more than meets the eye

-I'm working on a sermon for Sunday about the early church as a radical community, and talking about how they weren't called "Christians" in Acts until they included Jews, Gentiles and Greeks and reflected some of the diversity of their day. I've been thinking about the word "Christian" and how it might a loaded term today, and decided to pose a question to my facebook friends asking for their first response to the word. I've received such brilliant and varied answers and have really enjoyed getting new responses.

-Serendipitous moments.

-Putting my feet up with a magazine (Marie Claire) for the first time in a while and reading a clever article (which I didn't honestly expect to find in said magazine).

dissolving into mist

-Going with Ri, my friend from New Zealand, to Slieve Croob to hike up it. The weather turned out to be terrible, but we walked for a bit and I got some great pictures before getting completely soaked. It reminded me of an old saying about Ireland I used to have (can't find it), that was something like "as you look upon it, you feel like any moment it might dissolve into the mist." Our path up the mountain was rapidly dissolving into the mist (and heavy rain), so we went driving around countryside instead.

-An old battered phone box. These have become so fashionable in the States. I remember a part of Houston that has these freshly-laquered phoneboxes everywhere, and can't help thinking that this is how they're meant to look (missing windowpane and all).

-Stopping to take a picture of this thistle and having Ri laugh saying "those are awful prickly things to us...it's so funny to see you take a picture of one!" I replied that to me they're reminiscent of Braveheart and full of history and romance. True American idealism displayed, but I love it.

heavy and light

-A deep theological conversation that lasted through snacks, lunch, coffee and dessert and filled most of the time in between each.

-A sudden downpour of rain, the kind that you hear before you see. I adore rainstorms...they make me feel cozy and secure.

-Jonee playing one of his favorite records saying, "I love this drummer. He has the lightest touch."

hello neighbo(u)r

-A bizarre experience in the bathroom at St. George's Market. A lady walked in and said "Oh no, there's a line" which immediately told me she wasn't from here (they say "queue"). I said, "Are you American?" and two people answered me. It turns out the lady in front of her was too. We talked a bit about what we're doing here (holiday, a brave move after the kids were out of the house, church work) and where we were from and another lady came out of a stall and said "Texas? I'm from Lousiana!" So, we ended up with 4 Americans in the bathroom (which sounds like the beginning of a bad joke). It was really fun.

-Buying gorgeous bright pink dahlias to put in our newly-weeded garden and delicate little local potatoes to have for dinner. I roasted them (the potatoes, not the flowers) with garlic, evoo and parmesan and then tossed them with fresh basil and smoked salmon. Delicious!

-Going out of my door at the exact moment that the little old lady across the way was going out of hers. I went over to say hello and actually get to know her a bit. I learned about her shopping routine, her sore knee, her family and her desire for a peaceful 12th (the 12th of July is a big Loyalist celebration, and can bring with its parades a bit of trouble and backlash from the Republican community, though it hasn't in this area for several years). People here really are so friendly when you talk to them.

knights, hobbits and Spirit (or Knights of the Coffee Table)

-A really fantastic night of live music. I went to hear my friend Kellie's band, The Lowly Knights, who are brilliant. It was part of a festival (Trans:mission), though, so my friend Catherine and I just went from one band to another all night, getting a good variety of sounds. Lowly Knights are still my favorite. At one point Catherine turned to me and said (as we danced) "How can you help but dance to this music?" I completely agreed.

-I've had a bit of a cold for the last week and can't seem to shake it, so I decided to make an effort to do so today: I made homemade chicken noodle soup, spent most of the day in my pj's and watched Lord of the Rings. I'm still not quite 100%, but today definitely helped.

-I really don't know what magical thing happens in coffee shops for me when I'm trying to write sermons, but they just flow when written there. Maybe the Spirit prefers coffee (I think She just might). I love the buzz and energy I get from figuring out how the good news is found in a text in all its messiness, and how to get that across to people.

mad love

I've been at Summer Madness the past 5 days with Fitzroy young people...here's some glimpses of grace from there and afterwards.

-Really enjoying being around the young people and getting to see their creativity, humor, deep faith and joy. We had such a great time.

-Irish dancing at the talent night.

-Followed by a harpist playing one of my favorite songs from Braveheart. From the first couple plucks of the strings, I recognized it and was transfixed the rest of the time.

-Hearing Foy Vance, one of Belfast's greatest local musicians play in his quirky way (that's a violin bow he's using on his guitar). One of his songs "Homebird" was my soundtrack when we were negotiating a call back to Belfast, and when he played it with me in this place, I got a little teary and felt so grateful to be here.

-Listening to prominent evangelical pastor and writer Bryan McLaren and hearing him speak prophetically about how we read the Bible. He said that "authority isn't about knowledge, it's about love" and went on to describe the different ways that slaves and slaveholders read the Bible. He said (with great courage, I think) that we have continued to read the Bible like slaveholders and asked why wouldn't we instead read the Bible like the slaves did? He then (much to my amazement) recommended that everyone there read liberation, African American and feminist theology to get a better insight into how to read the Bible this way. I talked to him afterwards and said he was welcome to come to the PCUSA dark side, where he would be very welcome, but that I appreciated his prophetic voice within his own tradition.

-The first whiff of fresh coffee when I opened a new bag.

-Getting a very thoughtful card from Lynn and Lori in which they had both said "wish you were here" and sent their love when they met up in Decatur. What a wonderful thing--to write me a note together and send it all the way here. I was very touched, and of course loved the gnome!

It's chaco time...

...which means I'm putting on my fabulous chacos, packing my favorite t-shirts and heading off to Summer Madness, Ireland's largest Christian youth conference, for 4 days. I'm camping there with Fitzroy youth (and a couple thousand others) until Tuesday. See ya then. :) Whit