This is an exercise that the kids went through at CYM (Cooperative Youth Ministry). It’s not my place to give answers there, but I can here:
- I find strength in…
- Watching others’ success and knowing that if they are capable of great things, so am I.
- My heart goes out to…
- As the Book of Common Prayer says, “the sick, the friendless, and the needy.”
- I put my faith in…
- Two boxes. One is academic and wants to know everything there is to know about every story in the Bible… every piece of commentary, etc. The other is the hope that the God piece in me recognizes the God piece in you, especially when we’re in conflict, because that’s when it needs recognition the most.
- So much calls out for my attention…
- And most of it is ego-driven as opposed to societally placed.
- I find joy in…
- Driving around DC, knowing that in terms of the United States, I live “where the history comes from.”
- I am overwhelmed when…
- I am scared to ask for help.
- I am grateful for…
- My divorce, because it is hard to find yourself and worry about someone else at the same time, because your energy is too divided to answer the really hard questions.
- I am frustrated by….
- Christians who think the building is the church.
- What matters now is…
- Erasing a lifetime of defining myself by how someone else is doing.
- I feel weary when…
- I tell someone I want to be a writer/theologian/pastor, because those words are so loaded. Christianity has been boxed into a very narrow definition, and it’s a bad one…. and a long conversation has to follow about why I’m not representative of that idea. It’s not that I’m tired of people asking questions. I’m tired of the idea that “Christian” represents one type of person to the masses, and most people have no idea what a denomination is and how there is no polity between The Church of Christ and The United Church of Christ. It is like comparing donuts to Chevrolets, and yet, we are both called Christians.
- I hope to…
- Influence people from afar… that things I say stay with them even when we don’t know each other.
- Find a partner, when I am capable of handling that type relationship.
- Find new friends who will one day become my old friends.
- Resolve the “having a kid” issue one way or the other. It is a deep grey area, and not too much fun, because the physical and hormonal realities of a biological imperative are crazymaking even when you’re sure you don’t want a kid at all. Logic and brain chemicals are not the same thing.
- Preach in front of hundreds of people, because I am much more fun in person than I could ever be on this web site.
- My own life is…
- Perfect in all of its flaws, failures, and vulnerabilities.
- One thing I can do is…
- Empathize to an enormous degree.
- I seek…
- Not a higher calling, but the first couple of rungs at the bottom of the ladder. I seek how to get there from here.
- I will…
- Write… perhaps not well… but with consistency and drive and passion and all of the things that define me as a writer. The definition is not given based on quality, but quantity…. kind of like you have to take a thousand pictures to get ten outstanding ones.
- I need…
- To spend more time with my family. Seeing Nate, Emily, and the kids reminded me of the importance of their presence in my life, because oh, how we laughed.
- I join with….
- My fellow UCC members in affirming that #blacklivesmatter.
- I am restored by…
- Going to bed early or large cups of coffee. Usually with the former, I do not require the latter.
- May I …
- Ask you to pray for me?
Stories That Are All True 