International Contemporary Worship Service at Brotherhood

Reflections from the College/Young Adult Outreach Service
Faith Connection
at Brotherhood Presbyterian Church on September 7th at 5 pm

As the beat of the African Drum gave way to the Island beat of the Congo Drums and finally the Rock beat of the American Drum set, the first monthly outreach worship service at Brotherhood Presbyterian Church was called to worship. They were 50-60 people from America, Africa and Asia gathered to worship the Triune God together. The service was specifically an outreach to college age students and there were 11 students from WSU and Friends as part of the worshipping congregation that ranged in age from 7 to 70 years old. The service was a joint effort by Brotherhood and Covenant Presbyterian Churches but also included people from Grace Presbyterian and First Presbyterian in Wichita in the praise and projection team. The Praise team set the tone for a lively and interactive and upbeat worship with contemporary songs like “Cover the Earth”, “All Around”, “Because of Your Love”, “Better than Life” and “Sweeter”. The worship leadership team, Rob Erickson (Covenant), Eric Williams (Brotherhood), Daisy Karagaram (WSU Chaplain) and Laura Frazey (Covenant) acted out the story of Jesus feet being washed by a women at the Pharisee’s house in Luke 7:36-50. Rob Erickson preached on “The Call of Christ to Conversation, Community and Compassion”. There was a real sense of community in the worship service as participants entered into conversation with God and with each other around the compassion of Christ.

“People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat at table in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:29)

After the worship service we gathered in the Fellowship Hall of Brotherhood for a shared meal. We had planned for 25 people and Christ helped us multiply the Loaves and Fish (actually sandwiches, brownies, chips and apple sauce) to feed the 40 people who were gathered for supper at 6 pm. It was a great time to find out about major areas of study, home countries and family as we gathered as one faith family. We had people from Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Newton and Wichita all sharing their stories together as we ate in community with Christ.

Around this table alone we had students who were majoring in sociology, electrical engineering, medicine, dance, special elementary education and music. Our next service and shared meal will be on World Communion Sunday, October 5th at Brotherhood. We would invite all youth and young adults and people of all ages who would like to be part of a growing, exciting, international and contemporary worship experience in Wichita to join us at 5 pm on October 5th for worship and a meal together in the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.

International Trinity Conference in Wichita, Oct 17-19 at Covenant Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church

If you are interested in further study and reflection on the Trinity and how the Triune God comes in contact with our life and guides us in mission, worship, ethics, Christian community, and the church then please come to our Trinity Conference on October 17-19, 2008 at Covenant Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church in Wichita. We are bringing in three amazing theologians from around the world: Dr. Daniel Migliore from Princeton Theological Seminary; Dr. Cynthia Rigby from Austin Theological Seminary and Dr. Alan Torrance from St. Marys College in St. Andrews, Scotland. All three have written and taught extensively on the Trinity and will bring a clarity and insight into this mystery that will allow us to fully appreciate what it means to call ourselves disciples who believe in a Triune God revealed in Jesus Christ. You can find out more information on the conference if you visit our web site www.covenantwichita.org

Good books and essays to read to prepare for the conference are:
"Faith Seeking Understanding" by Daniel Migliore
"The Power of God and the gods of Power" by Daniel Migliore
"Blessed One" editted by Cynthia Rigby
"More than a Mystery" essay by Cynthia Rigby (teaching the Trinity to youth, available at the ptsem.edu website)
"The Doctrine of God and Theological Ethics" editted by Alan Torrance
"Persons in Communion: An Essay on Trinitarian Descriptions and Human Participation" by Alan Torrance

Study Session for the William Young Book "The Shack"

I am publishing the whole study guide that we used for s summer book study of the William Young book "The Shack" so that people who might want to read the book and reflect on their own without having to join a class would have that opportunity. Attached with this blog is the syllabus for the class and the following blogs present each class in order. I hope that you will find this study useful.

Study sessions for “The Shack”
August 3 The Great Sadness (pages 1-66)

August 10 Our Images and Understanding of the Triune God (pages 67-103)
Chapter 5 Guess who’s coming to dinner What do we call God? How do we image God? Who is the Trinity?
Chapter 6 A Piece of Pie What about human freedom and God’s sovereignty and goodness?

August 17 Conversing with the Triune God (pages 104-150)
Chapter 7 God on the Dock Conversations, devotions and relationship with the triune God.
Chapter 8 Breakfast of Champions Hierarchy in the Trinity, reality of evil and the difference between Justification and redemption.
Chapter 9 A Long Time Ago, In a Garden Far, Far Away The difference between good and evil, and messy garden of our soul.
Chapter 10 Wade in the Water How does fear get in the way of faith and the future?

August 24 Judgment and Jesus and Grace (pages 151-208)
Chapter 11 Here Come Da Judge An expose on how we judge others and assume God judges us.
Chapter 12 In the Belly of the Beast The presence of Jesus with us in tribulation and our blindness.
Chapter 13 A Meeting of Hearts The Princess story revisited
Chapter 14 Verbs and Other Freedoms

August 31 Concluding Conversation (pages 209-247)

Conversations around the book"The Shack" Session 1

Conversation around the book “The Shack”

Read pages 1-66 “The Great Sadness”

Forward: Type of story- Parable written for his children.

“Mack is not very religious. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with Religion, and maybe even with the God that he suspects is brooding distant, and aloof” (page 10) What words would you use to describe God?

“He wanted a narrative to help him express to them (his wife and children) understand what has been going on in his inside world. You know that place: where there is just you alone- and maybe God, if you believe in him. Of course, God might be there even if you don’t believe in him. That would be just like him. He hasn’t been called the Grand Interferer for nothing.” (page 12) What are names that you use to describe God? What are names or images that are comfortable for you in expressing who God is? Have you ever heard of or thought of God as the “Grand Interferer”? What are the implications of that name for God?

Chapter 1 A Confluence of Paths

“There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine. Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules.” (page 15) What about interruptions in your life? Mack receives a note signed Papa (God) but he doesn’t tell anyone. Why not? Have you ever received a message that you suspected might be from God and not told anyone?

Chapter 2 The Gathering Dark

Context of the story- Oregon’s Gorge and Multnoma Falls, Columbia River Gorge. What about the redemption story of the Indian princess? How do you think the exchange between Missy and Mack anticipates Mack’s conversations with Jesus? “Daddy, how come she had to die?...Honey, she didn’t have to die. She chose to die to save her people. They were very sick and she wanted them to be healed.” (page 30)
”Is the Great Spirit another name for God- you know Jesus’ papa?...Then how come he is so mean…making the princess jump off the cliff and Jesus die on the cross.” …”Sweetheart, Jesus didn’t think his daddy was mean. He thought his daddy was full of love and loved him very much. His daddy didn’t make him die. Jesus chose to die because he and his daddy loved you and me and everyone in the world. He saved us from our sickness, just like the princess.” Mack is offering an explanation for the atonement here. What do you think of this explanation? Does Mack really believe it?

“Will God ever ask me to jump off a cliff? No, Missy. He would never ask you to do anything like that.” Here Mack is talking about the reality of evil and the sovereignty of God.

Chapter 3 The Tipping Point

Mack describes Nan’s job “She helps people think through their relationship with God in the face of their own death…Nan’s a lot better than I am. I guess she thinks about God differently than most folks. She even calls him Papa because of the closeness of their relationship, if that makes sense….I’m not comfortable with it (referring to God as Papa). It’s just seems a little too familiar for me. Anyway, Nan has a wonderful father, so I think it’s easier for her”. This statement foreshadows Mack’s conversation with God later in the parable and his struggle with language for God and openness to God.

In the incident with the canoe tipping how many people felt guilty? Mack’s words to Emil “This wasn’t your fault and everyone’s ok”. What about Mack guilt when he discovers that everyone wasn’t ok?

Chapter 4 The Great Sadness

“It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game and playing it is a short slippery slide into despair. If only he had decided not to take the kids on that trip; if only he had said no when they asked to use the canoe; if only he had left the day before; , if only, if only, if only.” And then to have it all end with nothing. The fact that he was unable to bury Missy’s body magnified his failure as her daddy.” (page 65) Have you ever played the “if only game”? What are other options

The Shack Session 2 "Our Images and Understanding of the Triune God"

Conversation around the book “The Shack” Session #2

August 10, 2008 Read pages 67-103 Our Images and Understanding of the Triune God

Chapter 5 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross described 5 stages of grief in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying”: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. Which of these stages do you see in Mack. Is he stuck in any one stage or is he moving through the stages of grief? (page 78/79)

“’I’m tired of trying to find you in all this.’ And with that, he walked out the door. Mack determined that this was the last time he would go looking for God. If God wanted him, God would have to come find him.” (page 80) Who finds who? Do we find God or does God find us? Remember the story of Zaccheus (“Hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today. Luke” 19:5) or the story of Jesus intrusion into the disciple’s life, “Follow, I will make you fishers of men.” In chapter 6 Mackenzie says “I feel totally lost” and Papa says “Then let’s see if we can find you in this mess.” (page 97) Notice hwo God finds Mack in the chaos and not the other way around.

How would you explain the Trinity if someone asked you to? A black women named Elousia (“God is salvation”) or Papa who smelled like Mack’s mother, a Middle Eastern Jewish man dressed like a laborer and an Asian women named Sarayu (Hindi for common wind) who tended the garden. “Since there were three of them, maybe this was a Trinity sort of thing…Which one of you is God?... ‘I am,’ said all three in unison.” How does this “Trinity” force or allow or challenge you to think about the triune God?

Chapter 6 A Piece of Pi

“Calling you Papa is a bit of a stretch for me” (page 91)…I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature…To reveal myself to you as a very large white grandfatherly figure with flowing beard, like Gandalf, would simply reinforce your religious stereotypes, and this weekend is not about reinforcing your religious stereotypes.” What are your religious stereotypes for God? What are the good things about those ways of imaging God and what are the difficulties? Jesus called God “Abba”. What was the purpose of this personal name for God? Genesis 1:26,27 says: “Then God (Elohim) said, ‘Let us create humankind in our image, according to our likeness….so God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” What do you think of this passage in light of the parable we are reading? Did you know that in the Old Testament there are several names for God including Elohim, Yahweh, El Shaddai, Adonai?

“If you couldn’t take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?” (page 92) When Mack asks this question he is entering into the question of “theodicy”- questioning the righteousness of God. If God is all powerful and all good and yet bad things happen how can all this fit together? This is the question that Rabbi Harold Kushner asks in “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”. Kushner’s conclusion in a nutshell is that God isn’t as all powerful as we think. What is the answer or conversation that is offered in “The Shack”. A couple other books to read on this subject are by two Christian authors C.S. Lewis’ “A Grief Observed”, Philip Yancey’s “Where is God When it Hurts” or another Jewish author Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie”.

“You knew I would come, didn’t you?” Mack finally spoke quietly. “Of course I did.” She (Papa) was busy again with her back to him. “Then, was I free not to come? Did I have a choice in the matter?” …”Good question- how deep would you like to go?...”Do you believe you are free to leave?” “I suppose I am. Am I?” “Of course you are! I’m not interested in prisoners” “Or if you want to go a wee bit deeper, we could talk about the nature of freedom itself. Does freedom mean that you are allowed to do whatever you want to do? Or we could talk about all the limiting influences in your life.” (And Papa goes on to talk about genetic heritage; your souls sickness that inhibits and binds you (ie. sin); and the cultural influences of advertising, propaganda and paradigms.) What is freedom really? “Only I can set you free, Mackenzie, but freedom can never be forced.” How does this passage affect your understanding of human freedom? How do these readings on freedom resonate with what Papa says in the parable? “Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17); “For freedom, Christ has set you free” (Galatians 5:1); “We have heard with our ears, O God (Elohim) our ancestor have told us…you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but you set them free.” (Psalm 44:1,2)

“Mackenzie, the Truth shall set you free and the Truth has a name; he’s over in the woodshop right now covered in sawdust. Everything is about him. And freedom is a process that happens inside a relationship with him. Then all the stuff you find churning around inside will start to work its way out….Mack noticed the scars in her wrists, like those he now assumed Jesus also had on his. She allowed him to tenderly touch the scars.” (page 95) What do you make of the fact that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all part of our redemption on the cross?

“You were created to be loved. So for your to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around.” (page 97) God uses the image of a bird not flying as an image of human living as if we are unloved. “Pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly.” (page 95) “Love and relationship. All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exisits within Me. Within God myself. Love is not a limitation; love is the flying. I am love.” (page 101) This statement by Papa is from 1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

The Shack Session 3 "Conversing with the Triune God"

Conversations around the Shack, Session 3 “Conversing with a Triune God”

Chapter 7 “God on the Dock”

“So this was God in relationship? It was beautiful and so appealing.” (p.105) These are Mack’s thoughts on the relationship within the triune God. Have you ever thought about the relationship of God with Godself? How does this idea square with the idea presented in Chapter 6 “All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exists within me…I am love.” (p. 101) or the idea later in Chapter 7 “Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power us to choose to limit oneself- to serve.” (p. 106)

What do you think about the idea of devotion as “affirming and celebrating God” described in page 107?

Mack speaks about the “real indwelling” of God with Godself and with humanity in page 112. The theological name for this “perichorisis”. What does this mean about the intimacy of God is relationship with God and us?

Chapter 8 “A Breakfast of Champions”

Hierarchy of the Trinity? “I have always thought of God the Father as sort of being the boss and Jesus as the one following orders, you know, being obedient. I’m not sure how the Holy Spirit fits in exactly.” (page 121) How have you usually thought of the hierarchy of the trinity? What do you think of God’s response “We have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are a circle of relationship, not a chain of command. (page 122) What do you think of this response? If we are created in the image of this kind of God, what are the implications for us?

Mack challenges God with these words: “You may not cause these things, but you certainly don’t stop them.” (page 125) Again, Mack is judging God in what we call theodicy. God’s ultimate response to Mack is “The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don’t think that I am good. If you knew I was good and the everything- the menas, the ends and all the processes of individual lives- is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I’m doing, you would trust me. But you don’t.” (page 126) What do you think of this as a possible definition of original sin- not trusting God, believing God is good.

Chapter 9 “A Long Time Ago in a Garden Far, Far Away”

Chapter 9 provides another insight into theodicy from Sarayu: “Humans have a great capacity for declaring something good or evil, without truly knowing”. (page 133) Mack responds like most of us: “I would say that something is good when I like it- when it makes me feel good or gives me a sense of security. Conversely, I’d call something evil if it causes me pan or costs me something I want.” (page 134) Do you agree with Sarayu’s assessment that for humans, good and evil is highly subjective and our decided good and evil is in itself divisive and destructive? What about Sarayu’s reframing of the idea of evil to describe it as “the absence of Good” and since the triune God is good and light and love and life, then evil is when we are separated from God. Sarayu even goes farther to say that independence from God is evil.

What do you think about the image of a messy but beautiful garden of flowers as a representation of our soul- a mess but incredible and wonderful at the same time.

Chapter 10 “Wade in the Water”

Jesus asks Mack a good question for all of us to answer: “Where do you spend most of your time in your mind, in your imagination, in the present, in the past, or in the future?” Jesus correctly anticipates Mack’s answer that he spend most of his time worrying about the future and rarely is Jesus in that picture. What about you?

Jesus forces Mack to think about the difference between coercive power and mutual submission in page 145. The triune God exists in mutual submission to each other and even to created human beings?!! (page 145) When Mack confesses his relational failures, Jesus invites him into a process of repentance and change that we call metanioa. “It is so simple, but never easy for you. By returning . By returning back to me. By giving up your ways of power and manipulation and just come back to me.” (page 147) What are some of the practical implication of this for us?

Finally Jesus talks about being a disciple. “Being my follower is not trying to be like Jesus, it means for your independence to be killed. I came to give you life, real life, my life…but we will never force that union on you.” How radical is this demand “for your independence to be killed”? Why does Jesus say that our independence is what gets in the way of our relationship with God and with each other? How can we, square this challenge, with the culture which asserts with every breath that we must be independent?

The Shack Session 4 "Judgement, Jesus and Grace

Session 4 The Shack Chapters 11-14 “Judgment and Jesus and Grace

Chapter 11 “Here Come da Judge

The chapter starts with a quote from Einstein “Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge of truth and knowledge is ship wrecked by the laughter of the gods.” When Mack is asked to say which of his children he loves the most, his response is that he loves each one of them differently. What do you think of Sophia’s challenge “You don’t believe that the Father loves his children very well, do you? You don’t truly believe God is good, do you?” (page 156) What about Sophia’s challenge to Mack to judge his own children? “I’m only asking you to do something that you believe God does.” (page 162) And what do you think of Mack’s response “Could I go instead? If you need someone to torture for all eternity, I’ll go in their place.” (page 163) While he still doesn’t seem to understand God’s motivation, he at least understands God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. What insight does this dialogue give you about God’s judgment? How is your understanding of judgment changing? How about your understanding of sovereignty “This was no plan of Papa’s. Papa has never needed evil to accomplish his good purposes. It is you humans who have embraced evil and Papa has responded with goodness. What happened to Missy was the work of evil and no one in your world is immune from it.” (page 165)

What do you think of the vision of Missy and Mack’s other children does for Mack? What does it say about God?

Chapter 12 In the Belly of the Beast

Jesus also tells Mack a difficult truth when he says “Because you are so lost and independent you bring to her (Sophia) many complications, and as a result you find even her simplicity profound.” (page 172) This statement anticipates the words of Paul “God chose what is simple to shame the wise.”

Jesus also tells Mack a comforting truth about Missy. “Mack, she was never alone. I never left her; we never left her for one instant. I could no more abandon her, or you, than I could abandon myself” (page 173) Do you think Mack could have heard or accepted this statement if he had not seen Missy in the cave with Jesus? Jesus’ promised presence is not just for Missy but also with Mack. Mack responds by saying “Thank you for being with me, for talking to me about Missy. I haven’t really talked about it with anyone. It just felt so huge and terrifying. It doesn’t seem to hold the same power now.” (page 174) How do you talk to God? What gets in the way of going to God with those huge terrifying problems?

Jesus speaks again about the sovereignty of God. “And out of what seems to be a huge mess, Papa weaves a magnificent tapestry. Only Papa can work all this out, and she does it with grace” “So I guess all I can do is follow her” Mack concluded. “Yep, that’s the point. Now you’re beginning to understand what it is to be truly human.” (page 177) Theologian Paul Lehman once said “In Jesus Christ, God reveal what it is to be truly human”. Contrast the difference between thinking of real humanity as independence verses real humanity as following God completely and fully.

What do you think of Jesus description of the church “It is a picture of my bride, the Church; individuals who together form a spiritual city with a living river flowing through the middle and on both shores trees growing with fruit that will heal the sorrow and the hurt of the nations.” (page 177) Bill Hybels of Willow Creek calls the church the “Hope of the world”. How can we square these lofty images of the church with Mack’s critique that “She’s not the place I go on Sundays” (page 177) How about Jesus response “What I see are people and their lives, a living breathing community of all those who love me, not buildings and programs.” (page 178)

Chapter 13 “A Meeting of the Hearts”

Mack revisits the legend of the Indian Princess and asks “Did she have die so that you could change me?” This is one of the common explanations of tragedy ‘to teach us something’. Papa refutes that common understanding when he says, “Mack , just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean that I orchestrate the tragedies…grace does not depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.” (page 185) Notice how Papa refocuses Mack’s question about atoning death from Missy back to Jesus. Why is that so important?

What do you think of Papa’s critique of guilt? “Guilt will never help you find freedom in me. The best it can do is make you try harder to conform to some ethic on the outside. I’m about the inside.” (page 187) This statement echoes what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Scripture when he tells them that it’s not what is on the outside of the cup but what is on the inside that matters.( Matt. 2325,26) Alan Torrance in his book, The Doctrine of God and Theological Ethics, makes the point that ethics is not “heroic obedience to impersonal laws’ but rather participating in communion with God through Jesus . What do you think is the difference between ethical behavior that grows out of guilt and fear versus ethical behavior that grows out of communion with the Triune God of love and mercy and righteousness. Does it look or taste or feel different?

Chapter 14 “Verbs and Other Freedoms”

What did you think of the exchange between Mack and Sarayu when Mack says: “Somehow it seemed easier to live with God when I thought of him as the demanding taskmaster…at least I seemed to have things under control.” And Sarayu replies “Seemed is the right word. What did it get you? The Great Sadness and more pain than you could bear, pain that spilled over even on those you care for the most.” (page 196) It is so tempting to think of God as a demanding task master and our job simply to fulfill the tasks. That propels us into a works righteousness which the Reformers tried to steer us away from.

Papa uses the analogy of parent to child to help Mack understand that God’s love is not dependent on what the child does and does well. However the analogy falls down when Mack says: “But I do feel more fulfilled because they are in my life- do you? “ “No,” said Papa. “We are already fully fulfilled within ourself. You are designed to be in community as well, made as you are in our image. So for you to feel that way about your children …is perfectly natural and right. Keep in mind Mackenzie, that I am not a human being…” (page 201) This part of the book lifts us how we are created in the image of God as relational beings so that community is part of that image of God and yet God doesn’t need us.

Concluding Conversation around "The Shack"

August 31 Concluding Conversations in and about The Shack
Chapter 15 A Festival of Friends

Chapter 15 begins with a cascade of colors to describe the uniqueness of each person and each relationship. Why does the author use the symbolism of colors? What do they mean and how does this image move us forward in understanding God and each other? What do you make of Saranyu opening Mack’s eyes in light of the Gospel of Matthew (13:14-17) quoting Isaiah 6:9-10: “You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their heart and turn- and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” It is an interesting passage to read in light of Sarayu’s statement “Just imagine, Mackenzie, if I had touched not only your eyes, but also your tongue and nose and ears.” (page 217)

Think about Jesus appearance on page 216 in light of the song “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue in heaven shall confess him now.”

Chapter 16 A Morning of Sorrows

Did you notice how Papa’s response to Mack’s desire to do everything the same from worship to eating is “Nothing is ritual”. What is the author trying to tell us with this exchange?

Why was Papa able to appear to Mack as a father in this chapter?

Page 222 is such a different exchange between Mack and Papa than before. Papa says: “Could I have prevented what happened to Missy? The answer is yes …you cannot possibly understand now. At this point all I have to offer you as an answer is my love and goodness, and my relationship with you. I did not purpose Missy’s death, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it for good”. And Mack responds “You’re right. I don’t grasp it very well. I think I see a glimpse for a second and then all the longing and loss that I feel seems to rise up and tell me that what I thought I saw just couldn’t be true. But I do trust you…Papa I do trust you.” Has God changed? How has Mack’s understanding of God changed? How would Mack answer the question “Do you really trust me…do you really think I’m good” from earlier in the story?

What do you think about the discussion of forgiveness? “Forgiveness is for you the forgiver, to release you from something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly. So you think this man cares about the pain and torment you have gone through? If anything, he feeds on that knowledge…forgiveness in no way requires you to trust the one your forgive…forgiveness does not excuse anything…but don’t let the anger and pain and loss you feel prevent you from forgiving him and removing your hands from around is neck.” (page 225-227)

What about the healing power of tears? Remember when Papa said to Mack on the beginning of the trip “You will need a father today”. What do you think about the fact that even with God by his side Mack had to go through the incredible pain of discovering his little girl’s body? What comfort was there in God’s presence for Mack?

Chapter 17 Choices of the Heart

What do you think of the choice that God gave Mack to stay with the Triune God and with Missy or to go back to be with Nan and the children? Do you hear the words of the apostle Paul in the choice “Whether I live or whether I die I am the Lord’s.” Why do you suppose Mack chose to go back? Was he really going “back” or was he finally going forward.

What did you think of the meal that Mack ate with God on page 236 “”Without any ritual, without any ceremony, they savored the warm bread and shared the wine and laughed about the stranger moments of the weekend.” How did this communion meal punctuate the weekend together and what does this scene say to you about the meaning of communion?

Chapter 18 Outbound Ripples

Three words are pivotal in this chapter: the words Mack speaks to Willie from God “Tell Willie that I’m especially fond of him”; the word Mack tells Kate “It wasn’t your fault. Nobody blames you for what happened”; and the words Nan says to Mack “I believe you”. Why are these words so pivotal and emotional and what do they tell us about our faith walk with God and each other?
After Words

What do you think about the transformation of Mack? “He’s a human being that continues through a process of change like the rest of us. Only he welcomes it while I tend to resist it. I have noticed that he loves larger than most, is quick to forgive, and even quicker to ask for forgiveness. The transformations in him have causes quite a ripple through his community of relationships- and not all of them easy. But I have to tell you I’ve never been around an adult who lives life with such simplicity and joy. Somehow he has become a child again. ” (page 247) What does this say in light of scriptures calling: “Unless we become like little children we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What do you think about the revolution Mack hopes for: “that revolves around Jesus and what he did for us all and what he continues to do in anyone who has a hunger for reconciliation and a place to call home.” (page 248) Think about this in light of the beatitude “Blessed or those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
Read the last Trinitarian ascription again: “And one day, when all is revealed, every one of us will bow our knee and confess in the power of Sarayu that Jesus is Lord of all Creation, to the glory of Papa.” (page 248) How do those words speak to you differently than before you had read this book?

Last Session of Intuitive Leadership Study

Session Study of “Intuitive Leadership” by Tim Keel
Section 3: Embracing the Possibility
Study notes prepared by Rob Erickson
“I do not believe great organizations have ever been built by trying to emulate another, any more that individual greatness is achieved by trying to copy another “great person.” In this quote from Peter Senge (The Fifth Discpline), Tim Keel is encouraging us to be ourselves in ministry and not try to be someone else. Keel critiques the “cutting-edge ministry tour that began in the 1980s with the contemporary worship movement, went on to the small group movement, continued into the 1990s with the seeker targeted church movement, and later evolved into packaged ministry expressions such as Alpha evangelism ministry and Purpose Driven Life curriculums like the ’40 Days of Purpose’” (page 216) Whereas the original ministries grew out of individual churches and church leaders assessing there gifts and calling and applying those gifts to ministry, the copy cat ministries grow out of an expressed need to reach some target group that is not being reached.

Keel goes on to say “My experience tells me that when you try to reach someone or some group or something, you end up chasing not just a nonexistent caricature but he wrong thing altogether.” (page 215) Whereas we at Covenant are often suspicious of the latest ministry fad, we are also guilty of “targeting certain groups” and borrowing programs that “reach out” to those groups in the hope of establishing a ministry for and with that group. Our efforts at Contemporary Sunday night worship, Alpha outreach to Young Adults, “47 Days of Preparation (Lenten Study in 2005) are examples of our efforts to reach out to certain populations with programs similar to ones that other churches had pioneered.

Tim Keel sets a new challenge before churches: figure out what it means for our community to abide in Christ. He suggests that “the ability to reach people, is a natural by-product and sign of a healthy church ecosystem functioning as it should.” (page 220) “We have to “intuit what is going on and learn to respond in ways that have integrity to who we are, where we are, and who we have been.” 9page 222) What is unique about us? How is God using us? Where is God here?

Tim Keel offers a proposal to us and anyone who reads his book. “God is alive and at work in you, your community, and your context. Our world is filled with possibility because of who God is and what he is doing in creation. God longs for our participation with him, and at the same time God is on the move. Jesus said ‘Follow me’ and he meant it. He is going somewhere and if we are to keep pace, we must follow. That means we must move. I can’t give you any answers. All I can do is propose some posture- ways of positioning our selves that allow us a greater chance of catching God at work among us.” (page 223) At the Willow Creek Leadership Summit last week at Westlink, I was challenged to think of what ministry are we uniquely positioned to do, by our temperament, our passion, our position in the community and our relationships with God and each other. I would extend that same challenge to you in this study. What ministries are we being called to do and who are we being called to be by God? What is it that we do as part of the Kingdom of God, that if our church we not here would be terribly missed?

Tim Keel asks a series of questions in his last chapter about leadership posturing:
1) What if leaders refused to take the posture of expert and took the posture of humble and engaged learner? (page 230)
2) What is leaders assumed a posture of vulnerability that allowed them to access their heart and make them available to God and their people? (pg 232)
3) What if leaders began to invite their people with them into these kinds of spaces in order to engage with God on agenda free grounds and discern the still small voice of God? (pg 237)
4) What if leaders sought to stay present in the midst of chaos in order to discern the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit hovering in love and creativity over a new act of creation? (pg 240)
5) What if leaders assumed a posture of cultivation, of kneeling and digging in the earth, of planting and watering, of weeding and culling and ultimately harvesting? 9pg 242)
In each of these postures these is a basic assumption of trust in God, our faith and our communities. Keel suggests that the by product of trust is deep joy, knowing we are loved.

Study Notes for "The Shack" Chapters 2, 3, 4

Chapter 2 The Gathering Dark
Context of the story- Oregon’s Gorge and Multnoma Falls, Columbia River Gorge. What about the redemption story of the Indian princess? How do you think the exchange between Missy and Mack anticipates Mack’s conversations with Jesus? “Daddy, how come she had to die?...Honey, she didn’t have to die. She chose to die to save her people. They were very sick and she wanted them to be healed.” (page 30)
”Is the Great Spirit another name for God- you know Jesus’ papa?...Then how come he is so mean…making the princess jump off the cliff and Jesus die on the cross.” …”Sweetheart, Jesus didn’t think his daddy was mean. He thought his daddy was full of love and loved him very much. His daddy didn’t make him die. Jesus chose to die because he and his daddy loved you and me and everyone in the world. He saved us from our sickness, just like the princess.” Mack is offering an explanation for the atonement here. What do you think of this explanation? Does Mack really believe it?
“Will God ever ask me to jump off a cliff? No, Missy. He would never ask you to do anything like that.” Here Mack is talking about the reality of evil and the sovereignty of God.

Chapter 3 The Tipping Point
Mack describes Nan’s job “She helps people think through their relationship with God in the face of their own death…Nan’s a lot better than I am. I guess she thinks about God differently than most folks. She even calls him Papa because of the closeness of their relationship, if that makes sense….I’m not comfortable with it (referring to God as Papa). It’s just seems a little too familiar for me. Anyway, Nan has a wonderful father, so I think it’s easier for her”. This statement foreshadows Mack’s conversation with God later in the parable and his struggle with language for God and openness to God.
In the incident with the canoe tipping how many people felt guilty? Mack’s words to Emil “This wasn’t your fault and everyone’s ok”. What about Mack guilt when he discovers that everyone wasn’t ok?

Chapter 4 The Great Sadness
“It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game and playing it is a short slippery slide into despair. If only he had decided not to take the kids on that trip; if only he had said no when they asked to use the canoe; if only he had left the day before; , if only, if only, if only.” And then to have it all end with nothing. The fact that he was unable to bury Missy’s body magnified his failure as her daddy.” (page 65) Have you ever played the “if only game”? What are other options?

Study Notes for the Shack

About a month ago a couple people from Covenant suggested that I read the Shack. As I mentioned on an earlier blog, I happened to read "The Shack" while I was on vacation in Oregon, which just happens to be the setting for the story. I was struck by the story as a way to start to discuss the mystery of the Trinity and the value of understanding the Triune God at work in our lives. After I got back from Vacation several people asked that we have a conversation around this book. We started the conversation on August 3rd and would like to invite you into the conversation as well. The following are study notes from our class that provide the conversation starters. We would love for you to be internet partners in the conversation around this parable of faith.

Conversation around the book “The Shack”August 3, 2008 Read pages 1-66 “The Great Sadness”
Forward: Type of story- Parable written for his children.
“Mack is not very religious. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with Religion, and maybe even with the God that he suspects is brooding distant, and aloof” (page 10) What words would you use to describe God?
“He wanted a narrative to help him express to them (his wife and children) understand what has been going on in his inside world. You know that place: where there is just you alone- and maybe God, if you believe in him. Of course, God might be there even if you don’t believe in him. That would be just like him. He hasn’t been called the Grand Interferer for nothing.” (page 12) What are names that you use to describe God? What are names or images that are comfortable for you in expressing who God is? Have you ever heard of or thought of God as the “Grand Interferer”? What are the implications of that name for God?
Chapter 1 A Confluence of Paths
“There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine. Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules.” (page 15) What about interruptions in your life? Mack receives a note signed Papa (God) but he doesn’t tell anyone. Why not? Have you ever received a message that you suspected might be from God and not told anyone?

Second Journey Down the Intuitive Leadership Path

Study Notes for Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor & Chaos Section 2: Engaging Context pages 103-213

The first part of Tim Keels Book invited us to look at our own story or narrative and to start to understand how our story and narrative relate to God’s story and narrative. The second section of Intuitive Leadership looks at the context of our ministry and how we engage the context. Keel describes the “Postmodern” culture as “living in a time that is simply past modernity” (pg. 104). He goes on to say “Postmodern culture is a culture with porous boundaries and loose definitions. Postmodernity is about the collapse of the rigidly defined categories of modernity and of the blending of previously untainted essences…it is the culture of the remix…mixing of ideas, images, values, and words”. (pg. 113) How do you describe this post modern time? What are some of the challenges and some of the opportunities offered by such a context for ministry?

Keel talks about the “Graphic Revolution that begins to move communication increasingly away from mere word conveyed through text into the world of images..” (pg. 127) Keel says that “If we want to be transformed to live, serve, and love in the way of Jesus, we must creatively and faithfully cultivate space (physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, artistic) where the whole person (body, soul, mind and spirit) can encounter God, others and themselves in the context of creation.” (pg. 130) This sounds in harmony with our VBS curriculum and the Shema “Love the Lord your God with all you heart and soul and might” (Deuteronomy 6 :4,5) How do we at Covenant cultivate space for the whole person to encounter God? Do we provide opportunities for left AND right brained people in worship, education and mission?

Keel offers some suggestions to help us rekindle our imagination. “We need to begin to engage the Scripture to fire our imagination…We need every kind of intelligence fully engaged and playfully and creatively leveraged for the kingdom of God. We need women and men who have previously been on the margins…we need mystics… poets…prophets… apostles… artists. We need all these types of people to reclaim or discover faith in new ways.” Would this really be a good thing? What might this look like in our church?

“Former congressional chaplain, Dr. Richard Halverson once said, ‘Christianity was birthed in Galilee as a relationship. It spread to Greece and became a philosophy. It spread to Rome and became an empire. It spread to Britain and became a culture. It spread to America and became an enterprise.” (pg. 142) What do you think of Halverson’s characterization of Christianity and its evolution? What are the implications for us today in our “postmodern world.” Keel observes that “Willow Creek represents the final creative response of the modern church in America grasping for identity, impact, and influence as Christendom gasps and breathes its last breath in the West.” (pg. 151)

Keel finally argues that the church must become missional. “In a culture that has moved out of Christendom and into a marginal identity, the whole context of the life of the community becomes mission… The church is that community of people gathered around Jesus Christ in order to participate in his life and incarnate it into the context where he has placed them. The invitation from God is for us to start right here, not just the exotic out there.” (pg. 155) Keel is arguing that every local church is in fact a mission in the culture in which we find ourselves. HE argues that “the work of Jesus was not a new set of ideals or principles for reforming or even revolutionizing society, but he establishment of a new community, a people that embodied forgiveness, sharing and self-sacrificing love in its rituals and disciplines…it is an alternate reality based on the person of Jesus Christ.” What do you think about this? This sounds like the radical Jesus Bill Brewer used to talk about. What are the implications for this type of understanding in the church?

Keel says “we cannot approach God acontextually. We always experience and know God provisionally within a context.” In other words our understanding of God is always influenced by our context. Keel also says that “Communities engaging with the missional context of our age must be aware of the fact that they are theology-generating communities….Theology is always the by-product of an implicit or explicit dialogue that churches (personally and communally) are having with the tradition from which they arise and the living culture in which they reside.” What is the embedded theology of Covenant? “The missional context of our culture is one that increasingly demands creativity…It requires a different kind of organization that empowers and unleashes creativity.” (pg. 200)

Three Journeys to Jerusalem

When I started in ministry 22 years ago I never thought I would have the opportunity, or take the opportunity to go to Jerusalem. Now twenty-two years later I have been to Jerusalem three times and each time I have discovered something new in this embattled city which still carries a "vision of peace" for the world.

The first trip Joan and I took was nearly 20 years ago with the Presbytery of Philadelphia as we were trying to understand the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It was during the Intifada (the uprising) and we spoke with politicians on both sides. We toured a Middle Council of Churches school in the Gaza Strip, a settlement in the West Bank, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem, a School in Nazareth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a hospital in Ramalla, and the Holocaust Museum. It was a heart wrenching trip as we heard the pain and fears of Palestinians and Israelis alike. I came away understanding that the issues were more complext than I could imagine or fully understanding. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I didn't think I would ever do again.

The second trip caught me by surprise. Our denomination passed an Overture at the 2004 General Assembly to consider divesting in companies who were involved in bulldozing Palestian houses or building the security fence (wall) seperating Palestinian and Israeli territory. After this GA action, I received a call from Sam Muyskens at Interfaith Ministry who said there were several area rabbis who wanted to talk to Presbyterian pastors about this GA action. Joan and I were two of a group of several Presbyterian and Jewish clergy and leaders that started to meet regularly to talk about why the security fence was being built and the issues around it. We discovered that we had very different perspectives on this issue and in an effort to try to understand each other we decided to engage our churches and synagogues in a shared study of Genesis. We discovered that even when we look at the same scripture that we interpret that scripture differently. So we decided that perhaps we needed to go to Israel together to see through each others eyes, and to hear with each other's ears to better understand each other around this issue. We also decided that the trip must include not only Christian and Jewish representatives but also Muslim representatives and include a visit to Jordan as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories. When we left for the Holy Land in the winter of 2008, we were a group of twelve: 7 Christians, 3 Jews and 2 Muslims. I hadn't planned on going back to Jerusalem but I couldn't resist this opportunity to see the Holy Land through different eyes and to share my faith with other colleagues and friends. It was a powerful experience and very different from the first trip. Several of our Jewish colleagues had lived or extended stays in Israel. Our Muslim brothers reflected Suni and Shiite faith and were originally from Syria and Iran so we had an opportunity to learn about these distinctions and perspectives as we toured each others religious sites together and processed what we saw and heard each night. Again we worshipped at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but it was different as our Jewish and Muslim friends looked on. Again we visited the Western Wall but it was different as we heard the whole history of the Wall and worshipped at the site with our Jewish and Mslim friends We all woshipped toether at a synagoge, we spent time in prayer with a Suffi Shiek and we went to a Lutheran Church and worshipped in Arabic and English. We studied the Koran, Torah and the New Testament together in the origianl langauges and in English. We discovered that indeed our faiths are different, our stories are different and yet we could appreciate each other's perspective, story and faith. We went on our journey as travellers together and we came back as friends and colleages. And we met Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders during our trip who were working on the ground, every day for peace. We were an encouragement for them and they were an encouragement for us. And our trip to Jordan bore fruit as we met with a wonderful Palestinian family who had realtives in Wichita and a heart warming sory to share. As we shared dessert in this home we knew that we had been blessed with a life changing experience. On the way back to Israel we stopped at Mt. Nebo, where Moses had seen the promised land that he would never get to inhabit. In some ways we felt like Moses. We had a vision for peace, but it was unclear that we would see peace in our lifetimes.

And that gets me to the last trip to Jerusalem. This trip I took without leaving Wichita. It was our Vacation Bible School curriculum this year: Jerusalem Market place. Our VBS planners transformed our church and Great Room into a Jerusalem market place. We has potters, spice mearchants, weavers, bakers, carpenters, basket weavers, beggars, prophets, rabbis. The kids were put into the twelve tribes of Israel and we learned about the last week of Jesus life even as we learned about Jerusalem life and culture. And the kids taught me not just to learn with my mind but to learn with my heart and soul and srength. They taught me to use all my senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing to discover the Gospel. And in the closing ceremony, as I was talking about the concept of "shalom" as peace, wholeness, health, welcome; a little boy raised his hand. He said, you forgot "chevarim" the Hebrew word for "friend". The song we sang was "Shalom chevarim". He was right. He was reminding me of what I had learned on my last trip to Israel. It is not so much what you learn about peace but who you learn from and with. It is about the God who loves us so much that he entered into Jeruslaem even at risk to his own life so that he could save our lives. It is about Christ's commandment to "love each other that all will know we are his disciples." It is about loving the stranger, the alien and even our enemy. My latest trip taught me that the peace we seek in Jerusalem is for our children and the Israeli children and the Palestinian children and it will come as we get to know each other and care for each other the way I now know and care for my travel companions. I thank God for my three trips to Jerusalem and for my partners in each journey.

An Adventure in Leadership

I teach a class on "Leadership & Discpleship" in the Friends University Master of Arts in Christian Ministry program and I am always looking for good resources on Leadership. I was looking for a resource that would speak to leadership in the church today that is reformed and always being reformed according to God's word. I was not interested in another formulaic resource, "Do as I do and your church will thrive and grow like mine" but rather a resource that spoke to the ever changing, growing, and organic church systems that I have come to know and love in my 22 years of ministry. My friend and colleague Dr. Chris Kettler introduced me to such a book, Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor and Chaos, written by Tim Keel of Jacob's Well in Kansas City, Missouri. I was so impressed with the book that I introduced it to our Session (elders in our church) and we are studying it over the summer. Included in this blog is the study session for the first section of the book. You are invited to read it along with us and use these study notes to explore leadership in the real, messy and wonderful churches you serve.

Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor and Chaos
Written by Tim Keel of Jacob’s Well in Kansas City, Missouri

Three parts to the book
-Entering the Story- June reading pages 1-100
-Engaging Context- July reading pages 101-209
-Embracing Possibility- August reading pages 210-266
Keel argues that our stories shape us and that we need to understand our stories in order to better understand where we are on our faith journey. How did you first learn about your faith? Who was your mentor or guide? How did you live out your faith?

“Stories shape and create identity- not just for individuals. They shape identity for families, communities, and cultures. We are awash in stories, and when they are good and well told, they can locate us in the world even when that world seems chaotic and without purpose. Throughout history people have told stories and been shaped by them and in doing so they have discovered and constructed ways of understanding who they are and what is happening in the world around them.” (page 33 )

“Following Christ and seeking to be faithful has hijacked my life in a way that I could never have anticipated. That part of being faithful to Christ has led me to participate in the growing of a church plant.” (page 49)

Tim Keel argues that rather than accepting what other churches are doing and jumping into the latest theological or evangelical fad, that we pay attention to our own story, embrace our own story and let our story, our strengths and our unique character and faith guide us. If we were to look at our church, what story would we tell? How did we start? Where did we come from? Where have we traveled in the past 27 years?

“Our faith became domesticated, made in our own image, deprived of its wildness. In our pursuit of the systematic, rational, objective, and universal, we lost the particular, imaginative, poetic, and creative. I am afraid that we lost the ability to discern and follow the Spirit of God, especially as he leads us un places unfamiliar and unknown to our domesticated faith” (page 43)

“We have been called to freedom and courage. We are called to story; to remember; to live; to tell.” (page 43)

Keel argues that our individual stories and our corporate story intersect with God’s story as revealed in Scripture. What are the stories that shape our lives in the Bible? What are the stories that we go back to as our organizing principal in work, parenting, faith, community, church? Who are the theologians who help us interpret scripture and our own faith? Karl Barth wrote a book called The Strange New World of the Bible.

“The Bible as the story about the confusing presence of a personal deity engaging bizarrely unpredictable people in astounding and mudane wasys over a long period of time.” (page 36)

“God revealed himself in a specific time, in a specific place, among a specific people. God did not create a divine subculture and then wait for humanity to wise up and join in. God joined the story. God got dirty. God entered. God engaged. And this is the calling of the church as well- to join in and participate in God’s story at work in the world.” ( page 70)

Tim Keel’s critique of twentieth century suburban Christianity: “They lost their way of life. They entered a way of life that was compartmentalized, disintegrated, individualistic, subcultured, ghettoized, programmed, and purpose driven.” (page 72)

Keel’s recommendation: “Is there an alternative? I believe there is, and I am beginning to hint at it with the concepts of story, community and experimentation. When we think about creating an environment that might give rise to life in response to the Holy Spirit and the world we live in today, we must cherish and engage our context.” (page 77)

Keel's own experience with Jacob’s Well: "We wanted to be a place where people who were searching could join us, ask real and probing questions, and together with us seek God in spirit and truth. We wanted to create a space that would allow us to form a community what would be hospitable to the people in our lives whom we wanted to bring to the Messiah. And to do this we experimented our way into finding the kingdom that Jesus declared in our midst." (page 88)

What are the main ideas we can take with us as leaders at Covenant? What ideas do we not accept as we explore Keel’s writings in the context of our church and culture? Where do we already connect with the concepts he is lifting up in our living our faith and being the church?

Portland Adventure

I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Portland, Oregon with two of my sons. It was a time of physical and spiritual enrichment and refreshment. We visited the City of Portland and were impressed by the sense of community in that place as people helped each other onto busses and subways and helped us find our way around. We had a day touring the Gorge and Moltnomah Falls and were swept away by the beauty of the place. We visited Southminster Presbyterian Church and had the privilege of sharing VBS Sunday and the dedication of a prayer shawl to a young high school graduate who was heading off to join the Air Force. That afternoon we went to the Chinese Garden and were struck by the peace and sanctuary we experienced there in the midst of the city. We sensed God’s presence in this beautiful and friendly and spiritual place.
While I was in Portland I read a book that integrated several of my past and future experiences into a Christian parable. The book, The Shack by William Young, had been recommended by a couple people before I left. I was surprised when I read it that the setting was Portland, Oregon and Moltnomah Falls, that it was about a family experiencing the deep grief of the loss of a child and that the parable was about God revealed as Trinity. For a pastor whose congregation has recently experienced the grief of losing young people, who is planning a Conference on the Trinity this fall and who just happened to vacationing in Oregon this seemed like more than a coincidence. So without giving away more of the plot and story line, I would recommend this as a good book to deal with grief and how our understanding of the Triune God helps us live life fully in the midst of both the deep pain and the joy of life. Perhaps we can read the book together and share our reflections on this blog as we prepare for the Trinity Conference on October 17-19th this fall at Covenant Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church in WIchita.

Cyber Adventure Begins

I have just finished reading Friedman's book "The World is Flat" where he challenges us to enter the digital age. He is speaking to businesses but I heard him speaking loud and clear to the church and to me. I love adventures to places I have never been to in the U.S and througout the world. I love the challenge of following God's lead on these adventures. However, I am not a computer guy and so the prospect of taking an adventure into Cyberspace is scary and daunting. So with Joan as my guide on this new adventure, I am embarking on a new journey of ideas and communication and faith. I am hoping that this blog will be a place where I can share the adventures in faith I experience but also a place that I can hear about your journeys. Let the journey begin.