amidst the sadness. First, while grieving the loss of our sister, Vicki, to pancreatic cancer at age 44, nine new people joined our congregation - nine people from VERY different walks of life - who have not always been loved or welcomed by the historic body of Christ. I know that I have written about this before but... today the words became flesh and it was beautiful: gay and straight, young and old, male and female, Jew and Gentile. It touched my heart to see people WANTING to be a part of a church in these strange days.Second, later this afternoon 30+ gathered together to study and discuss Marcus Borg and John Domminic Crossan's book, The First Christmas. This, as you may know, is not a sentimental trek through the holidays but a loving and clear testimony of Jesus' mission to challenge those kingdoms of greed and power that continue to suck the life out of all of us. It was a great time!
Now, it is still unclear whether we'll be able to make all of this work in an age that mistrusts institutions - especially religious ones - and we've got a lot of obstacles to overcome. But given the death of our partner and all the other challenges, today was a sign of blessing to me amidst the sadness. It felt like the Coors' version of Hendrix's "Little Wing" who sing, "All she ever thinks about is riding with the wind..." For today, at least, I can say: me, too!
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