David W. Jones

The traditional translation of Proverbs 13:24 is, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” This interpretation has been used to support taking a paddle, rod, belt, or ruler to your child when he or she needs to be kept in line. I think the more accurate interpretation is from the shepherd’s perspective as the rod was not a whipping tool but a shepherds standard used to measure the height of a sheep. In this image, we spoil children when we don’t raise a rod of a high standard for them to achieve.

For my son Nathan, the rod has been set by his coaches. Kevin Morriello has worked with Nathan for several years starting when Kevin was in college studying to be a P.E. teacher and coach. Kevin created the Shoten Ninja Academy, or what we called Ninja Training, or simply Ninjas. Though it sounds like a martial arts class, it was class in physical training challenging each student to explore the heights of what he or she can attain physically through games and exercises pushing their own personal limits to a standard higher than they, or their parents, thought them capable of doing toppling their own records and the records of the class participants.

Compared to Nathan, Kevin is a giant of a man. He is huge from Nathan’s perspective, the size of a bear, with a heart as big as one. When Kevin became a coach at Battle Ground Academy, even though Nathan doesn’t attend the school, Kevin let him be a leader with younger children as Kevin’s aid, and he let Nathan be a student training with the high school athletes and sitting on the bench during their matches. Kevin certainly set the bar high as an example for Nathan on so much more than being an athlete, but being a man and a person of character and honor. Even though Nathan’s time of training as a Ninja with Kevin has come to an end, Kevin has set the standard high for Nathan in who he can be and become.

At Nathan’s school, Grassland Middle School, Coach Gil Filbey has the unique distinction of being the only person I know in Nathan’s life who can yell at him like a Marine Sergeant and Nate takes it as a compliment. If I or any other person were to yell at Nate like his wrestling coach, he’d melt, sure he’d done something wrong. I’ve seen Gil bark out at Nate during a match and Nathan turn and simply nod to say, ‘Okay, Coach.’ When Gil shouts out an instruction or a simple, “Come on, Nathan!” my son hears the vision and belief Gil has of Nate’s potential to do and be better. At the beginning of Nate’s first wrestling season last year I heard one of the most challenging lines for both parent and son, “We believe your child can grow up to be president or anything else they want to be. But we also assure you that if he wants to be a wrestler, it won’t just take growing up, but a lot of work.” At the end of the season, Coach Gil disclosed the secret goal of the wrestling program, to help the boys to grow up into men of character. Though the wrestling season is far too short for all Nathan receives from being a member of Gil’s team, the benefit is one he will carry with him as he the rest of our family joins me in Orlando in December.

Years ago, Charles Horton Cooley defined the Psychology of The Looking Glass Self, that our self-image and sense of personal worth comes from what we believe the important people in our lives believe about us. They serve as our mirrors. In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel the Priest of Israel went out to the farm of a man named Jesse. Jesse’s youngest son was the runt of the litter, but Samuel saw the boy David through God’s eyes. God had set high the rod, and Samuel anointed the boy giving the message, “You’ll do great things.” David went onto face giants and become one of the most famous leaders in the Bible turning to God through triumph and tragedy. I give thanks for Kevin, Gil, and those who did for them what they are doing for my son, anointing him as Samuel anointed David, seeing him through God’s eyes, raising high the bar for who he can be and become.

When you count your many blessings and name them one by one, give thanks for those who have not spared the rod but raised it high in your life and the lives of other people important to you as Nathan is to me.

I uploaded two sermons to my podcast today which tie together nicely. The first looks at the mass of people Abbie, Nathan, and I experienced at Universal Studios in Florida.
We thought it a wonderful idea to spend their last days of Summer at Universal Studios. The challenge was, lots of other people had the same idea! This experience aided my sermon in Kissimmee, Florida on how we are, as Jesus observed, like sheep without a shepherd.

The companion sermon is from Orlando Presbyterian Church as part of a series on The Sermon on The Mount. During these famous verses, Jesus challenges his hearers then and now, Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

To listen to these two sermons and explore how you can live Out of The Crowd, like a sheep following the shepherd, letting your light shine, click on one of the links below:

You can hear or download these two sermons at my podcast site: http://davidwjones.podomatic.com/
or on ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/david-w.-jones-podcast/id597879836?mt=2

A little over a week ago, I preached my first sermon as Pastor of Orlando Presbyterian Church.
I was a little nervous and worked diligently to choose the best words I could find to begin my time in Orlando and try to communicate with my new congregation. I chose these words…

   Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.

Those are, of course, the first words of the first book in the Harry Potter  series. I thought those words authored by J.K. Rowling had worked well for her, so I thought they would work well for me and mine as well. Continue reading “Don’t Be a Dursley”

From Moses and Mickey Mouse – How to Find Holy Ground in the Magic Kingdom and Other Unusual Places  – recently re-released.
As soon as the school calendar paroled my children: Cayla, the eldest, fourteen; Abbie, nine; Nathan, seven; and our nephew, Jared, twelve, we packed ourselves into the van along with a sizeable portion of our belongings and headed to Florida for several days at Disney World. It turned out quite a few other people had the same idea.
As I moved through the masses of the different parks, I was amazed at just how many people were there. I did quite a few genetic observations while people watching, “So, this man and this woman produce these offspring. Fascinating.” Or, “Wow, you picked him for a mate. Was there alcohol involved?”
Then I asked myself, “Why do so many people come to Disney World again and again, bearing the cost, the hot Florida sun, the miles to get here, the congestion?” The answer seemed and still seems obvious – wonder, collective, shared, wonder.
Wonder is the Holy Grail of the Magic Kingdom, draped in a surprise, a thrill, nostalgia, or sweet sentiment. Whatever the form, Disney packages wonder, and our hunger for wonder draws Disney lovers from across the globe, into the parking lots, on the trams, through the gates, in lines, and on ride after ride.
I experienced that wonder on our trip to the Magic Kingdom. The rides and my children showed me the way, especially on my favorite ride, Peter Pan.
Peter Pan called out, “Here we go!” as our pirate ship left the boarding station with the long line of people behind us. Abbie yelled, “We’re flying!”
We sailed into the bedroom of Wendy, John, and Michael Darling
“We’re flying! Dad, how do they do this?” Abbie asked.
I started to answer, my hand pointed up at the rail above our heads, which attached ship to ceiling track, but I resisted, certain she’d figure the mechanics out soon enough. She did. She looked up on her own, saw the rail, but chose to ignore it as we flew like Peter, Wendy, John, and Michael, sprinkled with pixie dust, thinking our happy thoughts, through the bedroom window and into the night sky.
“It’s London!” Abbie squealed as we sailed around Big Ben.
“The cars!” she cried out pointing to pairs of lights moving along dark stripes on the floor.
I looked. I saw. The dark stripes became roads and the pairs of lights became headlamps. My daughter spoke. I heard her voice. And I believed.
She did for me what Peter did in the book, the movie, and the ride. She took this aging child, struggling to find his imagination, and gave me wonder. She took this land-locked, bed-bound child, and helped me fly.
By the end of the ride, with her as my guide, I heard the tick-tock of the pirate-hungry crock, fought with Hook, ran with Smee, danced with Tiger Lilly, and swam with mermaids. I was young again; I was amazed; I was flying.
Like my daughter, I saw the rail but chose to ignore it. We were flying. With her, I was sky high, and it was wonderful. Continue reading “The Power of Imagination”

What would it mean to drive like Jesus?

Jesus sets forth his ‘way’ in the parable of The Sheep and The Goats in Matthew 25. In this moment on the Britt’s farm, I give it my best shot at envisioning a world where people see beyond “us and them” categories to viewing ourselves and others as beloved children of God.

Here is a link to just the audio which is much clearer – click picture below.

 

 

 

While working on The Moment, I encountered this Ted Talk by MIT Engineer Joi Ito who suggests that the key to future creativity is to be a Now-ist. Here are some excerpts from Joi Ito: Want to innovate? Become a “now-ist”

I’m a three-time college dropout, so learning over education is very near and dear to my heart, but to me, education is what people do to you and learning is what you do to yourself. And it feels like, and I’m biased, it feels like they’re trying to make you memorize the whole encyclopedia before they let you go out and play, and to me, I’ve got Wikipedia on my cell phone, and it feels like they assume you’re going to be on top of some mountain all by yourself with a number 2 pencil trying to figure out what to do when in fact you’re always going to be connected, you’re always going to have friends, and you can pull Wikipedia up whenever you need it, and what you need to learn is how to learn…

So I think the good news is that even though the world is extremely complex, what you need to do is very simple. I think it’s about stopping this notion that you need to plan everything, you need to stock everything, and you need to be so prepared, and focus on being connected, always learning, fully aware, and super present.

So I don’t like the word “futurist.” I think we should be now-ists, like we are right now.

Here is the whole Ted Talk Continue reading “Being a Now-ist in The Moment”

What time is church?

The best answer is, “Now.”

When we first started meeting for worship in The Moment, we took up an offering. Instead of passing a plate, we asked people to come forward. The physical movement was to help take us out of the spectator role of an audience and into the place of participants. It also served as an example of what we are called to do as followers of Jesus, step out into the world.

While getting up and coming forward to give an offering is the norm in some traditions, it was not in ours. Whether in a sanctuary or a bar, whether the person was six or sixty, if called to come forward for the offering, everyone would look around and wait for one thing to happen before they would move. Someone had to go first. In a crowd of five or five hundred, if something new is started, people will look for someone to go first before they move. For our offerings, usually a mother would push her child into the aisle. As soon as the child would venture out, then everyone would follow. It always took the one. Continue reading “Now Church”

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I have a vague memory from my childhood when I prayed in a family or other group gathering. Someone, perhaps a sibling, snickered at the words I chose in my prayer. My mother, the ever protector, responded quickly, “He wasn’t talking to you.”
Jesus taught that prayer was never a public performance but a private one. Here are his words again from The Message and Matthew 6,

⁵ “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
⁶ “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

Instead of doing a dance for the world, you do your dance for God, your audience of one, The One. Instead of proclaiming your righteousness, you seek alignment with the heart and desires of God. Paul Thorn offers a great image for when God is your target audience and simple prayer in a phrase in, I Hope I’m Doing This Right, Continue reading “Pray to Your Audience of One”

I’ve spent a good bit of time with songwriters in Nashville. Like writers of books, a question they are commonly asked is, “Who is your target audience?” The question presents a challenge to any artist seeking the approval of others for a work that contains their personality and soul. However, the question does present a wonderful opportunity for reflection. Consider this image of a theater.

In the theater to the right, where would you place the following?

Preacher
Choir or Singers and Musicians
Congregation
God

The common response is to place the preacher, choir, and musicians on stage, the congregation in the audience, and God everywhere. We discuss worship as in any theater. My favorite complaint about a preacher came from my aunt, who is a Methodist, after they had just had their first Sunday with their ‘new preacher’ appointed to their church by the Bishop. She was very frustrated because he preached past 12:00 committed an even greater transgression, he started talking about food. “Now David,” she said to me, “you don’t preach about fried chicken after 12:00 when everybody is hungry and thinking about lunch.” She complained to me as if pastors were all part of a Union, and I might be able to take care of their long-winded preacher problem for her.
Soren Kierkegaard challenged our thinking of worship and said that we have the audience wrong. The congregation is not the audience. God is the audience. Those who gather for worship is on stage. The preacher, singers, and musicians are all backstage prompting the congregation. It is not our pleasure which is the final judge but God’s. It is not whether or not we consider a service meaningful but whether God finds meaning in our service, in church and out, on holy days and every days. Continue reading “Make God Your Target Audience”

My body breathes naturally, inhaling and exhaling, taking in air and letting it go to make receiving the next breath possible. What my body does naturally, I find quite challenging. I take in life, counting my many blessings, naming them one by one, then grasping tightly for all I’m worth. When I need a little help remembering how important it is to release in order to receive, I look to two of my favorite and most encouraging songs both which have the same title, Let it Go.

Two of my favorite and most encouraging songs have the same title, Let it Go.

Continue reading “Let it Go”

 

Preaching a sermon is often no easy task, but it’s great when you can share one with a friend. I appreciate my friendships that have lasted over time. One I’m especially proud of is my relationship with Rodney Beard. Rodney started a Bible study at the Saturn Plant in Spring Hill. He took a bold leap of faith and began Living Word, a church that has been in at least five different locations since and has outlasted the Saturn factory. Here is the only sermon I’ve kept on dvd and recently figured out how to post it on youtube. May you each have a friend like this who you share a common vision for what the world might be, praying in unison, “Thy Kingdom Come!” while you reach out together.

 

This past Sunday, a group of us gathered for The Moment at Boyd Mill farm. We listened as Carol Warren and Dale Whitehead told us about the waters that covered their farm four years ago and the emotional response that comes with such trauma. As song writers, they found the lack of words difficult and challenging, so that’s what they sang about.

Words Won’t Come        Nov. 2010
Carol Warren and Dale Whitehead

The landscape changed while I was away
Found it just re-arranged, nothing more to say
Barn in the trees, the water left it there
Things that it held- like other memories- scattered anywhere…

And words won’t come
Words won’t come

Breathe in the bottom land, and then ask me why
Stir up the sand, unpredictable skies
Dig in the dirt, then carry the tune
We’ve known hurt, but always knew what to do….

Now words won’t come,
Words won’t come
Words won’t come,
words won’t come

Now I’m mapping the route, and washing the blood
Drank through the drought, and swept out the flood
Lost half the crop and most of my mind
No pen to paper can save me this time

Cause words won’t come
Words won’t come
Words won’t come
Words won’t come
Continue reading “Flood Words”

The common assumption from Sigmund Freud to Thomas Jefferson is that we are each born into the world as autonomous individuals.  Contrary to popular belief, we are born into families, communities, histories, and cultures. We are so apart of these groups that to become a mature individual, claiming our place in the world, finding meaning in our lives, and our calling from God takes a lot of work and courage. We are not born as single souls but part of crowds as small as a family of three to as large as a global cultural crowd. Though referred to by other words like collective, system, herd, mass, mob, enmeshed system, fused emotional group, and the world. I’m used crowd as did the writers of The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as philosophers like Tactitus, Epicurus, and Kierkegaard, along with Sociologist Gustave LeBon, and Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. The purpose of the book is to help individuals come out of their crowds and into their calling, not just for the hope of each life, but for the sake of the world. Change on a large-scale starts in a very small way. I call it the Rosa Parks Philosophy. When she chose to take a stand by keeping her seat, the world started to change. A great movement began with one person. Scott Peck referred to the power of the individual this way,

The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual…. For it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost. 

Inside this book, find out home to come out of your crowds and become a life that can help change the world. Read the first chapters by clicking on the book cover.

 

 

 

Becoming Beloved

Sometimes, I have John the Baptist living in my head which can make my brain a very uncomfortable place to be. The Gospel of Matthew describes John like this in Matthew 3:
⁴ Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
If you’re going to have someone residing in your brain, I encourage you to choose someone not clothed in camel’s hair, it’s quite itchy. I also suggest someone who doesn’t eat bugs, and someone who doesn’t yell. John yells a lot.
 ⁵ Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to (John)…  ⁷  when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?… ¹⁰ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Continue reading “Getting John the Baptist Out of Your Head”

Part of coming out of the conforming pressure of culture and crowd is to discover and grow the particular personality God created you to be and is calling you to become. Here is a section from Out of The Crowd.

When asked about my role models for preaching are, I don’t mention Billy Graham or Karl Barth. I speak of the story tellers, because to me, they are the most memorable. One of my favorite routines by Bill Cosby was on The Tonight Show back when Johnny Carson hosted. It went something like this…

When George Washington was a little boy, his father gave him a new hatchet. When playing by himself, he took his little hatchet and chopped down his father’s favorite cherry tree. Upon finding the tree, George’s father came and asked him, “George, did you cut down my cherry tree?”

George replied, “Father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut it down with me little hatchet.”
Do you think George’s father punished him? Of course he did. He didn’t know that he was THE George Washington.
Thomas Alva Edison growing up was a curious boy. He once burned down the family barn because he wanted to see what would happen in a fire that large. Do you think his father punished him? Of course he did. He didn’t know that he was THE Thomas Alva Edison.
Mark Twain pushed over an outhouse that fell down a hill and into the Mississippi River. Do you think his mother punished him? Of course she did. She was in the outhouse when he pushed it over. And she didn’t know he was THE Mark Twain.

So, when Jesus’ family came to restrain him because he was making a stir around town and people were saying that he had lost his mind, they didn’t know he was THE Jesus. So, too, with all families in crowd mode, they see the family member and not the particular individual. Likely, your family will try and restrain you because they don’t know you are THE you. Continue reading “Be The You”

As a pastor, there are some passages you think about for years. Either you avoid them, or you come up with some simple solution that might satisfy a Sunday morning sleepy congregation, but if you stay with it enough, one of the characters may leap off the page and grab you, even smack you around a little for dumbing down for too long. The Syrophonecian woman has done that to me and for me.

There is the old hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus,” but this woman did something far more courageous. She stood up to Jesus.

I’m in the proofing stage of a book about coming out of the crowd and taking a stand as a mature adult. She’s a great role model as she stands up for her child to the Son of God himself, who, as I read the encounter ends their conversation laughing out loud.

Out of The Crowd – The Syrophonecian Woman

Jesus did not have an administrative assistant to set his schedule. We don’t have old copies of Jesus’ calendar so that we can see the persons and groups Jesus wanted to encounter and when and where he wanted to see them.
His encounters often seem random, as if the people Jesus meets are haphazard like the woman who happens to be at the well in the middle of the day or the blind beggar on the outskirts of Jericho. Perhaps, it is these particular individuals and personal encounters that Jesus was looking for in each location, not just happenstance, but his purpose all along. If we had seen Jesus’ calendar, we might have seen the names of these individuals, one by one. Each particular, each unique, each encounter distinctive, like this woman. While others had to stand up to family, religious crowds, even soldiers, she had to stand up and claim her place as beloved, even when Jesus told her the opposite. Here is their encounter in Mark 7,

Jesus journeyed with the disciples to the region of Tyre. Upon arrival, Jesus secretly entered a house.
A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. The woman was not Jewish but a Gentile of Syrophoenician origin. She begged Jesus to help her daughter.
Jesus replied, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to dogs.”
She answered Jesus, “But sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Jesus laughed and affirmed her answer. He said, “You may go, the demon has left your daughter. She is well.”
The woman went home and found her daughter lying on the bed, the demon gone.

Imagine you are this woman. You have heard that Jesus was coming. Your daughter is ill. You want to help your daughter, but her problem is far greater than anything you can do, so you go looking for Jesus. All you have heard are stories, but you’ll try anything for your daughter. Even those closest to you daunt you, “He won’t see you,” or “They won’t let you in.” Their discouragement might have been enough to stop you, but you weren’t just going for yourself.
You get through the barriers of those who try and keep you from seeing him. When you make your way into the house, you see him, your hope. You take the position of subservience; you fall to his feet as a beggar seeking mercy from the only one you believe can help you by helping your daughter. You plead, “My daughter is ill. Can you… Will you please help her?”
Jesus does not raise you up. He does not lift you from the floor. He speaks down to you in a condescending attitude that you had been afraid you would hear from him if you got this far. His tone implies that Jesus can but won’t help your daughter. He confirms it with an insult, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
Essentially, this is, “I’m here for the children of Israel, the children of God, not your child, and not you. There is not enough to go around – not enough food, not enough love, not enough help. No one throws scarce food meant for the children to dogs – like you.” Jesus insults you, your gender, your race, your people, and tells you that you are less than a person and so is your daughter, you are less than human, you are animals, you are dogs and don’t deserve help.
Jesus, who had earlier, taught, “Don’t let evil things come out of you,” lets the insults fly, and does so at the dinner table, not only an important symbol in Judaism, but for the early church, and for Jesus. While he had given many sinners, traitors, and social reprobates places at the table, here he denies her very right to health and life for her child and gives her a metaphor that not only doesn’t allow her a seat at the table – Jesus puts her under it.
There are multiple excuses granted to Jesus for this behavior, “He was tired and hungry. This just shows he’s human, we can all be rude when we are tired and hungry.” “Because Jesus was human, he had his own bigotries and prejudices.” “If you knew the Syrophoenicians and the evil they had done over time, you’d see she deserved it.”
These excuses overlook the underlying implication of Jesus’ journey. Though she’s an intruder to their dinner, it may be that she’s the very reason that Jesus came. While in this region, Jesus didn’t go see any of the Jews living there, didn’t go meet with any leaders or philosophers, didn’t go to any place of teaching or worship, didn’t meet with any government leaders. After this encounter, they leave the area. Though she seems like an intruder, she may have been exactly the person he was looking for, the encounter he expected, the moment he wanted. If so, then perhaps this insult is just the gift she needed from him for her to claim her place as a beloved daughter of God.
Jesus challenged her with the insult, but he also gave her other images: children of God, a table, and the house of God. Though Jesus threw scarcity at her, he offered her images of abundance in God’s house. Because it is God’s house, the rules change, and she knows it. First, the insult, being called a dog. If you are a dog in the house of God, then you are loved. God’s love is infinite. An infinite love cannot be added to. So in the Master’s house, in the house of an infinite loving God, the dogs are loved infinitely. So if the children are loved more, infinity plus one, it is still infinity. She does not debate his insult, she removes it of all power by placing herself at the table of God, the God of infinite love. Granted, she may not have known the math or added infinity plus one in her left-brain, but she felt it. At God’s table, it doesn’t matter if you come as Moses or a mutt, sit at it, or beneath it. The table is God’s table and therefore a wondrous place to be.
Jesus also gives her another hint. Bread. He implies that there is not enough bread for her or her family and that God’s chosen get it first. Again, she is onto him. This of course is Jesus, the guy who feeds five thousand people with five loaves and two fish. Here he speaks of scarcity… there is not enough food to go around. She gets the metaphor and speaks in abundance. There is room. There is plenty. She answers him,
Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.
She speaks of a limitless power of God where even the crumbs, the leftovers, the discarded is more than enough. So, she refused to accept insult because she believed that God was abundantly loving and gracious. She claimed her place. She would not be forced to take a place in a world where some are the beloved of God and some are dogs. She would not accept an image of God that valued one race, one people, one gender higher than another, one at the table and one below it. She claimed a value giving love, and for her, the categories of the crowd disappeared.
If you meet Jesus, and he calls you something other than “Beloved,” then he’s challenging you, pushing you, calling you out. If there are others, perhaps some in the name of Jesus or even of God, who perhaps call you something less than “Beloved of God,” no matter how large their title or nice their robe, they do not speak for God.

A couple of pastorates past, I was assigned to a community committee consisting of representatives from thirteen different congregations. I replaced another staff member who had gone for two decades. When I arrived, I was asked what church I was representing. I told them where I was from and whose role I was taking. That seemed to be enough. They didn’t need to know any more – not even my name.
I listened and read as word by word we toiled through the bylaws of the organization for two hours. At the end, I raised my hand, told them my name, and asked, “Since I’m new here, can someone tell me what this group does?”
The moderator replied, “That’s a very good question. I think we can discuss that next time. I was also thinking that it would be good for us to go from quarterly meetings to monthly meetings. All in favor?” People raised their hands. “Opposed?” No one raised his or her hand. I abstained. How could I vote against something when I had no idea what they did? There was nothing in the bylaws to tell me. Continue reading “Faith in Flight”