good days
I spent a few days in the woods camping last week in the Green Ridge State Forest in Western Maryland. It was a needed getaway and good for my soul. I had two days in solitude - just my tent, campfire, and fishing rod. Lots of time for prayer, rest, and enjoyment of God's beautiful world bursting into spring. Then my two sons came and camped with me the last day - hiking and fishing, eating at Bill's Place in Little Orleans (my favorite eating establishment on the planet), flinging burning marshmallows, laughing our heads off, and just enjoying being together. Good gifts of life.
Last night I was invited to share Passover with my good neighbors. Amazing food, pleasant company, and a reconnection with the story that we all find ourselves in.
Today has been another quiet day, soaking in silence as Grace is visiting our older daughter in Pennsylvania, so I have the house to myself. This week will end with our deepshift team in Kansas City, followed by the Bronx and Goshen in May.
Sitting around the campfire, I finished reading the manuscript for Phyllis Tickle's upcoming book The Great Emergence. All I can say is ... wow. My only regret: it won't be out until October ... I wish everybody could read this book now. It's breathtaking, and for all of us out on the edge, it's very, very encouraging.
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Last Week, This Week
Last week was amazing.
I spent a few days with the good people of Willow Creek Community Church. Their Shift Conference brings together a tremendous group of intelligent and energetic youth workers from around the world. I spoke at a plenary session on Wednesday and then in a breakout on Thursday. Wednesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to be Bill Hybels' and Nancy Beach's guest in the studio to record an episode of Defining Moments, the monthly CD that goes out to all WCA members. I'll share more about the recording in a future posting.
In between, I had a number of meaningful and enjoyable interchanges with some wonderful people.
Then we went to Seattle. Thursday night we had an excellent dinner with some friends from Mars Hill Graduate School and from the Episcopal Church ... including Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop Greg Rickel, Karen Ward, and Tom Cashman.
Friday I spent half the day with MHGS students - what a tremendous group! - and then our EMC tour event began.
Tomorrow I'll be at Princeton University ... they're sold out, so I can't invite you to join us. But if you live anywhere in the area, remember that we'll be in New York May 2-3 .... After my lecture, I'm looking forward to joining the Princeton Emergent Cohort in a local pub for some good conversation.
Then, later this week, I'm hoping to do some backpacking for a couple of days - a chance to catch my breath, enjoy the Spring, and prepare for our last three tour stops, in Kansas City, New York, and Goshen Indiana.
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Finding Our Way Again
This afternoon Grace was going through the stack of mail that accumulated while we were out of town last week - and there in the pile was a copy of my newest book, Finding Our Way Again.
I believe my loyal readers will find it valuable and nourishing spiritually, and I hope it will connect with a new community of readers as well.
I think there is a healthy balance being struck ... my last two books, The Secret Message of Jesus and Everything Must Change, focus on the message of Jesus and its vision of God's dream for our world. My next two books, Finding Our Way Again and an as-yet untitled book on prayer, will focus more on the personal and communal spiritual life.
I think we can best see our personal spiritual lives in the larger context of Jesus' message of God's dream for our world ... and at the same time, we have to translate Jesus' global message of good news into our daily lives, so the inner ecology of our souls will contribute to a new outer ecology in our world.
I'll try to post some more about the new book later this week. My apologies to readers who are having a hard time keeping up ... but I hope you'll find this new book as enjoyable and rewarding to read as I found it to write.
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Art-Lovers near Boston and DC?
If you're in or around Boston, you should check out this show by my friend Bob Jackson. Amazing work!
And if you're around DC, don't miss Blair Anderson's show at Ranazul, April 7-30 - reception 4-5 pm on April 20.
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Why I Like Anglicans and Anabaptists
They aren't as likely as some religious folk are to kill or torture you (literally or metaphorically) ... as the great philosopher Eddie Izzard explains here ...
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