Lent 6

I almost had to do two posts in a row about music.  You see, today I had rehearsal for Chamber Singers, and it was really rocking.  Everything was clicking and we were making some really fantastic music, and that is a God sighting in and of itself.  But, since I posted about awesome music yesterday, I'll post something else.

The past two days the church I work at has had a planning "retreat" to guide where the church will be heading in the next 1-2 years.  And while I am one of the rare Methodist nerds that gets really excited about things like Annual Conference, Roberts Rules of Order, etc, it can definitely take a lot out of me as well.  These types of events are usually full of petty bickering over small details that aren't all that important in the grand scheme of things, and while this two-day retreat was definitely not the worst I've seen in my time as a Methodist, it certainly wasn't immune from it either.

But I came to realize that the only reason that bickering tends to pop up at these types of events is because everyone is so passionate about why they're there, and this church is no exception.  This church has made radical hospitality one of the three main components of its mission statement, and I saw an abundance of radical hospitality these past two days extended towards myself.  First and foremost, the fact that I—someone who is not an official member of this congregation and only directs the children's choir and is the tenor section leader/soloist in the adult choir—was even invited and encouraged to attend and be a part of this session by a number of people speaks to that.  There was even an instance tonight when I was sitting on the periphery of the table where everyone else was, because all of the seats had been taken, and someone went out of her way to make space for me to sit at the table because that's where I "belonged".  And to top it all off, three different people came up to me after the session adjourned to make sure that I had a ride home (yes mom, I took one of them up on their offer).  This spirit of radical hospitality has become embedded in the members of this community, and as long as it continues to remain committed to it, in addition to the other elements of their mission statement of pursuing justice and transforming the world, I have no doubt that this church will continue to thrive in not just the next 1-2 years, but also the next 5-10 years, 10-20 years, and beyond.

You may call me a dreamer or an idealist.  So sue me.

Today, I saw God in radical hospitality.