wind

our church council is meeting tonight, our regular monthly meeting. Lately we have been setting aside extra time for vision setting and brain storming every month.

we have a patio with a garden in the center of our building, an open space right in the middle of the building. tonight the patio door was open. A woman was working out there, her golden retriever helping her as she mulched and prepared the soil for spring flowers.

the wind was blowing wildly. sometime tonight we expect a storm, we don't know exactly when.

the wind was noisy, and I caught myself distracted more than once, looking over to the patio doors, wondering what was going on out there. at least one person wondered if we should close the doors, but others said no. we should leave them open.

I think they are righter than they know.

we should leave the doors open and let the outside in.

this evening we talked about all of the usual things that church councils talk about: leaking roofs, Sunday School Programs, stewardship drives, meeting times. but we also batted around words like "paradigm shift". we talked about getting people together in small groups, and asking them questions like, "where do you see God working in your life?" or "how do you express your faith in your daily life?"

(This is so much an improvement over a question I have heard and come to hate: "Does the church/or the pastor meet your needs?" It makes me tired just to hear this question. I would much rather meditate on the question of whether the church or its pastors are equipping us to be God's people in the world: speaking and acting love, justice and mercy.)

this morning I went to a breakfast meeting sponsored by the community organizing group Isaiah. Isaiah leaders don't have any problem talking about how God is working in their life. They are also pretty sure that God is working in the world. They believe that God is working in the world through them.

we should open the doors and let the outside in.

just outside the door a woman is preparing the soil.
just outside the door the wind is disturbing us
just outside the door the creation is groaning, waiting for redemption

The rain is coming.

I pray that it does not blow over.

Holy Spirit, come.