Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I saw her

I saw her tonight, walking down the street on the way to the tea shop, just as I was talking to Jesus about her, wondering how she was, where she was, what she was doing now.

We paused, walking opposite directions, and spoke for few minutes.

Her eyes made me sad. Tired, worn out on the stuff of life. Broken, empty even.

It was a strangely beautiful moment, seeing her, even though it made me sad. I'm praying still, perhaps with increased intensity.

Jesus, be with her. Pick up the pieces and knit together a heart that you love.

Recurring Dream

I’ve had the same or at least very similar dreams three nights in a row now… Nothing cohesive, just flashes of images…

I dream that I’m lying in bed, in the darkness of the night, but for some reason I can see the wall right beside my head. I sleep in a loft bed, so I’m only about 2 feet from the ceiling, and I see the top 18 inches or so of the wall, and when I wake up in my bed in the dream, and look up at the wall, it is crawling with spiders – all kinds of shapes and sizes… some of the obviously poisonous tropical varieties.

There are flashes of faces… I don’t remember whose, but the impression is that they are people I know well…

I keep thinking the words “youth ministry” when I think back on the dream…

The strongest image is the spiders, followed by the words, and then the faces…

Don’t really know if I think this dream means anything… but it’s been bugging me this morning, so I thought I’d jot it down… plus, any time I dream the same thing multiple nights in a row, I begin to wonder if I need to pay attention...

You can imagine how pleasant it is to dream that you’re lying awake in bed, and that the walls are crawling with spiders…

Thoughts? Is this one just bad pizza, or do I need to pay attention?

Called out of Slavery - Henri Nouwen

Got another great meditation from the Henri Nouwen society when I arrived at work this morning... love the idea that the church literally is a group of people that are "called out".

Called out of Slavery

The Church is the people of God. The Latin word for "church," ecclesia, comes from the Greek ek, which means "out," and kaleo, which means "to call." The Church is the people of God called out of slavery to freedom, sin to salvation, despair to hope, darkness to light, an existence centered on death to an existence focused on life.

When we think of Church we have to think of a body of people, travelling together. We have to envision women, men, and children of all ages, races, and societies supporting one another on their long and often tiresome journeys to their final home.