Strands of Fate?

I don't really believe in coincidences. So when someone comes into my life in a very unexpected way, it's certainly considered worth my notice. Yet, there are some things that are a little too perfect. In fact, they are so perfectly orchestrated, it leaves a person wondering "what is so important about this circumstance?"

No matter what your opinion on the movie Meet Joe Black, there is certainly an element there of perfectly timed circumstance (the early scene in the diner). Now take that scene, and the 'coincidences' of the things said, and then multiply it several times over. That would bring you to the situation where I currently reside.

Why, for example, would someone who graduated from my alma mater and grew up in PA, randomly end up with my screen name on his buddy list? How is it possible that our time overlapped at such a small school and we never met while at school? How is it possible that he roomed with some of my friends and we never met? He has connections to Austria. I have connections to Hungary (see the history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). He has a wine collection. I wish I had a wine collection... There are more connections that I could draw, but for the sake of sparing you (from the background of each), I will let them be. It is only now, several years later, while we live in the same Western state, hundreds of miles apart, that we are finally able to meet.

I have no idea what the purpose of this connection is or why it wasn't made sooner. I can only speculate. I know, from experience, that timing is everything. Timing combined with life circumstance... is like cooking. If you are missing one essential ingredient, the bread doesn't rise, the brownies turnout hard, the pudding doesn't gel. I feel the Spirit move more at this point in my life than I did earlier. I can see much better how things may fit together. I can see purpose, direction, reasons for things to be the way they are as I move from one step to another. I am very interested to see how something with so many parallel strands will turn out. It can only influence many things to come. I feel that any fruit from this plant will be good, but not just good, great. I just wait to see the exact type.

Loose Screws - Jaws the final chapter

This is belated. I got the 16 mm screw taken out of my upper gum/bone, and the hook/wire out of my lower gum on May 2. I ate pizza. I ate salad. On Friday I ate a cheeseburger. The pizza was okay...not quite as exciting as I thought it could be. The cheeseburger was amazing. I smoked shisha, the middle-eastern flavored tobacco. It was the first time since October.

The cheeseburger was more exciting, the shisha was just additional celebrational fare. Saturday I ate a hardshell chicken taco. It was awesome. To have something that crunches between your teeth after almost 5 months time of no real crunch, well, it's nothing short of glorious.

There is a reason why there is a variety of texture in the world -for us to ENJOY. I fully intend to enjoy every crunch I am able in the next few weeks. The jaws are slowly getting used to the work-out required for green beans and salad, as well as other vegetables. Those make me want to stop eating. After all, if it's difficult, you lose your appetite.

Now it is just a matter of time to have the chrome removed. That will be amazing. I anxiously await the day that happens and plan to paint the town red. I'll get dressed up, go downtown, and flirt my way through the night with many a flashing smile.

There's a wall - what do we do now?

Where do we go now?

Well, today ABCPSW was voted out...by the regional church delegates (that is the conservative region of American Baptist Churches of the Pacific SouthWest held a vote to leave the denomination - read more about it here).

As one of the delegates present in SLO, I couldn't help but think how painful the thing is. It feels like a child deciding to disown his/her parents. Wrong. Terribly, utterly, awfully wrong.

I don't like the things PSW has done, nor do I like the direction the region has been going on the issues which have caused us to come to this point. That said, division doesn't do anyone good. It only serves to bring us further along an unhealthy path. Humans are social creatures. We function best together. It is the same way in an organization. The hand doesn't say to the foot, 'I don't need you any more, goodbye!' and leave. Ridiculous. Absurd. Yet, this is what happened today.

It caused me to think about my place in the Church.

Where do I go? What do I do? With whom do I align? I just don't know. As someone who grew up in the church with 2 minister parents, it is a difficult question. I love God. I love the teachings of Jesus. I love the way. I do not love the Church. It is a corrupt and awful institution that has created much evil and heartbreak in its path. Dating back to Constantine... when Christianity became a state religion, we can see the wake of pain. I wash my hands of this blood.

As this century begins, there is a calling, a need, a longing for a new kind of worship. There is a searching for wholeness and healing, a cure for division and pain wrought by the Church. A house divided cannot stand. Let me tell you, a new house is being built. A new way, and the same way as ever is being shown. Let us close our eyes and leap out into the abyss of unknowing. Let us take a step in this new direction. Let us walk the Way. Let us walk the only Way, in truth and light, in healing and hope. Let us tear down barriers, destroy borders. Let us be plants that reclaim the cemented sidewalk.

We will be like the German people at the Berlin Wall in 1989 - re-creating a whole Berlin. The Chinese can tell you that walls do not work. They are not defensible. They are not practical. They serve as projects of unhealthy isolation - a psychological crutch for those who build them. They never stop the onslaught of steppe peoples to the north from running into Chinese territories. Let us blast through these walls with love and understanding. Let us forge alliances, and stand on common ground.

I extend my hands to the people on the otherside. I open my arms to the margins. Join me. Join us - people like me around the country and the world. There is a call, a longing, a seeking. We will build this house together, stronger than before...
We will be mustard plants in the farmer's fields. No one can cut us out...no one can stop us from spreading the message, the word, the love. The REAL love. Agape. Our hearts are on fire. Love for people. This is the new order. This is the new direction. This will be the new proving ground. Come with me. It's time to leap.

God sometimes you just don't come through...

"Do you need a woman to look after you?...oh God sometimes you just don't come through." That's a portion of the chorus from Tori Amos' song God. That song expresses some of the hopelessness that alot of young people feel who have grown up in the faith. To address some of those issues, I've started a spirituality group for 20 somethings that meets on Thursdays at 8pm in Mojo's Coffee. As a group, we hope to address questions and struggles around God and spirituality in general.

It's a brand-spanking-new thing, so we're not sure exactly how it will take shape. That all depends on the group present. After all, it is for the people present, and so will be taylored for them and by them (similar to the name of a certain clothing line - hinthintnudgenudge - for us by ___). I'm only playing the role of a facilitator, monitoring discussion, and so I'm not asking the questions.

My vision is that it becomes it's own animal, and really takes on a life of it's own. I think it will. Time and love are the two most important factors. We'll see.

Who knows what life brings? Who knows how the spirit will move? Yet, I know it does. I can see it as the marble is cut away to reveal the form inside.