And there it is...

We met again last night (as Tuesday night-meeting groups tend to do).  I wasn't sure how this week was going to go, since we were having a money/budget talk.  Things tend to get touchy when you go into the realm of finances, as has been told to me by several people in advance of this week.  And since we were missing people last week, I wasn't sure if we'd be playing to a full-ish house or if we were already experiencing attrition that would continue until it was just Sheila and me holding the tatters of what was once a promising group.

But then, people showed up: the faithful core I was sure would come.  And, later, those I thought had given up on us.  What was even more amazing was what some members were going through and STILL they came.  One member had a friend who was literally on her deathbed (he got the call that they were about to take her off lifesupport that night).  Another had a family member shot and killed over the weekend.  And I had my first first-hand experience of being with people who could give me insights into the differences between what TV reports as news and what real life looks like.  No easy answers, just a lot of pain, and a better glimpse at issues I've only dealt with in passing.  It truly felt sacred, in that God was there and He was opening my eyes and our hearts to step into that gap of being with our friends and praying through something that was truly foreign to many of us and our experience.  A foretaste, I think, of the journey to come.

One of the words I heard from God when Sheila and I were initially praying for this group was "Band of Brothers" (like the HBO miniseries by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks).  They bonded over and through battles and being with each other in the midst of whatever was flung their way. 

The challenge and invitation is to step in and not draw back, and to be present, truly present.

May it be so...

Peace...

Life has been amazing recently. We had a big weekend for choir and vocal core, and I was leading the rehearsals and (technically) the performances on Sunday. I can get pretty frazzled about that, but it felt challenging yet good at the same time.

There have been some scheduling pileups as well, with no way of getting everything done and done well. Dinners, cat-sitting, and (today) counseling while catsitting and not having my Zipcard....and yet, I've been pretty calm, not fretful when I would normally be that way, not resentful when people don't come through as I want or need or expect them to, and even a bit happy and compassionate in the process. WTF?!?!?

I think someone's praying for me...

And my small group is. Someone's word for me this week was that Joy, peace and love were my inheritance. Word...

Frosty the Snowman...

So, it was my turn to be prayed for in terms of a superhero identity this past week. Hurrah! Since it was such a great week last week, I really expected the moon. We were missing some folks, though, and it seemed everyone (including me) was fighting something- distractions for sure. What struck me was Sheila's picture for me, which was Frosty the Snowman. Her sense was that God was saying that, like Frosty, there was something in me that made me approachable (I'm guessing a jolly, happy soul), and that, also like Frosty, I was adaptable regardless of the format. Makes me giggly to think that so far God has called me out as a cartoon character (Jolly Green Giant being the other one) in terms of a superhero, and that both are happy and big, one way or another.

We started the Lazarus material as well, and I felt like I was talking in circles. Probably was. We had some good sharing about our money stories, and it was great to hear people's miracle stories as well- Chacha getting a reduced payment on her loans because she's supporting 9 people in the DR and Haiti; Manny and his "lottery ticket" gifting; and Sara with her odd job blessing that's helping her make ends meet. Sheila warned me before we started that this can be a particularly tricky subject for people to talk about, and I'm definitely feeling it to be true for me. We'll see how people do in the coming weeks.

It's still fun, and now we're getting into the hard stuff.

Supernatural Heroes

Week 4: we found an old poster that Kids' Church made. It's of a "Supergirl", with the title, "Supernatural Heroes!" We're SO adopting that for our group.

10 people showed up. 10! It's been years since I've been part of a group that big! Not that size matters, but it's one of many things telling us that what we're doing is something important and something that other people want to sign on for. Chacha recruited most of the group from the Haiti Team, but it's also cool to see how they're trying to set time aside to do this (two are coming straight from a Zumba class).

We continued to pray about each other's superhero identity, and more fun stuff is coming up. Really deep revelations about people and how God sees them. What's even better is the depth of what's being shared, as well as the "confirmation" of it through multiple people having similar senses of what God is saying about that person. There's a strong sense of God in each meeting so far, and I felt my own spiritual butt get kicked a bit as Manny shared what God's been doing in him in general, something along the lines of I have so much more to be vulnerable to God in order to do some of the hard-core stuff He may be calling me to (but for sure is inviting others into). Some new nicknames: The Compassionator; Flash; Oak Tree/Rainbow; Torch/Firefly...

We have two more to pray for, and we're starting the "Lazarus at the Gate" materials, too. I'm really excited!

Three weeks and all is well

It sounds cliche but it's been really fun and exciting to see the small group take off. It's not growing astronomically, numbers-wise, but I'm having fun each time I talk with Sheila and we ponder the shape of things.

We wanted to frame the small group around two things specifically: the Boston Faith and Justice Network's curriculum, Lazarus at the Gate, which takes a 12-week look at wealth being a blessing, and how we can order our lives to free up resources to bless others. It's not meant to make anyone feel guilty about how much they have, but it provides a vehicle through which we can see what else we can do in order to be a blessing to others and seek economic justice.

The other pole was a trip to Haiti. Helping our church establish a meaningful connection to Haiti is something I've been working on for a few years now. As a church, we also want to partner with friends in Liberia and the Middle East. What we've noticed is we have high-faith opportunities for trips, but nothing for people just getting their feet wet. The trip we'll take is with Beyond Borders, which focuses on community-development issues (not just poverty-reduction, but overarching social issues). They sponsor Transformational Travel, which is an invitation to live among the community for an extended time and "sit and see" what poverty looks like, encouraging relationships, and seeing before acting.

Overall, we're setting this in the context of Heroic Leadership, a book by Chris Lowney, a former Jesuit priest who wrote about the leadership principles of the Jesuits and how they can translate into successful ventures today.

An odd mix of things, but it's been pretty fun and eye-opening. We spent time this week asking God about each of our heroic identities. So far, we've got a Freedom Fighter, Dragon Slayer, and a Captain. Three more are up to bat this coming Tuesday, and I'm excited to see what else God puts in our midst.