So today Gavin and I left my house at 6am for the ultimate goober/geek road trip:
Driving from Nashville to St. Simon's Island GA to hear Walter Brueggemann and Marcus Borg speak at the January Adventure- a conference on ministry to (and in) the emerging culture.
Like I said, we left out at 6am and we were revving to go!!!
On the way down we decided to stop to see fellow blogger- RevMommy. Well, that seemed like it would be fun. We thought to our selves, "selves, why not stop in Atlanta for an hour, have a little lunch hang out with another blogger and chat face to face and enjoy the road trip."
Well, like all good pilgrimages we didn't know what was in store for that part of the journey. It would appear that both of us are directionally challenged and we ended up circling around Atlanta at least one time, maybe two times. We decided after much laughter and choice words that Satan was behind the entire situation and must have been trying to keep us from meeting up with a fellow blogger. In fact we were enjoying a fine hour of some inspiring "just good ole' preachin" when the ole sly Satan kept interrupting with static, heavy metal and my personal favorite- booty bumpin' hip hop.
We finally made it to RevMom's church and Wow!! It was beautiful!! After 18 months of suffering with all the staff keeping office hours in a large and open narthex they had finally finished an addition on their church building and have begun moving into new offices. RevMom's daughter was not feeling well, so Gavo and I didn't stay too long, but we did see the beautiful new boxes in RevMom's office, which as I approached it there seemed to be something fishy about it. Is that really HER office?
After finally making it out of Hellanta we made pretty good timing. With much conversation, the radio set to scan the entire time, and a quick stop at El Cheapo Gas Station (they have cool t-shirts), we arrived at Epworth By the Sea for the Conference.
We made it inside just in time for Walter Brueggemann where in his lecture he stressed that we are a people who like the ancient Israelites living in the Empire of the Pharaoh are a people that are called to build a neighborhood (church) that is not a part of the Empire of today. I'll leave it at that for now. I was more interested tonight in the gentleman who looked like what I imagine I'll look like when I'm in my 70s or 80s. It was kinda scary.
But at the end of the night I met Dr. Brueggemann and I've decided that he is not only a kindred spirit but maybe a long lost uncle of mine- Uncle Walt. Great job tonight!!!
More on Jon and Gavo's Road Trip to come.
update: Gavin may have control of the remote, but I secretly put exlax in his waterbottle...shhhhhh.... don't tell. Who has "control" now, Flava?
6 comments:
Lovely road tripping!
Ooo . . . I like this concept of being called out of this Empire!
Hey, what did you think of Borg? I haven't cared for what little I've read or heard about him. Just thought I'd see what your take is.
I feel awful conflicted about Borg. On one hand, I appreciate his dialog. He doesn't look down his nose at those who disagree with his understanding of the gospel, Jesus, and the proper usage of Scripture. I find that refreshing as a conversation partner.
Then again, I disagree with him over the nature of Jesus and the resurrection. He does, however, have a decent ecclesiology.
Like I said, conflicted.
A very entertaining post. When Brueggeman came to Kansas City, he had breakfast with a group of young clergy to which I belong. At the end of a great conversation, someone asked him for one final bit of advice for pastors at the beginning of our careers. His words, "Don't let the bastards get you down." Nice!
We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimliated.
ha ha that's great!!
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