Community
Two hours down the road in
Jackson, MS “find-a-church” (www.umc.org)
helped me locate a congregation for worship.
I arrived early thinking…bathroom break and reflection. I was spotted and whisked into a Sunday
School class with reluctant cooperation.
That began community. Their study
of Bishop Schnase’s “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations” got us talking
about God at work in our lives.
I was quiet until someone
asked where I was from, which led to “what do you do” and “what brought you
here” which morphed into a conversation of what the church is called to
be. A good conversation that made me
glad I came. God opened doors beyond my
reluctance and it was good. (For the
record God often does God’s best work by pushing my comfort zone!)
Church attendance was much smaller than advertized on the web
stats. The young-adult organist did a
good job as the congregation seemed to
fly through the traditional liturgy with both heart and speed. A remarkably good Men’s choir and well
crafted sermon joined the congregation’s search for real church to mine. All sealed with a gift mug filled with
fair-trade coffee and church info.
A few more hours and voila,
I’m in New Orleans. A first for me.
New Orleans
I settled into my
accommodations and hopped the Canal St. Trolley for the River Walk, French
Quarter and Bourbon Street. It certainly
is a colorful blend of culture, color, architecture and excess.
The best music was on the street,
not in the clubs and also not on Bourbon street. The carnival reputation was accurate and
beyond the experience of saying I’d been there I wasn’t drawn in. I marveled at the copious consumption of
alcohol, the blatant strip clubs along the corridor and more trinkets, baubles
and t-shirts than the free world could consume.
The trolley car, the
Mississippi and the 10 year old New Orleans Jazz drummer beating mature rhythms
to her music family’s ensemble were worth the adventure. The India House Hostel on Lopez St. is an
experiential oasis of culture, youth and rest, that is home for the night.
New Orleans showed me what God given hunger for community might look like if it goes wrong. The morning Sunday School Class demonstrated a hunger to feed that hunger well.
Onward
Monday I’ll tour the 9th
Ward by car and head down the coast toward Corpus Christi. Next stop unknown. Exciting things for certain. A little like journeying with Jesus.
What exciting and uncertain things are your experiencing for holy purposes?
Really starting to make me jealous. What an experience. What a gift. Anxious to hear more. Is there a book in the works ...
ReplyDeleteContinued safe travels.