This is not, I repeat, not, Pollyanna here: Yesterday was WONDERFUL! Not only did I pay $2.75 for lunch (which consisted of a slice of pizza, a piece of bread, a piece of pie, AND a Coke) and then have Thai food provided by the Pittsburgh something something (thank you John Stahl-Wert) for dinner, but I got to see John & Alyssa & Nate (and those other guys) on stage at Club Cafe, I got my brain twisted around by a really smart theologian, and I got to hear about the birth of the Open Door. Wow! Way too much to blog about unless I got that job where I get paid to read and write blogs. So a few shining moments:
- Sitting with Marlaena at Club Cafe (who is going to Mississippi for a week to help rebuild from Katrina) and just chatting. M is one of my favorite folks and she lives in the South Hills so I don't see her a lot and I totally wasn't thinking that she'd be at the TSE concert. What a bonus!
- Sitting with Erica at the Union Project--another one of my favorite folks. She is a quiet, unassuming, wonderful woman. She is also the keeper of the OD's tea lights. She and her hubby went to the South Side for the "Big Game" aka the Super Bowl. You can read about the mayhem from Pat's blog, here.
- Chatting with Cara at the lecture and realizing that some people, though they will be friendly, don't really want to take the time to be your friends. And then having someone come from behind and intentionally say, "Hi, I'm X, I go to the OD too, surprised I haven't seen you there."
- BJ winking at me as I left the UP to go to the TSE concert (oh how I hated to leave such a juicy talk on the EC, but I told two people I'd be there, and as you read above, it was worth it.) It is weird for me to realize that BJ and I only have one year difference, but it's also cool. (I only realized we were so close in age this year, and I've known the man at least ten years.) Katrina, his wife, is older, so that's probly the vibe I was picking up.
- John Franke (pronounced Frank-ey) did not say a single thing that made me sad to be in this Emergent/Missional journey that the OD is on. The main thesis statement: CONTEXT! Be the church where you are, to the people you got. Focus on Christ, of course, but a church in the burbs is going to be doing things differently from a church on the South Side. I'll blog on this later in more depth. Terry Mann was there, another one of my favorite folks. His comment was this: "We had to figure out where people's third place was. And in Cranberry, it's kid's sports. So I coached 9 year old girls soccer. My children are grown. I do not have a 9 year old girl. But I did it to be out there in the community, where people were." (Not an exact quote, left my reporter's recorder at home...but that was the gist.)
And wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles, what did I find this morning, while sitting here blogging? The NEW TSE CD (wow that's a lot of caps) "can't make out the stars." I know soon I will be finding my regular watch. (But the one I got for Christmas *is* very nice.)
1 comment:
Wow! That does sound like a fabulous day. Makes all the so-so days so much easier to bear :)
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