grand slam in the first inning? yes, please.

I love living in Kenmore Square during the playoffs for the World Series. A Grand Slam in the first inning is just the greatest start to our game finally back at Fenway, and a 12-2 win with one game left away from the World Series just feels good. I never pegged myself as ever becoming a baseball fan, but it certainly has happened. The Red Sox have stolen my heart (well, not the same heart that Will certainly owns already), and I couldn't be happier. I think we're going to try to camp out over at Cask N Flagon all day tomorrow so we can be at Fenway during the game tomorrow. It gets crazier than I have ever seen anything during games, and I definitely want to be part of it! I may not always live in Boston, but the city will always have a piece of my heart in Fenway Park.

I'm pretty sure this church history exam is going to be ridiculous. Of course any test that covers 1,000 years of history is going to be ridiculous to study for. I'm finally getting into the swing of things with that class; I just wish I had earlier in the semester. So hopefully I can deal enough with the notes I have along with review sessions to make it work. The exam is only 15 % of our grade, so I just have to do reasonably well. I think I can manage it. Hopefully.

moving on to perfection ...

I can't believe I've only been here a month and a half. I already feel like I have started this amazing life here in Boston, and I feel almost completely settled. Well, as settled as you can in a house of 20. Which for me isn't all that settled. But I like it. I have some of the greatest friends of my life, I love my classes, I love the school. Everything is just as I had hoped and more. 

Not to mention I get to go to Lakeshore next summer. Going back is going to be yet another adjustment in my life, but I couldn't be more excited. I'm ready to go back and give to the place that gave me so much for so many years. I feel like this time I'll be there more selflessly than ever. I have a sincere desire to work with this staff at a place where I believe God is present in a way unlike any other place. (OK I know God is equally present everywhere, but those of you who have been there know what I mean)

I can't wait to do ministry in a place where I don't have to worry about what people are thinking about me or my way of doing things, or of the relationships I have, and if they are concerned, they will come to me in love instead of going behind my back or over my head to try to solve a problem. I've never understood how that is an appropriate means of handling something in  a Christian setting. Paul's pretty specific on how to handle things like that, and that ain't the way. 

But I've been reminding myself daily that I will never be able to control the actions of the people around me, above me, or behind me around the corner just waiting to strike. Paul says that if you aren't being persecuted, you're probably not living out your faith. So there ya go.

Studying Methodist history has really been an eye-opener to me as well. Looking at Wesley's original intent for the Methodist movement, I have to ask myself how we got to our present state. Methodists were the movers and shakers in society -- not financially at first, but the Methodists did stuff that was really innovative in their spiritual lives and in their worship. They used hymns and met in small groups, singing constantly and always holding each other accountable for their actions. Why don't we ask anyone "How is it with your soul?" anymore? Do any of the people at your church have any idea about the spiritual life of the person next to them? Of the people in their Sunday school classes? Of their spouse even? What kind of a community is it that is not concerned about the other people within the community? Oh sure they sit together at all their kids' sports games and know exactly what everyone's personal business is, at least as far a scandals are concerned. But are we really allowing ourselves to be candid with each other? Vulnerable? Accountable? Where is your accountability? Do you have any accountability?

And how many of the people actually are worshipping during Sunday morning services? If I really, really focus and force myself, I can put myself into a worshipful posture during a traditional Methodist service. But is that the purpose? Is the purpose of corporate worship not to provide a space that is conducive to worship, to put together a service that encourages an encounter with the divine, and not with a regimented order of worship that ABSOLUTELY CANNOT last past noon?

I have recently started attending a nondenominational church here in Boston, and the first Sunday I was there, I realized how long it had been since I had really had an experience of corporate worship. I realized how much being a Christian really is, as Wesley says, a social calling. A community is necessary for the sustainment of a Christian witnessing life. Tears nearly streamed down my face in the God-experience I had that morning. 

Now I'm certainly not saying that no Methodist churches provide this kind of experience. I know they are out there, and I am certainly going to have to find one when it comes time for the job search. But it breaks my heart that many of our churches have fallen so far from the Wesleyan model, from Wesleyan ideals, from the foundation that Wesley gave us to structure our church. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral is great (reason, experience, tradition, scripture), but there are so many facets to each of those pieces. Methodism took rise in cultures that were in turmoil, in the midst of change, because it was willing and able to adapt itself to fit its surroundings and cultures. So why, in the midst of the great evolution of Christian worship we are living in, when everyone is searching for a new way of doing things in order to better connect the divine with humanity, why is Methodism still using liturgy that doesn't create a worshipful space for so many of its parishioners?

What can I do to change that?