When: Sat 18
Where: First Christian Church http://fccpdx.com/
Time: 5-7pm

$5 suggested donation! All proceeds go to The Bridge, Food Church a place where all are fed without hoops to jump through http://thebridgeportland.org/food-church/

This is a kid inclusive, encouraged, family friendly and supporting event.

Mark your calendars and start the search, it’s time for another Ugly Mug Contest!

No this is not a Bridge version of an anti-beauty contest! It is a way for us to restock our coffee mug supply, saved the environment, and win a classy prize all in one go!

How? Find a mug at a garage sale, thrift shop, or in a free box on the side of the road.

Where? Bring the ugliest darn mug you can lay your hands on, to the Bridge!

When? May 5

Why? Because paper makes waste and we can’t afford to buy disposable cups all the time!

See you there!

P.S. I have mine already and it will be hard to beat!

Please join us for this family friendly event!

Snacks and non-alcoholic drinks available. The suggested donation of $5 benefits the Bridge Christian Church Food Church Program. What is Food Church…A no strings attached, non-advertised, access to a bag of food for all. Lovingly hosted by 1st Christian Church

Where: First Christian Church http://fccpdx.com/

When: April 13

Time: 5-7pm

This is a $5 suggested donation

The past few months have been really bananas for us…more than usual.  Between deadlines and meetings at our jobs outside of The Bridge, we’ve been managing a lot of relationship stuff.  We had someone (no longer in our community) begin a campaign of divisiveness against our community and there were all of these weird inner-circle things happening that were above and beyond stressful.  On top of that, there were relationships at my job I was having to manage (some I am still in the middle of managing) and it seemed as though I was going loca.  I looked at my calendar at the beginning of last month and it was literally meeting after meeting, event after event along with work travel and everything else, I felt like I had no oxygen.

After a particularly rough day at work, I came home, walked through the door and was greeted by Geoff who said, “HI…are you ok?”

That one moment of being noticed caused the catastrophic event I will refer to as, “losing it”.  I was trying to explain what was happening through the ugliest of cries.  I’m sure it sounded something like,”blughgheerbluhhhhhuhuhuhughrhghr….and then….blughghghghghurn….and….gahhhhaaaa..and I think I just need a vacation.  I just need us to get the hell out of Dodge with you and Bettylou.  I’m tired and I feel like I’m having a heart attack. I really am. My chest hurts.  I..can’t…I just don’t think I can do….” Followed by more pathetic and desperate sobs.

We had to go pick up Bettylou from my parents’ house and I said, “I can’t go…I have more work to do…” Geoff responded, “Is it safe to leave you by yourself?”  “yeah…I just need to get this done…”  My thought process was, “If I really do die from this, at least it won’t be in front of you, because I love you and I would hate for our last moment together to be of me dropping dead without any makeup on.”  I’d like to leave a somewhat pretty corpse behind.

I poured myself a giant glass of wine and looked at Facebook for a while…defrag.  Played all the conversations of the day over in my head.  Then got to work.  My other thought was, “If I die tonight, someone else will have to do this work and that isn’t fair.”  At least I’m a thoughtful tragic.

The next day (I obviously didn’t die) was Ash Wednesday.  Angie was doing “drive by smudgings”.  I couldn’t get the idea that I needed it out of my head, all day.  I texted her later than she was “open” and asked if she was still smudging. She said, “For you, yes. You don’t even need to get out of your car.”  I drove over to their house and was met by Angie and Todd.  She smudged me and said, “From ashes you were born, to ashes you will return.”  We visited a little and as I drove away, I cried. Hard.  Why in the hell did this act cause me to burst into tears?

It was the ceremony of remembering where I came from that did it for me.

I got home, helped Bettylou get ready for bed then remembered a writing I did the month prior.  I opened up my spiral notebook to find a conversation I had with one of my “wisdom characters”, Mt. Hood.  Those of you familiar with our intensive journaling are no stranger to doing a dialogue with inanimate objects, nature, dead people and the like.  For those of you unfamiliar, we will walk through it in a moment.

Mt. Hood had come up for me as a “wisdom character” during our grief journaling workshop last year.

There are a lot of times in our lives where we have been exposed to something we consider ultimate truth.  It could be when you experienced God for the first time at a church.  Underneath a starry sky. Climbing up Mt. Hood.  Maybe standing at a pristine lake at dawn. Those are all nature-oriented.  But we all have moments where we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, we are experiencing something much more than just a normal experience.  It could be with another person or while dancing or reading or whatever.

For me, being on Mt. Hood was one of those moments.

I’d like to do a quick exercise with you.  What I’d like you to do is, if you can, take a deep breath, close your eyes and consider your entire life.

Think about the moments in your life where you have experienced an Ultimate Truth.   Whether it was God.  Something that grounded you.  Something that was impactful and deep for you.  Moments that you can’t shake because of how impacting they were for you.  Write your list, quickly.  Don’t over think it.

How was that for you?

During our grief journaling weekend, I didn’t get the chance to engage with Mt. Hood…maybe I was avoiding it (I was avoiding it).  Fast forward a year later.

I was on a plane to Boston, for work.  As we had taken off, I looked out the window of the plane to see, in the distance, Mt. Hood.  I felt a peace about its presence.  Like it was sending me off.  I felt a pull to engage it with writing but I had work to do on the plane and I shouldn’t waste my six hour flight with inner-work.  I mean, that would be wasteful, right?

A couple hours in, my cell phone and laptop batteries crapped out.  I didn’t know what to do with myself.  I felt like what it must be like for an addict needing a fix.  I didn’t know what to do with my hands.  So I pulled out my spiral notebook, with coffee stains down the edges and began to engage in a dialogue with Mt. Hood.  What was cool for me about this was, it was like talking to a friend you don’t have to put on for, you know?  There was a comfort in just being with each other.

I won’t read the entire conversation (to save time) but here are some important pieces that came out of it for me that just stuck:

Me:  You remind me of how God is just always there – whether I’m up close climbing and playing, resting at your base or longing to be near, I can always ALWAYS find you.  You are my reminder of my true place. My true home. How gigantic God looks and unattainable God feels at times and yet, always there..standing steady with the changing of the seasons. The lifes and the deaths. (you’re always) THERE. It makes me want to cry.

Mt. Hood:  It’s ok to cry. If I had the ability, I’d scoop you up and cradle you like a mother would..or like your dad would, when you would pretend to be fall asleep in the back of the car so he would carry you in and tuck you in bed. He knew you weren’t asleep…he just loved being your daddy.

I wanted to know what was next for me and instead of telling me my future the great mountain said to me, “…More love. More joy. Are all on your way. Rest in knowing you’re doing the right things. Rest in knowing you are loved. Rest in knowing I am here. I am here. I am here. Find your refuge. Find your cabin moments. And be present with your family…with Bettylou. With Geoff. Ask your spirit to be forward not just when heading to work or church, but heading home. Your light has not been dimmed for a purpose. REJOICE! REJOICE! EMANUEL!!”

Me:  Woah…

MH:  Don’t forget why you love that song.  Don’t forget to rejoice, even when it might interrupt a thought or pattern.  Bring back rejoicing. It’s time!

I asked the mountain to continue to be my steady and it said, “You don’t need to worry. I am here. I am here. I am here…for you.”

Reading back over this dialogue I was reminded, in the midst of the chaos ensuing, I could hold fast and tight to the knowledge that I was not alone.  I am loved.  I have the knowledge of the deepest well of peace that comes from being loved.  I am full of hope that surpasses the confusion on this planet and the cruelty of others and life circumstances.  I have a friendship that goes through the storm with me and freedom from those who refused my hand of reconciliation (and those that continue to spin in the unhealth).

I can navigate the chaos and keep my steady, even when I want to run or thrash or beat the shit out of people for being assholes.  I can not only navigate it, but I can thrive during the duress that comes my way, because of the steadiness of God’s care for me.  God’s constant presence.  God Almighty, who created the mountains, provides a place of refuge and solace and even joy…THOSE will be my stronghold.

It doesn’t negate the shit storm that comes my way.  It doesn’t diffuse the pain.  And, unfortunately, it doesn’t stop people from being assholes. But it does remind me of my place.  Where I belong and whether I feel far away or am climbing on the side of the mountain, it is there.  Always.  No matter where I am.  It is there.

I was reminded again, at the baptism of my dearest friends’ daughter, of God’s constant presence.  We attended the ceremony of  baptisms at this church they attend.  While each person was being baptized, on a big screen, they had in that person’s words, WHY they were being baptized.  I needed this ceremony.  I needed this reminder of the constant steadiness God offers all of us.  There were young kids getting baptized, who had been transformed by God’s presence and one woman, who was in her late 80’s who stated this was just the next step in her journey with God and she was excited for what was next.  I needed this ceremony to remind me that the God of the mountains is there for everyone to see, to converse with, to just be with.

The deepest well of peace that comes from being loved before you were born is for everyone to draw from.  It isn’t to be hoarded or kept private.  We all can see Mt. Hood when we drive over the 405 or I-5 bridges.  We can all get up and close to the mountain.  We can see the trillium, drink the cold mountain water and be refreshed by the oxygen at the base of the mountain.  God is there.

This is MY why.  Why I continue to come here, in the midst of the whirlwind of community life together.  It’s why I fight for us.  Why I don’t let wolves in sheep’s clothing prey on us.  It’s why I do have a deep-seeded joy that comes up, sometimes awkwardly and probably not at the best of times sometimes.  It’s why I am still here.

But what about you?  What about your God Almighty?  What about your Mt. Hood reminder of God’s ever-presence and God’s “head nod” to you, reminding you of your place when the whirlwind in the thorn tree seems to be engulfing you?  Your lights have not been dimmed for a reason.

If you’re willing to continue the exercise from above, here’s a way to engage with your ultimate truth.

If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, but I don’t want to leave you feeling like, “That’s great for you, Crystal, but…one, you sound like a crazy ass and two, um, I’m feeling a little left out of the process.”

Walk through Wisdom Character Exercise
Look at the list you previously made and see what  character you want to talk to — it could be the mountain, the sky, a person, a moment.  Regardless, you know it and it has something to say to you.  Choose just one.

In this exercise, you don’t have to be right — there’s really no wrong way to do it.  Don’t edit what happens.  Just let the conversation flow.  Use your imagination and see where it goes.  If you find yourself getting stuck, just close your eyes and breathe and wait until you are unstuck.  It’s totally ok.  This isn’t a “Look how pretty I can write” exercise.  It’s just a conversation between you and whatever you choose. The way you are going to do this is by starting out with a greeting of some sort.

I started mine with, “Hi.” And the mountain responded with a smile and a “Hi.”

Take a deep breath and begin writing….

In the psalms, God is seen as the Most High, the Almighty.  In Psalm 91, referring to God as a mountain, it says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress.  My God, in whom I trust.”  For those of you that grew up in Christian culture in the 70′s, you are familiar with the song, “El Shaddai” made popular by a one, Evie, of Christian pop culture fame.  My oldest sister had the album and we would sing into our hairbrushes.  We were quite the worship team.

The thing is, “El Shaddai”, in certain translations means, “God of the Mountain.”  There is power behind knowing first generations knew the God of the Mountain and we now get to know this God as well.

For me, this wisdom character of God of the mountain has allowed me to have some semblance of fixed feet in the chaos of life.  My hope for you, is that you would find, in the conversations with your wisdom characters, your feet fixed  in the midst of the chaos of life that comes your way.  God of the mountain is saying to you, “I am here. I am here. I am here…for you.”

I’d love to hear from you, your findings, if you had any, in the posts below.  Or, if you want to know more about our intensive journaling, I’m happy to answer those questions, too.

Love to you.

painting credit: abraham burns — “we all have our view or idea of who we think God is. we get this view from our experiences and from others. each of these views are pieces of a puzzle that we put together to form our picture of God. it’s never a complete view of who God is, but it gives us an idea.”

Today I am going to talk about my why. I’m going to try and take up my story from where Geoff left off his own story of Why. And where Jesse got this whole ball rolling the Sunday before Lent.

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

Why am I who I am? When I think about it, I think the answer it’s easy: I am a mother, I am a wife, I am a pastor, I am a spiritual director, a musician and much more. But those are not me, they are parts of me or what makes up elements of whom i am in this world. They do not answer why?

When I think about this question there is a place in my stomach that gets quivery and the tops of my arms feel weak…apparently I am nervous about exploring this or maybe it is more about revealing this to you. Why?

Because part of who I am is someone that is afraid to trust! Trust you and trust myself…Here we get closer to the Why am I who I am.

I was born into a conservative, evangelical, charismatic family
Where I am the second born child of 4, who was the baby for almost 10 years, then became the eldest by default and the mother of my younger 2 siblings.

Be good and do good
growing up in this environment produced in someone with my personality a strong need to perform well. I think the main reason for this started with a desire to please God. I remember from a very early age feeling a deep connection to God or Jesus, they were one to me. I spent time playing with God in my room and felt a presence that I still remember to this day. God was not scary then. But as time went on God became something altogether different, scary. God became what the church made God…someone waiting to cast me into the fiery furnace or better yet, someone I was a disappointment to. My home life only confirmed these feelings. God is unsafe and so is this world! Jesus still managed to be accessible.

I became a missionary…The Ultimate in Be good/do good
As much as I shy away from calling myself a missionary, that is what I was. I was missionary. I am a product of what I saw, the downside of the “Great Commission” (for those of you that may have escaped knowing what that is…It is “Go and make disciples of all men”). I saw first hand what colonialism, missions and war can do to the poor. It was where my first real struggles to find Jesus in my white privilege and poverty happened. It was a crisis of faith and a fissure was forming under the surface of my life.

I would be a liar, if I tried to convince you that I had a bad time seeing the places I was seeing and doing the work I was doing. On the contrary, it was the first time I experienced equality as a woman inside a religious organization, I was given the opportunity to see a huge chunk of this world, met the most fantastic and marginalized people, witnessed God in places most would say God doesn’t exist, and I definitely wouldn’t be where I am right now without it that experience. I was given permission to question God or faith for the first time in my church experience. And as scary as it was, it was the beginning of unraveling my God experience.

Learning to undo the do-gooder and find God in the question. Ended up in Portland against my will.
In ‘97 I was deported from England and ended up back in a Country and town I never wanted to come back to, with a family that was splintering. In the middle of that mess, I fell in love with Todd and with this crazy church, the Bridge. I didn’t understand the Bridge at the time I didn’t have a place for it yet. So I  tried not to be offended by what I couldn’t place, the cussing, smoking and drinking. I could sense that right under the surface there was something different happening and I needed to keep my hands off and enjoy the ride as best as I could. Over time the restoration of the God of my early childhood began to happen! Why?  Because within this community I was given permission to be fully who I am!; Because within this community I was given tools that helped liberate me from the emotional crippling I grew up with as a child!; Because within this community I was shown a way to see and participate with the doing parts of Jesus in action, not for fear of hell, not to get people into heaven, but because loving people is worth it.

So who has that made me?
I radical permission giving person. Why? Because I found that here, in this place, with you and because I experience that permission through my Creator.

Why am I a pastor?
I am a pastor because I want for others, the same thing that was given to me. To be loved for exactly who I am and in a safe place and be given room to question, explore and change.

Why am I a pastor at the Bridge?
Because I believe that God is a liberator and that liberation for me was and is found in the character of Jesus. Loving radically even his enemies, not only caring for the poor but giving the poor and ignored a voice.

So who am I?
Someone trying to radically give permission, liberate and give a voice to myself and others!

Who are you? And What makes up your why’s?

Luke 13:1-9

About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed
while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar.
Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other
Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die. And those eighteen in
Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all.Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.”

Then he told them a story: “A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it
expecting to find apples, but there weren’t any. He said to his gardener, ‘What’s going on here?
For three years now I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found.
Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?’

“The gardener said, ‘Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will
produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.’”

Skipping down to vs. 31-35

Just then some Pharisees came up and said, “Run for your life! Herod’s on the hunt. He’s out to kill you!”

Jesus said, “Tell that fox that I’ve no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I’m busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the third day I’m wrapping things up. Besides, it’s not proper for a prophet to come to a bad end outside Jerusalem.

If I had been picking the text and not choosing to step into that wider stream and take the
text assigned to me, this one would have been pretty far down the list.

Some random and scattered thoughts on what the hell he’s on about.

Questions can be like statements; they can draw people into a
conversation, learning, they can be dialectical OR they can bring
everything to a halt. Theodicy, a fancy word for “Why does really
jacked up stuff happen to decent folk?” Jesus’ answer? Similar to the
one I give when one of the foster kids I WOI”|( with asks “Gus, why are
you such a fucking tool?”
“You are asking the wrong question. That question isn’t going to get you anywhere you
want to go. It’s a dead-end street”

Instead of explanations he calls us to a new way of being; included in that is living with
questions to which we don’t have the answers. He calls us to be transformed. You need
some new questions. Because the kind of questions you are asking now are killing you!

Fruit Tree story: Who’s the fruit for? Not the tree. – Who’s the church for? It’s not for the
tree or the church, it’s for those living around it!

But I am 10lbs of shit in a 5lb bag. I’m terrible at this whole loving my enemies,
putting others before myself, choosing to reject violence as the a great solution to most
everything. And right now I feel like I’m barely holding it together sometimes, so you
telling me I’m asking the wrong questions is not exactly helping…but what’s that? Oh,
there’s time? Jesus, the guy to have all his issues sorted out and got it all together, isn’t in
a rush? Not out to make me feel worse about it all? That’s different.

This also puts us at odds with the culture about us. As Jesus makes very clear to the
bleeding hearts that come running to him, this will be costly but this is the way I’m
going. He invites us to travel the same path knowing full well it is going to cost us too.
It’s not an ideology with a lot of new things to agree with, it’s not the things we do either.

Last week Jesse moved us through an amazing meditation on lent and how to make this season more meaningful to us. One of the things that came up was a Ted talk that dealt with business. But they said people don’t buy the product they buy from the company that has answered a set of Why they are making such a product. I watched the talk and I agreed. I knew what I did. I knew relatively how I did it. But rarely have I gone to that next place and said “WHY DO I DO THE THINGS I DO?”

I went to town.

• Why do I make websites for a living?  To bring beauty and functionality to people’s primary contribution to community.
• why am I a dad? Parents are producers of a joyful, loving, stable world. How: By growing children into loving, joyful people who impact tomorrow by being who they truly are.
• Why am I a husband? Because I love crystal.

So after a week of why I thought I would answer it for why I have decided to be a pastor. It is a little out of my element to have a sunday in which I talk be about me… Usually I hide behind clever concepts and rude word pictures, but I guess today I am taking off the blinders and showing my endgame.
So first I want to tackle Why I do what I do.
When I was looking at this I really couldn’t Portland this up very well. However much I wanted to rephrase or restate. I couldn’t get the reality out. So I’ll state it bluntly: I serve Jesus. There are all sorts of ways I can say that differently but really it doesn’t change that statement. So the real question is why do I serve Jesus?

1. Because Jesus extracted me from being an inward person that just wanted my way and had no real direction. 
When I was growing up I was in cub scouts and boy scouts. And one of the things that boys scouts are known for is helping old ladies accross the street. Now even though I wasn’t an evil child. service was pretty much not something that came natural for me. And Perhaps it is the scout way to train service into you. However, they couldn’t do that either. I had to be required to serve, and then when I got my signature I was off doing what I wanted to do.

The seeped into my college years when i became a buddhist. I remember studying the monks in Tibet and how they would get up early and  sweep the streets. I idealized them… yet service was another requirement that I was getting checked off. This time to do service would mean the ultimate check off: enlightenment. However it still was like pulling teeth to get any service out of me… and I was the scout handbook this time.

At 20 when I became a christian, something very odd changed. I can’t say it will happen to everyone, but for me, when I adopted Christ as my own, I began naturally serving people. I was doing loaves and fishes for elder people, I was playing music for the kids program. And I was just looking for something else to do. This I might add was not for any sort of signature or discipline. It just was naturally coming out … so I have a great gratitude that my relationship with Jesus took me out of a self centered game, and into a life of living for others on terms I enjoy.

2. I believe Jesus is the Picture of God.
I didn’t used to really think this, in fact, there was a sermon I preached once that because I didn’t have the concept firmly in my mind that on a single sunday 10 people were so infuriated with what I said they left the church. To put that in perspective, think if you after reading this were so infuriated with me that you decided to never speak to me again. Now multiply that 10 times. Thankfully the people of the bridge are much more able to consider the speaker and their fallibilty over their theology. My hope is before relationship is severed over theology that healthy doses of commitment to the other are administered

After reading a lot, I now have a solid stance on why Jesus is an accurate portrayal of God. We all have weird views of God. In fact many people hate God because of their view of people in general, however if you ask the same people if they hate Jesus, it seems like a silly question. It sort of is like hating the sweet old lady down the street. It kind of says more about you than her. Jesus is hard to hate because he is the solid form of God that we can relate to. This is why I think he is an accurate picture of God.

3. I believe that by knowing Jesus, living with the Holy Spirit, and being a part of what God is doing now (ie the kingdom of God)- by doing all of those things I have the ability to be truly who I am designed to be.

 Over the course of my eight years as pastor here, it has been a little schizophrenic. I’m sure everybody has their own way of communicating with God. Mine functions as a conversation in my head. Lilly Tomlin joked “Why is it that when we talk to God we’re said to be praying, but when God talks to us we’re schizophrenic?” This is how I see communication with God:

Basically the above says… the closer you are with God the less he has to Tell you stuff and the more you already want to do it.

That said, I feel that there is a design for each one of us to be exactly who we are. And my specific bent suggests that with the partnership and communion of the Holy Spirit I can get there. And I feel so can you.
I believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection is a change agent that removes me from self-centeredness, and allows for clear access and communication to God, which is necessary to live my life in harmony with creation, and in the joy and turmoil of solving life’s problems.

I think by relieving ourselves from being in charge we begin to tap into the actual creation forces that begin to work for us. (land timeline, and nature) Personally I think much of the earth’s disharmony is based on people who are taking control for themselves.

So in a nutshell Why do I follow Jesus?

• Jesus takes me out of self-centeredness, is the picture of God, by being in partnership I am more of who I’ve been designed to be, and more able to live in harmony with creation

Those are the reasons I am who I am

NOW … How I do what I do.
Why have I decided to be a pastor of a church?
I am honored to expose anyone to Jesus to who would consider it, because it has made such a huge impact in my life.
When I was going to college and learning the bible. People asked me “what are you going to do with that?” I told them plainly, I want people to pay me to tell them about Jesus. And I guess today they do. Not enough to live on… but I have other employment thankfully.

I want to share and help. Sometimes we need someone to coach us into better techniques, and Jesus has taught me some things, and if you want I would love to coach you in the way. I believe that we all need coaches in becoming better people. And I wish to encourage the relationship between you and Jesus.
I also value the beauty of people coming together from all walks of life and impacting each other with their own piece of God that they have singularly been designed to share in their timeline. It is in this coming together that allows us to become better people. Basically more in line with who God has designed us to be. I feel that by taking on the responsibility as leader in this church I can keep this community doing what it does. AND I can be a significant agent in more people becoming more themselves and celebrated because of it.

Nutshell: Why have I chosen to take on the role of pastor?

• I wish to coach and encourage the relationship between you and Jesus. And to do what I can to encourage us coming together so that our own personal pieces of God can form an amazing picture of who God Actually is.

Finally Where I do what I do
Why do I serve at the bridge?
I believe that all people should be loved and accepted

I feel that Jesus was a great model for boundaries, love and acceptance. And by exposing those aspects of benevolence that he modeled we are inspired to love, as well as included by those who are so inspired.
Usually the people that have found the bridge as their home are those who have been hurt by the corporate machine of church either in the capacity of being in it or by those in the proximity of it. So we are a spiritual ER that tends to the wounds of those that are bitter, sarcastic, flagrant, and flamboyant. And the reality is that some Die. We are a triage unit that patches and moves, diagnoses and suggests care. We have to move quickly to get people to surgery, and we pray for their recovery. It is very exciting and exhausting, and if you’ve been here a while … it’s very hard.

I have a profound respect for someone in this community that is challenging us all by speaking out, and giving up for lent the traits of God that they never thought were congruous with who God really is. Why is this profound and groundbreaking? For me it is because I simply never thought that my God was riddled with asterisks, carrots and caviots, and realistically reflected much of broken humanity. Yet by this person speaking up, and challenging hidden agendas that have been masked in theology, we all are exposed to a view of God that demands rethinking.

This is a special place for that person.
This is a special place that is for you. The person who needs God without the cultural minutia that doesn’t include others.
Simply I serve here at the Bridge because I love the people that need a Bridge.

How this works itself out is I communicate to those that would listen: the emotion, action, and sound of Jesus as the picture of who God is.
And I think WE do this CHURCH THING by using current terms, current stories, current people to communicate a life of beauty, equality, harmony, reality, liberty, justice and joy.
Why are you who you are? How do you express it? Where do you express it?
I encourage you this week to sit down and list what your different roles are, and why you do them. I think this exercise will strengthen your everyday efforts. Perhaps as a result you will hopefully let your why be expressed here at the Bridge.