What a Week
This last week was full of travel, meeting good people and “spreading the word” that this is a great time to be alive and we can join in what God is doing wherever we find ourselves.
I was graciously taken in by people from Abilene to Orlando. I am appreciative of the opportunity to spend inside communities that included college campuses, churches, a denominational retreat, friends homes and a borrowed condo.
I spent much time on airplanes (8 flights in total) a task that was made much better by watching most of the first season of Arrested Development. I was sort of running that story line through my head in all the places I visited. So I was trying to not introduce myself by saying “this is the story of…” or inadvertently saying “hey brother” or “I have made a huge mistake”. If you have not seen the show I encourage you to head to Itunes, Netflix of the video store and pick it up.
So, here is a run down of my week. I should note that I did a terrible job of taking pictures. I really wanted to and missed some great moments like getting off the plane in Orlando only to run into a throng of Japanese students waiting to get on the plane – classic.
So, here is a run down of the week –
Monday – Flew to Dallas and spent the afternoon and evening with the very fine people of City Church. This is a church with the same DNA as Solomon’s Porch so it was one of those “Seinfeld Bizzaro” situations where I would meet the alternate version of people at Solomon’s Porch. We had some fabulous brisket and Laura’s house and talked about church life.
That night I took a 9 PM flight to Abilene where Kelly Pigott (a guy with a nearly perfect last name) picked me up and took me to a neat little hotel.
Tuesday – Kelly picked me up and we headed to Hardin-Simmons University campus. The school has Southern Baptist connections but is not part of the fundamentalist take-over of the denomination. “Fundamentalist” is a term that I was told is seen as a good thing among the people of that denomination who has imposed there views on the denomination.
My time at the school was terrific. I spoke in chapel, and a class, then had a terrific discussion over the lunch hour with faculty and students. It was an invigorating time.
Kelly then took me to a Bar-B-Q place for lunch – meat meal number 2.
I then flew back to Dallas and changed planes for Oklahoma City.
Brad Strawn of Southern Nazarene University picked me up from the airport and brought me to the campus.
Wednesday – Brad met me bright and early and we had breakfast and then headed to a class. I did my “what is this emerging Christianity movement” material in a theology class and then headed to chapel. I found that I really liked doing these chapels. After chapel we took a little break and then headed to another class. God bless college professors for working with freshmen. We then had lunch and headed to the airport so I could fly back to Dallas.
Danielle Shroyer picked me up and we headed to dinner with some Emergent Village Cohort people. This was great time. I connected with Phil and Stephanie Shepherd who are part of Solomon’s Porch and are now starting a faith community in Fortworth. I also got to spend time with Brad Cecil – such a treat. About 25 of us sat on the patio of the restaurant and they let me go on for a bit about my book.
I spent the night at Danielle and Dan’s house.
Thursday – I got up in the morning and got to hang out with Grant – he is Danille and Dan’s 3 year old. Man I love kids that age. He totally reminds me of Jackson Shirber from Solomon’s Porch (who is Shelley’s little boy-crush). So we sat around and talked silly for a while. After dropping him off at pre-school I headed for SMU where I spoke in some classes. This a great time as well – good interaction and conversation.
That night I had dinner with some folks from Journey, Danielle’s church. We then went to their space – which totally reminded me of our first space at SP, man I miss those days. They were in the second part of a three-part conversation on “making ends meet”. I led a discussion on how we can engage with the working poor. I used my own upbringing and current life as a property owner to frame the conversation that this not about the other, but about people we ought to know.
Danielle was good enough to have me stay over and then get up at an ungodly hour and take me to the airport for a 6:30 AM flight to Orlando.
Friday – I took two flights from Dallas to get to Orlando where Greg Miliam picked me up. He had invited me to speak at a retreat of Young Adults for the Community of Christ denomination. It was at this point that I realized just how broad the spectrum of people I was interacting with on this trip. Baptist, Nazarenes, Methodists, Emergenty people, and now a denomination that has gone through significant change in the last 150 years and live under the affect of their history. It is really something how many varieties of Christianity I interact with. They all have their own history and bias. They are all lovely in their own ways. And they all have their own needs to change. What is encouraging is that we seem to be moving beyond the question “how are you different from me” to “what do we have in common”. I think this move require empathy more than tolerance. The old world of ecumenicalism called for tolerance or putting up with each other. But this new world is inviting us to see the world from the perspective of the other – there are so many good things that will come from this.
We were at a camp in the Ocala Forest in central Florida. I met the sand lice or whatever they call them, when they devoured my arms and legs – I am itching at this very moment. I had a great time with these folks. We talked our way through the first 3 chapters of the book of Mark.
That afternoon we went to Sonny’s and had Bar-B-Q (meat meal 3 in 6 days). Then Greg took me to Daytona Beach where Jamie and John Bradley were on vacation. We live across the street from them so they took me in for a day. They were with Jamie’s cousin and husband in a really nice condo owned by a family friend. So we chatted for a while and then I went to meet a couple of Facebook friends at a restaurant. David and Amy were traveling from Canada to visit Florida and we had connected on Facebook abut getting together in Florida with some folks. It turned out to just be us but we had a nice time.
Monday – I tried to get home early but was not able to so I had to spend the day in Daytona Beach – which is not all bad. We went to the beach while it was still sprinkling and I got right in the waves. We rode waves for a few hours and since the weather was cool and cloudy headed back for lunch and stayed and I stayed at the condo for rest of the day just hanging out doing nothing.
Then we headed for dinned to a, you guessed it Bar-B-Q place. That is four times in a week.
Tuesday- John was kind enough to wake up early and take me to the airport at 6:30. Which is where I am now. I am ready to get home and see my family and get back to normal life for a week before heading to Denver next week.
Well, thanks for reading this long recount and for paying attention to my blog.
Hey, anyone up for a little Famous Dave’s I gotta a hanker’n.
2 Responses to “What a Week”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:59 pm
That’s quite a travel and talk log. Sounds exhausting. As far as Arrested Development, you can get it for free at hulu.com if you’re in a place with an internet connection. Doesn’t help much for a plane ride, but it’s a free way to go.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Amy and I had a great time chatting with you. The fish must have been a nice break from all the bbq! We actually hit up Sonny’s as well today.
Hope you had a nice flight home.