. . . A Thousand Words

This Picture Speaks . . . - Dec 2009

If you could see my face, I swear it is making that expression every day that I'm here.

Okay, fine. You got me.

Maybe I'm too 'Danish' or 'Upper Midwestern' to allow such expressions to appear on my climactically appropriate cool exterior, but that doesn't mean that internally I'm not as giddy as school kid on a crazy-high-tech seesaw about being here.

Sure, the heightened tensions caused by the continuing Allah controversy mean living in a state of semi-heightened awareness and the intrigue of congregational politics can be semi-maddening, but they certainly don't diminish the experience of being present here and now.

Far from it. In fact, they add to the rush.

Rather than being a maintenance-heavy museum curatorship, with its polishing of the orans position to perfection and tending to archaic liturgical minutiae, this internship is invigoratingly messy and real. Seeking avenues for dialogue and discerning the movement of the Spirit in the midst of and between struggling religious/racial groups and dedicated/impassioned individuals ensures that the work I'm engaged in is, as a trusted colleague and guide has phrased it, "transformational ministry in a [highly charged] cross-cultural setting."

Holding on tightly as the cavalcade of daily-surprises continues, I'm loving nearly every minute of it. Almost makes ya think there just might be some kind of internationally-minded, missional, congregational leader in me yet . . .