Monday, September 13, 2004

Captain Stoopendis --Take 2 Congratulations to The Dexter Jones Experience (David Stone, Seth Otto, and Julie Newberry) for their making the short list of the Best of the Portland 48-Hour Film Festival with their entry of Portland's Fallen Hero: The Captain Stoopendis Story. (Can I say I have been in an award-winning film?) Sceenings of the finalists is Tuesday night, September 14th, with winners announced at the end of the evening. Pins and needles everyone...watch here for updates... 8:33:55 PM   comment []

Two Churches Merge Yesterday, the weight and import of yesterday took me by surprise. Two churches, the Shoreline Christian Church and the Northwest Church of Christ, came together to form a new congregation in the body of Christ. How interesting that in a climate of deep political polarization, two churches from differing branches of the same religious heritage, branches that separated nearly 100 years ago because of a particular issue, have chosen this moment in time to set that issue aside and rejoin hands. The energy was palpable in the room as many new faces streamed into the building which houses the Northwest Church. Privileged as I was to be a part of the worship team for this inaugural service, I had a bird's eye view of the people's faces, each of them wearing various expressions of the complexitiy of the morning. There was joy, the wonder of this new adventure, occasional exchange of worried glances, the realization that this thing our pastors had been telling us about over the past six months was now a reality. Greetings and blessings came from major leaders of both the Churches of Christ and the Christian Churches, as well as from U.S. Senator Patty Murray. Dwarf Alberta Spruces, the Northwest's Church gift to all new members (as symbols of growth), were given to the people from Shoreline Christian Church. Dr. Milton Jones delivered a powerful message on restoration, and to close out that first worship, the people crossed the aisles and held hands as they prayed. Years ago, when I was in graduate school, I watched in stunned silence as a church ended its morning worship with an amen, followed by a shouting match between members that lasted over an hour. Though that Texas congregation is thankfully still alive and well, that moment of intense conflict from twenty years ago provides a strong contrasting picture to what I experienced yesterday. At least in one small place, for one huge moment, God answered the prayer of Jesus in John 17. Let them be one... 6:51:17 AM   comment []

Return of an Old Friend: Thomas Merton's Seeds of Contemplation "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul." Last night, I had coffee with a dear friend of mine who brought me a book. She was returning my hardback copy of Merton's Seeds of Contemplation, a book which is one of the five I would take with me to that proverbial desert island. I thought I'd lost it for good, seeing that I've asked most of my friends if they were the ones I'd last loaned it to, each of them saying shaking their heads, saying no. Having given up, I bought a paperback edition of New Seeds of Contemplation, which is the same book, but expanded...but somehow, I still preferred my old copy, with my notes inside. So when I saw it sticking out of my friend's bag, I was thrilled. While she ordered her coffee, I sat with the book, leafing through, reading again about God's love coming in the rain and the sun, in the bread of the day as well as the hunger. The challenge to give up that which we think we desire in order to find that which is the real desire...the love of God. We need old friends to remind us... 6:28:41 AM   comment []

© Copyright 2004 Jeff Berryman .