Thursday, September 13, 2012

Mobius

For some unexplainable reason, I need to write about this right now and now later...even thought it's 1:06 in the morning right now.

This is about Mobius. Not the mobius strip, but kinda. Yes, this is the open mic coffee house ministry that is put on by us at the Wesleyan Campus Ministry. What started about a year and six months ago or so was a simple idea that we wanted to do something for the students on campus that was in line with our thoughts of hospitality and to give them a place to feel welcome and to have something to do on Thursday nights. (Commerce isn't exactly known for its night life).

The idea behind it hasn't changed too much over time, we still are very much about the idea of hospitality and welcome. But, what I think has been moving through this is the culture and life of a people who are in communion with the holy spirit.

Mobius has become a place for the marginalized. A place where people who would usually not get up infront of a crowd and sing, now receive standing ovations, love, and support no matter what. A place where visitors are welcomed and asked to sit with old friends and where people can find new friends. A place where those who don't have a place where they feel at home or welcomed, but they suddenly feel welcome and maybe even act a little silly just because those around them are willing to get up and act the fool just for the sake of fun and love!

Tonight, I was leaning against the "bar" where we were serving koolaid pickles and rootbeer floats, listening to a room full of twenty or so human souls uniting in song, the chorus to Rufus Wainright's Hallelujah, enjoying the beauty of the moment. Then a fellow named Warren, his first night at Mobius, got up and asked everyone to join in a hymn we all happened to know acapella. In that moment and during that song, there wasn't a stray voice, a room full of truly incredible diversity, a place filled with so many differences, were united for just a moment in time.

"Good God" I thought during the song while we sang. "This...this has to be what church is really like. This must be a glimpse of heaven."

I may be a fool, and indeed I am a huge one, but I know when I feel the spirit moving, and it was tonight. Probably, when many would say it wouldn't or shouldn't, it simply did.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

O Lord of Melons

In the morning light two seekers sat in the stained colored dew lights of the new day and prayed. As was their custom they gave thanks for all they had and shared all they had, oatmeal, peaches, yogurt, and cinnamon. Today will be a day unlike any other. Their hearts transformed by their sharing and with life given in their praise, they went onto their days at peace with the metanoia that had transpired in their simple meal together. Over the years these two had become brothers, just as the tree had become their sister, and the life all around them had become very much a part of them. An odd way to consider all the life giving creation around them family. As these two friends departed from each other, they felt lifewaves of the great spirit sounding through them and knew that these waves were meant to be shared, to let others know that they were indeed beloved.Wake up world from your daylight sleep, let your dreams replace what you perceive as truth.

Seeing the world through gratitude is something so often forgotten. How can I forget to be grateful when there is such a beautifully simple moment of true friendship right in front of me?

Metanoia. As conversion runs through my bones and change happens in my soul, I see with new eyes the moments that need to be responded in and with so much gratitude.

Here are a few:

Hearing the lifeline of a dear friend and mentor
Being present to the passion a friend has when he plays his instrument for God
Reflecting on the possibility of a moment of time that has been in prayer for
A realization and confession to move forward
Feeling at home amongst a body of friends and strangers
Continuing to try because they see something incredible about someone else
Making the time to play, especially when we are supposed to be "serious"
Cooking and eating, together
Catching up on the phone
Hearing amazing news and stories, and being just as excited if not more than the person who delivered it

Finally, I'll end with a poem my friend Shellie Ross shared with us in the Academy for Missional Wisdom


Climbing Toward You
Every morning I want to kneel down on the golden
cloth of the sand and say some kind of musical thanks for the world that is happening again--another day-- from the shawl of wind coming out of the west to the firm green
eaten, its chill and ample body
flavored with mercy. I want
to be worthy of--what? Glory? Yes, unimaginable glory.
O Lord of melons, of mercy, though I am
not ready, nor worthy, I am climbing toward you.

flesh of the melon lately sliced open and