Yes, it is National Stay at Home Week!! I saw the ABC ad while watching TV and laughed, like everyone else, at the cheekiness of declaring National Stay at Home Week during premiere week. On the other hand, I actually liked the idea of having an excuse to stay at home and watch all those premieres (though not necessarily only on ABC…tough break for them!). “Sure times are tough,” says the official ABC website for National Stay at Home Week, “But hey, ABC has great TV!”
Sometimes it doesn’t take much to push me over the edge. Tired of traveling, tired of driving here and there and longing to connect with friends here in my own house, I jumped on board. Yes, I’m confessing right now. I’m celebrating a fictitious, consumer-driven holiday. I am staying home every night this week.
Except for church on Wednesday, because it’s a Worship Encounter and I don’t want to miss that!
I have been waiting to write this post for a day when I am awake and full of energy.
I gave up waiting!
New Neighbor, by Leroy Barber, is hands down one of my favorite books of the year. Those of you who know how many I read, realize that is high praise indeed. Leroy Barber spoke about the Beloved Community (to use Martin Luther King’s phrase) at Q this past April. Listening to him speak, it was obvious that Leroy had a heart to see people thrive within the idea of community. Reading his book is like walking through his neighborhood.
Leroy founded a program called Mission Year. Combine social action, personal discipleship and urban ministry and you have mission year. The book New Neighbor is written not only by Leroy, but also by Mission Year participants. And throughout the book you will also find the fabulous photographs of Brian T. Murphy. His photographs have an uncanny way of capturing the personality of his view of Atlanta. Worth the price of the book for that reason alone.
So to give you a taste of the book, I want to tell you the story of Fernando, a next door neighbor of one of the Mission Year participants. The guys found out it was Fernando’s birthday, and threw him an impromptu party. This is what William Owen writes about the impact of a simple party.
While we were setting up the rather spontaneous pomp that made up the decorations I doubt any of us thought it would have the impact it did on both our beloved neighbor Fernando and on us. After he thanked each one of us personally and gave us all hugs and then a group hug, Fernando left saying it was one of the best birthdays he’d ever had. Near the door after he let, we all stood dumbfounded. We had no idea that a few balloons and streamers and cheap cupcakes could make an adult weep to the point of being speechless. I am constantly blown away by the opportunities that God lays in front of us to learn how to love and be loved.
That sums it up: learning to see the eternal significance of cupcakes and balloons in a neighborhood where such things are rare.
Today is a nice rainy day in South Florida. On days like this I love to curl up with a good book, or even my laptop to do some surfing. So for your Sunday pleasure, I thought I’d give you some links to peruse!
Have you ever looked at PostSecret? This is a cooperative project. People mail postcards with their deepest, darkest secrets to the moderator. He posts them each Sunday. Some people find relief in sharing their secret. Some people find connections with other people, believe it or not. And everyone finds amazing insight into the spiritual condition of the people we run into daily. Now here is a warning (especially to Grammy and Pop-pop, who read my blog once in awhile): people’s secrets are sometimes graphic. There will almost certainly be unacceptable images in the list of the week’s secrets. Don’t go here if you aren’t willing to look past that in order to see people’s hearts. Also have a tissue nearby because I cry nearly every week. Here is the link.
LifeShare, an initiative of Lifechurch.tv, was a cool online worship and learning experience. Our internet campus pastor, David Helbig, took part. So did Carlos Whittaker, of Ragamuffin Soul. To see how the internet can be used for amazing outreach, go read Carlos’ blog. That Carlos: he can get his readers to do amazing things. This week sometime he should pass his 1 million mark on his blog. Wow.
I was going to give you my favorite link from Collide Magazine’s blog, but honestly I enjoy puttering through their whole site. So go explore.
Speaking of David Helbig, go check out his blog. He’s started writing again. Keep me in his top 5 referrers!!!
Finally for this rainy day, go check out Scott Hodge’s blog. He’s an incredibly creative pastor outside of Chicago. I particularly enjoy browsing his site when he posts things they have done in service: intersection of arts and worship, for instance. He’s a blogstar…he doesn’t need the blog traffic but I think you’ll enjoy reading what he’s up to.
I thought that these search engine terms were interesting. They really aren’t a bad list of things to be known for. Some days — as most of you blog writers know — the search terms are downright bizarre. And if you go back to hunt for how in the world someone found Coffee Shop Journal by searching on “Places to get drunk in San Diego” or other such bizarre phrases, you can never replicate the steps.
No, that wasn’t a real search term on Coffee Shop Journal, but I’ve had similar ones.
And I know that was a lame post…but I was intrigued by it. I’m also worn out by “deep thoughts.” Right now all I’m thinking about is how I’m going to put together the wardrobes we bought from IKEA yesterday. Do you know how many small parts are in that package?????
Maybe I’m just looking for justification for my wandering ways, but I was happy to read these verses in Proverbs today.
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances she cries aloud.
- Proverbs 8:1,2,3
When I read these verses this morning it reminded me of a sermon I heard preached by Tim Keller. He said that wisdom is what we all need to bring to our communities in any way we can. And in these verses, he said, wisdom does not stay shut up at home. She is in the high places (power and prestige centers), she is at the gates (the justice system) and she is where the paths meet (the marketplace).
Thinking about where wisdom is needed in the community changes everything: where we choose to work, what restaurants we choose to eat in, where we shop. And let us not forget my favorite…wisdom surely has a prime spot at the coffee shop, too!
This quote was found in an old copy of Real Simple magazine. It inspires me with its simplicity and truth. I’m showing it too you as it is found on my inspiration board in my back hall. The page is torn a smidge, and as you can see it is not hanging straight. But when my eyes land on it I remember what is truly important in life. A perfect day includes space and time for new discoveries inside of a good book, and it ends with an evening spent with the best of friends. How many, many perfect days I have had!
“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occuply the most splendid post, which any human power can give.”
Grace looked like a bare cement floor, empty cupboards and curtainless windows.
I don’t know know how to describe it, but it’s burning in my heart, so I have to try. Today Grace took the form of the house of a single mom I know. She’s been through the ringer. She has laid her heart open to her community of companions in a humbling display of contrition. Her life was just too overwhelming to walk through alone.
One by one the companions came. Some sorted precious belongings - few of those. Some threw out the flotsam of trash the world convinces us to horde and protect. Some brought order back, cleaned. Some came and ripped out the filthy carpets and painted the walls clean. Her house is a metaphor for her life: it is swept out now, waiting for the rebuilding process that will follow grace as surely as that wonderful smell follows the rain.
Grace looked like those bare cement floors, waiting for carpet, waiting for new life.
The best part of the journey was the diversity of her companions. The humbling part was that the hardest steps of the journey were accomplished with companions who had walked the very same road. In ripping out carpets and cleaning out cupboards they found healing from bits of their own pathways.
Grace. Undeserved, unmerited favor of an overwheming God who pours blessing after blessing over us in showers of life.
That is the conclusion I have reached this week, and it’s a good conclusion. It has worked for every situation I’ve been in!
We started our week with our Pastor’s wife and daughter, already happily touring the Boston area when David and I arrived on Monday. I noticed that Noelle (the daughter) had very definite opinions on which historical tours we were going to take: Paul Revere’s house yes, Buckman Tavern no. Favorite attraction was John Quincy Adams’ house and library. It did not take long to realize why. For Noelle, history is all about the people and their stories. “George Washington really slept here!!!” It is no coincidence that she lives her life that way, as well.
We also shared several dinners with my mother while we were here. On each occasion she added (or wanted to add) to the guest list. “I don’t want her to feel left out!” Sweet. And while I’m not going to say that my mother doesn’t enjoy our company, we have noticed that she wakes up and sparkles when there are other guests at dinner. She is alone a lot, and for her it is all about the people, too.
And then there’s me. David and I were looking forward yesterday to two friends from Florida joining us at our condo while they visit their college-freshman daughter. Brian and Robin live just up the road in Florida, but we find we connect far more often as couples in the northeast. To me, the pleasure of fall in New England was multiplied many times by sharing even a smidge of it with my friend.
Now we sit at the airport, blogging away and checking Facebook. That’s when I realized how true this post is. A quick scan down my friend’s status statements and I’m in the loop. I see that my oldest daughter — who should be studying — appears to be playing this weekend. And I can see that my baby girl must not be awake yet. A couple of their friends, however, have said really sweet things on my Facebook. And at church our adult ministries pastor’s wife is planning to come to service in spite of delivering a baby and having two surgeries, all within three weeks. I guess I won’t complain tonight when I’m too tired to want to go to church.
And I probably wouldn’t complain anyway, because at church I’m surrounded with other people making their way through this crazy kingdom. The journey would be nothing without them.
Have you heard about the mysterious new machines coming to Starbucks? They are called the Clover machine, and they elevate brewed coffee to the same status as an espresso drink. Each cup is made one amazing cup at a time in this barista-run machine. It uses a combination of a vacuum and french press to extract amazing flavor out of the beans used in the machine. Starbucks has also released a special line of beans to go with the Clover, capitalizing on its ability to deliver a bold, smooth cup of coffee every time.
Before we left Florida on this latest trip north, Jeremy (our friend, Starbucks barista ,and manager at the Starbucks outside of Macy’s) told us about the new Clover machines. Right now they have been rolled out in Seattle and Boston. Unbelievably, several of our favorite Sbux have the new machines, so David and I scurried over there today as soon as Jeremy sent a store list. I enjoyed the fact that the store we visited used to be a Friendly’s ice cream store…the very one where I spent my teenage-after-youth-group years.
So what’s the verdict? AMAZING. It’s just too bad that the Clover machines are not available on the market for home use! (Starbucks bought the company for their exclusive use). The experience was half the fun: the coffee steeps in boiling water in front of your eyes, forming a crust like you would get during a coffee cupping. It is in a little well, about 4 inches wide. Soon you notice the water level decreasing in the well, and the coffee is getting sucked down to the bottom. Then the press reverses and rises, leaving what looks like a coffee grounds “cake” on top of the machine. The barista swipes the used grounds away and the aroma of your brewed coffee starts wafting from your cup.
It is good.
David and I both found that we didn’t need nearly as much sugar (for me) or cream. The coffee was smooth and bold all at the same time.
Oh, I can’t describe it. But I’m going back tomorrow for another try.
This week I’ve been reading Death by Suburb by David L. Goetz. It’s an interesting book about using spiritual disciplines to enrich a life challenged by a suburban environment. I found an interesting intersection of thoughts with Death by Suburb and my Starbucks coffee cup today. It isn’t often that I find wisdom on my cup, but today I did! It reads:
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.
– Anne Morriss
This was startlingly similar to a thought expressed by David Goetz in his book. He was discussing the tendency to “church hop” in the suburbs, finding a new church for each phase of your life and needs. A spiritual discipline, he says, is to stay and work through the relationships that exist in your church family. Be committed to your community.
Freedom does not always mean going. In the thicker life [ed. note: a deeper spiritual life], in fact, freedom often means staying. That’s certainly true of the Christian understanding of marriage. Staying with one partner over a lifetime opens me up to the goodness of God in a way that serial monogamy doesn’t. Church is another place where freedom means staying. That seems counterintuitive, given scripture’s emphasis on the kingdom of God and its global enterprise. With both church and marriage, in a culture of options, I choose not to move. I stay rooted in community, because only in a place where I’m free not to leave can I find the “personal” in so-called personal relationship with God. This practice is all about staying in relationships when everything inside me screams to pack up my hurt feelings and find a more ideal community.
The relationships we form within our church communities are part of the plans God has for us. He intends for us to grow and prosper through them. When we know that we are committed to each other, there is freedom in not having to evaluate our decision to stay in that church over and over. We are here for each other; we will be here for you no matter what may come. We are not alone, and that is good.
