Meetings

What does sorbet have in common with bell peppers?  Or goat milk with spider webs?  Or Shrek with acting?  They are all examples of intersections or meetings of two previously unrelated items which produce something of interest and value.  A chef has crossed heretofore unrelated foods to produce dining masterpieces.  The material in spider webs enhance goat milk so that it makes a stronger nutrient mix.  Working in animation makes a better training ground for actors.  So says Frans Johansson in his fascinating book The Medici Effect.

Johansson writes about the intriguing intersections of different people, things, places, foods, etc.  Alan Hirsch, noted church author and instructor in my doctor of ministry class last week, talked about how most people can innovate fairly easily--it just takes the meeting of different aspects of life in order for new ideas to be sparked, new behaviors to be experienced, and new worlds to be explored.

I reflected on this notion a lot during my time in the Los Angeles area last week.  I looked around my class and saw people from Seoul South Korea, Virginia, Washington (state), St. Louis, Texas, Australia, and other parts of the country and the world.  I chewed on the delicious conversations.  Enjoyed the variety of flavors of theology and church practice.  Loved the expressions of difference as well as convergence.  And, savored these multiple meetings.

A highlight was a "field trip" on the LA train or light rail system to downtown near skid row where we met a pastor who had started a church to minister to the poor and to the affluent in that area.  New City Church's mix of different lifestyles, colors, and peoples was exciting to behold.  We had lunch at the Farmer's Market and consumed a variety of dishes, many of which were a meeting or mix of different food traditions.

As I returned from this cultural "mash up," I went to Cody Elementary School yesterday to tutor.  I mentored one of my regular "mentees" and noticed the differences between him and me--young and old(er), African-American and White, big (for his age) and short, shy and outgoing--but shy often, awkward and sometimes awkward (ok, well I guess that we are not THAT different in many ways!).  I savored the differences between us even as I enjoyed just being with him, learning about his world, hearing about his family, listening to what he thought about snow (impending, supposedly!).

And, I just smiled.  And, thanked God that I live in a country in which I can celebrate a relationship with someone so different from me.  What a blessing!

So, I encourage you to enjoy your meetings that are full of difference.  Revel in those things, people, and places that are strange to you.  Bless God for giving you opportunities to see the world from different vantage points.

Peace,

Doug