In case you needed more evidence of my fallibility--I was just proven wrong with my 2008 baseball predictions. Turns out the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim did have the stuff to win the AL West. You may remember, I made a huge leap of faith by selecting the Texas Rangers. This defied all the evidence (I'm not even sure it's fair to call this faith), as I hoped we might see someone besides the Angels representing the west this year. The Rangers have improved--great offense, intriguing stars (Kinsler, Hamilton), and Nolan Ryan overseeing their improving pitchers--but not enough for this year.
I Also Met with Angels
It was also my first night for the Wednesday night program at our new church. I won't get into why we have a new church, but suffice it to say, I am going to find some intriguing things of note as I get introduced to the new one. The rest of my family has been going on Wednesday nights for a year now (with the exception of summer), and now with us decided about our church home, I'm throwing down the gauntlet and getting involved in more than just the Sunday mornings, too.
As we Christians hypothesize about the state of the American church, it was interesting to note the make-up of my demographic tonight, or the lack thereof. The adults had several options: 1) Involvement in the children's program, 2) Choir, 3) After dinner clean-up crew, 4) Video series on parenting, or 5) Book study on the holiness of grace. I chose "grace"--thinking I could use more fidelity in my faith. This too, was where most of the non-singers gravitated. The room was full--about 30 of us--and we began by confessing a "harmless" sin to one another. Most opted for critical spirit, gossip, procrastination, anger, while I was the lone ranger... citing my efforts to pray unceasingly (I can only get as far as 9 a.m.).
It was a good discussion which served to prove the facilitator's point--that overcoming sin, or any moral improvement is ultimately impossible outside the power of Christ. The solution to our fall-shortness is in fact method-less, in that we are to abide in Christ. I found the discussion and the Scripture useful and welcome here at midweek.
...and I Met with Pirates
As I looked around the room, we were a motley sort--about 25 of us were easily over 60, complete with gnarled toes, pinched faces, and tired jokes. A few others were solidly 40ish--including the teacher, a Dennis Millery person (there was also a Larry Bud Melman and a Tony Danza among us), there were two of us that were late 30's (myself included), and one perhaps late 20's. Nothing wrong with that... but we should do better. We have the words of life here (and in many other good churches around the counrty), but those of us in the career years are staying away.
I Met with Brewers, Too
After the study I went across the street to Barnes and Noble for a 90-minute writing session where I was waited on by a doubly-pierced (in his lip) barrista, witnessed a women's book club disperse, listened to a pair of young girls chatter in Japanese, watched a couple of black youths being mentored by a guy my age, and saw another guy my age enjoying free periodicals while he drank his coffee. Wouldn't it be great if I could get some of these folks across the street sometime?
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