A Very Good Day!

Dedicated to Chuck Davis....

I love clouds. I carry my camera with me most every where I go. If I see clouds that impress me I will pull the car over to take a picture. A couple Mondays ago Bryan and I took a quick trip down to Newport Beach. We went down to purchase special shoes that I can only find there. Then we headed over to sit on the beach for a little while. The clouds were amazing.

Tomorrow we are going to San Francisco. Both of our boys now live in the East Bay. I have not gotten to see where they live yet and I am eager to spend time with them. When our children were growing up we lived in N. Manchester, Indiana. We took a day trip to Chicago to the Institute of Modern Art for the Rene Magritte showing. I am a big fan of his cloud paintings.

After that, whenever the sky was filled with fluffy white clouds, Brett would say, "It is Magritte day!" I just call it a good day!

A Week in Review

I got a phone call from a college student this past week asking if I was willing to be filmed for a class. She said she was making a film on the connection between the Brethren and the University and city. We set up Tuesday at 2 p.m. for her to come by. She showed up with four other students, a professional camera, two major lights and a sound person. Two hours later they finally finished with me.

The first meeting of the newly formed Progressive Brethren Council met this week at the La Verne Church of the Brethren. We spent two days together reporting where we are, thinking together about Annual Conference and making some initial plans for the fall gathering. The fall gathering will take place at the La Verne Church of the Brethren at the end of October. It will be an honor to host this collection of Brethren.

This past Sunday was the First Sunday of Lent. We have built a sermon series around stones. The worship center and shadowbox did an excellent job of portraying the theme. For the children's story I started a rock tumbler going. At the time of sharing prayer concerns people were invited to place a stone in a large glass tumbler to signify the burdens we share in prayer. At the end of the service we raised our Beth-el pillar and I anointed it with oil. The music fit the theme of dreams and stones.

Last night Bryan and I went to the Taize Service at church. The theme was serenity. Sharyn really know how to create a space for reflection and prayer. As we entered the church, I snapped this picture. What a beautiful church.

A Really Bad Day

In honor of Chuck Davis I am blogging tonight. Chuck actually reads my blog and I am grateful!

Tonight I want to write about the time, about thirty years ago, Bryan bought a used car. The car was a little black sports car with a broken gas gauge. Bryan's uncle suggested that he fill the tank, write down the mileage and then drive it until the gas ran out.....then he would know how many miles he could go on a tank of gas. Sounds like a great idea. Well, at least until you run out of gas.

Bryan bought the car just as he also got a new job working as a probation counselor. So on the way to his new job he was waiting to make a left at a busy intersection in Anaheim. At that same corner was a man, dressed in a gorilla suit, trying to get people to stop and buy tires.

When the light turned green Bryan ran out of gas. He pulled the key out of the ignition and got out of the car to begin pushing his car through the intersection. The man in the gorilla suit came running over to help me and Bryan gladly accepted his help. That scene is funny enough for me but there is more....

Because Bryan pulled the key out of the ignition his steering wheel locked. The man in the gorilla suit begins pushing the car with force and Bryan can tell they are headed for a parked car. He tries to get the "gorilla" to stop pushing but he doesn't hear Bryan. He pushes Bryan's car right into a parked car. Talk about a bad day.

By the time Bryan found the owner of the parked car and got gas in the tank of his car he was very late for his new job. His new boss said, "Boyer, I need you to put in writing why you were late to work today." Bryan simply wrote, "A gorilla pushed my car into a parked car" and then went back to his unit. His boss radioed down later: "Boyer, you need to stop by my office on your way out and put in writing what really happened."

BMC Meetings

I am at the Brethren Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Interests meeting in Lombard, Illinois. We are focusing on the typical things like finances, reports, technology, etc. We are also working on other new ideas and challenges, ie. safety for BMC booth at Conference and how do we staff for the increased demand on BMC.

We have three new board members and a new BMC volunteer. Working with new people to collaborate on denominational level work is one of the highlights of being on the board for me. I get so frustrated within the denomination sometimes and to sit down with a group in which we don't have to start at the beginning is good.

Part of our weekends together include a potluck with BMC supporters who live in the area in which we are meeting. I enjoy those potlucks but am often saddened by the number of incredible people who have left the Church of the Brethren and the Mennonite Church USA because they do not find acceptance. It is painful to hear people complain about the church dying without realizing that "the church" has forced such good people to leave. Sunday morning many of us attended the York Center Church of the Brethren. Sarah, a new member of the BMC Board preached. She was excellent.

Homeboy Industries

I heard Father Greg Boyle speak at the University of La Verne Baccalaureate in May 2011. His theology of kinship made so much sense to me. I bought his book Tattoos on the Heart and when I began it I couldn't put it down. It was filled with nuggets of faithful understanding like this: If there is a fundamental challenge within these stories, it is simply to change our lurking suspicion that some lives matter less than other lives.

A couple months later, Corlan and I went into Los Angeles to experience the Homegirl Cafe, part of the Homeboy Industries. I recommend the spinach limeade. I know it doesn't sound appetizing but I had seconds....and thirds. When we visited the gift shop we were told we could sign up for a tour. We did. We saw the bakery, tattoo removal machine, case management, classes and more. We heard the story of the man taking us on the tour and that in and of itself would have been enough to make it an important day. A final trip to the bakery and we came home with goodies.

Today, Corlan invited Homeboy Industries to send us a speaker for our all church luncheon. We heard from a young woman name Dunia.

Dunia trusted us with our story. It was story of courage and strength. We are all kin and we are grateful that she came to spend the day with us.

A Day of Whale Watching

I found a coupon this week for 50% off a whale watching cruise. So four of us went out of Long Beach at 3 p.m. today. It wasn't a balmy day so we took our winter coats and headed out.

The captain said that we would hit 4 to 6 foot waves. It was fairly intense on the way out.

We saw quite a few fin whales and dozens upon dozens of dolphins. At one point our boat was surrounded by a pod of dolphins. I tried to take a good picture of whales or dolphins but the rocking of the boat by the intense waves made it too difficult. I only got one picture of wildlife...here it is....

We came in from the water as the sun was setting over the commercial port of Long Beach.

A good dinner with lots of belly laughs and some excellent coffee topped a great day!

Thank God for Camp

I went to the Camp La Verne Banquet on Saturday night Our youth served the meal and did the "Tebow." It was a good event and I was glad to be there. The food was good, the company was great, the institution we were supporting was excellent and I came home with two solar lamps that now grace my porch.

I grew up in Kansas and attended Camp Mt. Hermon in Tonganoxie, Kansas. There is nothing else quite like camp. At camp I learned :

• how to work with others to create a fun skit
• the song "Pass It On"
• how to row a rowboat
• how to ready a cabin for inspection
• how to tell a good ghost story

But most of all I got to spend time with a group of kids my age away from my parents but surrounded with adults who kept us safe and treating each other with respect. I am grateful for the many adults who give up a week of their summer to give our children a good camping experience.