~Finding God::14~

Ecclectic
Funny
Deeply Profound
Diverse
Embracing
Quirky
Questioning

This is what I've been looking for. I have been yearning for a small community to join that would make me feel at home in my faith.

I think I've found it.

Tonight, the chaplain invited me join a group called Exile. They are a random group of people, not primarily students, who (for most) have found the church to be not a good place for them... whether it be because of things that have happened in their past or the institution of church just hasn't set right with them. They are diverse in age, vocation and faith: students, young, middle aged, unemployed, an artist, a preist, evangelical, liberal, a little bit of both. And this only begins to describe the 8 people who were at the meeting tonight. We came together at our chaplain's house. She and her husband, both ordained in the Anglican church, live in the parsonage next to his church. We simply sat aroud a table with a simple meal of soup and bread while enjoying casual conversation about our weeks, funny stories, and more. After, we moved into the living room to talk about Easter. Many had attended "Stations of the Cross," which I am sad I missed, here in Hams. After the conversation about that dwindled, we continued to discuss something from Easter that stood out for us. For our chaplain it was the notion of "Death never having the last word." For others it was an image from the Stations. For me, although I missed an actual Easter service (first time in 21 years, I believe) it was the personal side of Easter.

I was thinking about what Easter means as an example of the ebb and flow of the tide in my life. Bringing the stories of our lives to life in the death and resurrection of Christ. The palm sundays (the joyous occasions), the betrayals (whether by us or others to us), the Last Suppers (the sacred meals with close friends), the good fridays and being nailed to the cross (the awful, painful experiences), and of course the Easters/Resurrections (good, praiseworthy things).

When you experience a Good Friday, I think it really is Good because it makes the Easters that much more special. We would never know Easter if we never knew Good Friday...

How does this change your view of Easter? Or does it? I would like to hear thoughts.

(It's starting to feel vulnerable because no one is commenting! Just kidding, blogs are bascially signing up for vulnerability.)

On a "same same but different" note, Exile meets every Sunday night. Their typical month looks like this: Discussion and dinner, worship, movie, movie discussion. I was also informed this weeks numbers were very low due to being out of sync with the month for a bit. We should be expecting 20-30 at worship next week! I'm especially excited worship:]