A Broken Hip and Sunshine (Part 1 of 4)

I started writing this post about this time of night on Saturday, May 29. I wrote 4-5 paragraphs and stopped unable to continue. As I lay on my bed tonight punching the keys of my wife’s dilapidated Dell, I’m realizing I wasn’t ready to write. Looking back, too much remained swirling for me to draft anything cohesive or understandable. Tonight (at least I think), I’m ready; thus, Part 1 of a 4-part blog series.

Much has transpired along the Christ Journey over the last few months. Several friends (especially when they heard I had accepted a job as a school teacher...more on that in Part 3) are asking if we’re still involving ourselves in church planting. Furthermore, just two weeks ago, one of Heidi’s friends asked about Christ Journey, because she was told we had dissolved.

To be honest, like any other community of friends, we have climbed the summit of many mountain peaks, and we have descended into the depths of many despairing valleys. While wrestling with appropriate ways to address these (and other) questions, I concluded that it’s been a while since I’ve written an update (so long, in fact, that I can’t remember the last one), so Sunday, July 11, 2010 seems like a great day to step back into the habit.

As early as February 2009, “identity” began to surface as a struggle worth facing for the CJ community. “Who are we? Why do we exist? What are we inviting others into?” were (and are) just three of the myriad of questions churning among us. As outside (and inside) financial support reached its lowest point in October 2009, we were finally forced to take shots at answering some of these questions. For the rest of the year (and on into 2010), the process proved arduous, painful, disappointing, and sometimes lonely. Many chose to discontinue their travels with us along the journey, and the remaining wondered whether we should circle the wagons or forge into unchartered territory. As we looked out across the land that lay ahead, with a broken hip and a blessing (Genesis 32:22-33 & an unexpected visit from Heather), we left the wagons behind and clumsily broke camp into the undiscovered. As difficult as it was (and still is to some extent), we are thankful for the (ongoing) opportunity to wrestle with the identity of our community into the dark night for we remember that even though we bear the marks of our struggles, the dawn has come and yet is still breaking upon us.

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See, wasn't that short, sweet, and "postcardish" in length? Coming soon...Part 2: "So, are you still planting churches or not?!"

Disconnected Electronic Rumination

I'm well behind the curve in respect to this concept of liminality, but I can definitely see how it works and its lasting effects. Chapter 5 of this breaks it down wonderfully. It's kinda like I knew it was there but didn't have the language or perspective to provide solid descriptors and analysis. From Wikipedia (so it must be true...lol), "Liminality is a period of transition where normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed - a situation which can lead to new perspectives." That pretty much describes it..."new perspectives" (or not so new).

Even though that definition is quite incomplete (because it's part of a much larger paragraph), there are important reasons why "normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed." Most notably, the person or people group finds itself in the midst of struggle. It's like a journey from adolescence to adult...resident to full practitioner, student to teacher. Such transitions require (sometimes) extreme experiences of struggle, despair, heartache, doubt, strife, hopelessness, ineptitude, and so on. It is during these experiences that we depend upon, rely, lean on, come near, lift up, grow together, sacrifice, embrace, and carry with each other for each other. Such experiences develop bonds that are not easily broken.

As odd (and countercultural) as it may sound, we are thankful for liminality and must be a people running into the liminal. As God continues to bring order from chaos, we too as his agents, discard the shackles of safety, security, and predictability to run wild, free, and difficult with our Lord and each other. Like a firefighter running into a burning building, we must go.