I must say that this weekend's regional coalescence at the Brownhouse imparts one more main nugget of import: it is God who validates our "one-anothering." Subsequent to that realization are the life-pregnant moments across the spectrum of the mingling, the befriending and the re-grounding of friendships.

I simply mean to say that there were moments when I was literally aware of an infusion of the incipient joy of God just being there and having others around me. This was intensely so in the levity and laughter, in the shared seriousness of conversation and in knowing people meant it when they asked me how I or how something with which I am connected "was." Such an awareness has not been a foreign thing there in the context of these people and I continue to learn much. This foretaste is not so much a sole possession any single faith community, but is a "gracing" (if you will) of what's to come for any one or community seeking, willing and available.

On that usual drive on I-74, I-275 and Hwy, 27 north to Oxford, I tend to wax thankful for my own community who have chosen to stick it out with me on this journey. Severely acute is the awareness of how far it is that I have yet to go, as long as God allows. I also ache a tidbit because I wish more of us could experience together the expansiveness of what God is doing outside of 1361 Dana, Oxford and beyond.

It is a downpayment of a fulfilled belongingness emanating from the place of God in which one day we will abide forever. Our experiential knowledge of it here is protracted by our extreme neediness, from things within and without our control. God sees fit and pleased to manifest his providence for such things through the fascinating contingencies of our human interrelatedness and this was evident. We share loads, undergird burdens and perform "dirty-foot works" for one another but it is not for us alone. I imagine it is practice for those we do not yet know and who are not yet part of God's kingdom. I imagine that is why we exist where we do and why we'll always have a people to "go" to regardless of where we are.

How you know we are in November......

This is the Real Time Severe Weather graphical display for USAmerica as of 12:41am, November 15th. Red boxes are tornado watches, green-filled counties are flood-related, yellow-filled counties are severe thunderstorm warnings, blue-filled counties are high-wind advisories, white-filled counties are winter weather advisories.

U might say this is a big ol' frikkin' storm. U be right.

Wanna see some more color? Check this out sometime on Tuesday, November 15th somewhere betwixt 9am and midnite. You can do that here.

Remember this?