musing...

in soong-chan rah's excellent the next evangelicalism he suggests that second generation american immigrants often live in a dialectical manner insofar as they are concurrently insiders and outsiders to their ethnic culture and insiders and outsiders to american culture.

i'm intrigued by this concept of dialectical living insofar as i seek to openly engage the complexities of our world while still embodying and being shaped by my evangelical faith.

i suspect that this dialectical approach is often as frustrating to my family, friends and colleagues as it is to me. however, i have yet to find a better way to move forward.

brief notes about my sabbatical journey

the good folks at the gathering have given me six weeks off to read, think and pray. i greatly appreciate the space because lately, due more to work than anything else, i have really been running on empty.

my sabbatical started on sunday and my experience of what God is doing in beverly has already expanded markedly.

on sunday i worshiped with the good folks at the harbor church in beverly. this vibrant church plant is filled with college students and a few older, wiser folks who are not only passionate about worshipping God, but also incarnating the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ in very practical ways throughout the city of beverly. although the liturgy at the harbor had a little youth group aftertaste, i was inspired by their activism and their passion to grow.

tonight the boston cohort met at unos in porter square and the only folks to show up - for the first 1:45 anyway, i'm not forgetting you kieran! - were six members of a new intentional community from beverly. i knew kirk, suzanne and a couple of members of this community already, but i had no idea that 13 inspired, confused, missional and intentional christians were setting up shop in my backyard. we had an engaging conversation at cohort, but i was really enthused by my later visit to their triple decker. if i had closed my eyes and lit a camel light, i would have sworn i was at the red house in columbus ohio, circa 2002 and i'll be damned if the vibe of the house didn't remind me a little of l'arche.

so yeah, i've really enjoyed my sabbatical thus far and am mostly looking forward too, but also a little nervous about, my upcoming ordination on sunday, august 9th. i should say more about the latter commitment, but, in my enthusiasm, i've totally neglected the cards' score and need to get to it.

much peace, much love.