at Jesus, the more you will want to serve him in this world. That is, of course, if it's the real Jesus you're looking at. Plenty of people in the church and outside it have made up a 'Jesus' for themselves, and have found that this invented character makes few real demands on them. He makes them feel happy from time to time but doesn't challenge them, doesn't suggest they get up and do something about the plight of the world. Which is, of course, what the real Jesus had an uncomfortable habit of doing."

That resonates with a lot of what we've been thinking about and talking about around here.

Reading II

I finished My Faith So Far on the flight out here (Ontario), and I loved it.

The word honesty comes to mind. Patton Dodd writes elequently about his conversion to charasmatic evangelicalism, his one year at Oral Roberts University, and his subsequent doubts about this thing called Christianity.

I reflected in a comment somewhere recently that I used to be believe things that I no longer do. Try as I might I have a hard time remembering the "me" who believed those things. I really want to remember so I can relate better to those who are where I was. I can't though... where those memories should be there's a big black hole instead. Patton doesn't have that problem. He does a wonderful job of introducing us to the "pre-doubts" Patton, the worship-dancing, tongue-speaking charasmatic. All the while we get the sense that "something" is coming, but he tells his story in a sincere way, without any bitterness or cynicism - even his doubts are expressed honestly. I think I like this guy.

You can find CT's book review here, and Patton Dodd's blog here. (Patton, the blog needs work, man. Loved the book, though.)

Ourmedia

"The idea is pretty simple: People who create video, music, photos, audio clips and other personal media can store their stuff for free on Ourmedia's servers forever, as long as they're willing to share their works with a global audience."

This looks like it could be interesting. Apparently the site has been receiving heavy traffic and access takes perseverance.

Reading

The good folks at Jossey-Bass have sent me a copy of My Faith So Far, by Patton Dodd.

It looks good. I'm off to Toronto on Thursday for a week or so, and this one is definitely coming with me.

In the meantime Jenelle Paris has read it and loved it. See what she has to say here.

More later.

Bookmarks

FYI I've spent a little time trying to set up my Del.icio.us page. This is a great idea. More to come.

A Call III

A Life Well Lived

Click here if you'd like to download the complete Order of Service - 2.4 MB pdf

See also A Call and A Call II