bless the lord, my soul, who leads me into life

Moment of Peace: An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?

In October, I got to spend four days as a group leader at an FTE VEV event in Minneapolis. Our twice-daily worship was led by a professor who spent several dozen years as a brother at Taize, the ecumenical community of monks in France whose worship is contemplative and reflective and beautiful. We chanted hymns over and over and over in a darkened, candlelit chapel, and after days packed full of travel and action, the quiet and stillness was a welcome respite. It's hard to let the contents of my head settle on my own - I need some structure and permission and encouragement. Worship - done well - provides that. I sat and settled. I rested.

the blogosphere

Blog find of the year. That gem of a blog you can’t believe you didn’t know about until this year.

Foodgawker takes the cake, full of tantalizing recipes and images of, among other things, cake. Dear Candler provides daily amusement (though the entries are oft-times indecipherable to the non-theology-student demographic). Mimi Smartypants makes me laugh out loud.

love is our work

Workshop or conference. Was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial? Where was it? What did you learn?

In March, I got to spend a weekend with the incredibly honest people of Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia. It was a course put on by the New Monastics and Schools for Conversion. Billed as "Intro to Christianity as a Way of Life," the workshop was essentially living with the community for a few days and getting a tiny taste of what life in intentional Christian community is like. Koinonia has a long history - Clarence Jordan of the "Cottonpatch Gospel" founded the place, they have ties to Habitat for Humanity, were involved in race riots, peace protests, and eventually dwindled down to nothing. The people who live there together now are intent upon making their life together their first priority, letting their work for justice and peace spring forth from their efforts to live together as a "demonstration plot" for the Kingdom of God. And they are incredibly honest about what hard work that is - to see the same people every day, to work and pray and live in such close quarters that even when you are completely fed up with someone you know you have to make it right in order to be able to live the next day beside them. "Love is our work," they told us. And they meant it.

huge, brilliant, joyful blur

Night out. Did you have a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked your world? Who was there? What was the highlight of the night?

Ohhhh, this one is an unbreakable tie between Katie and Ernie's wedding reception and the night o' wine with Meghan, Beth and Sharon. Night o' wine probably takes the cake for most enjoyable evening spent in Elgin (though honestly, it didn't exactly face a lot of stiff competition) - truth or dare, girly giggling, and one of the best bonding times I've actually ever had with a bunch of girls. But Kmrod and Ernie's reception started with mojitos, moved on to shots with the mother of the bride, and ended with smashing wine glasses on the dance floor. And, y'all, I was the MINISTER. It was just this huge, brilliant, joyful blur, and I got to spend it with two of my very best and oldest friends who are usually far, far away from me.

you knew this one would be long

Books! What books touched you? Did you pass it onto your friends?

Touched me: Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter. Ron Rash's Serena. Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding. (I am a sucker for quality Southern fiction. Ron Rash is genius. He can simultaneously ridicule and respect the farthest little Appalachian holler in such a way that you'd pack up and move there tomorrow just to get a taste of what it's like.)

Passed on to friends: Rhoda Janzen's Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Barbara Brown Taylor's An Altar in the World. (Memoirs are like my literary comfort food.)

Winner of the most time wasted award: Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I refused to finish the last 25 pages on principle and promptly took advantage of the airport bookseller's 50% refund policy for returned books.

Unexpectedly emotional: Drew Gilpin Faust's Republic of Suffering (a history of death in the Civil War) and Storycorps' Listening is an Act of Love (excerpts from friends telling each other stories of how their lives got shaped into what they are).

little bill clinton

Article. What’s an article that you read that blew you away?

Because of its relevance to what I've been doing, this one. Because it cracks me up every time, this one. Because it blew me away and reminded me what I ought to be about, this one.

Cheerful Pachyderms

Restaurant moment. Share the best restaurant experience you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?

Tough one. Could be the seafood feast overlooking sunset on the California coast with the amazing clergywomen in January, or the famous San Diegan fish taco in June, or the tasty dinner with Sara Pugh at the Little Grill made with fresh produce picked by our BVSers during orientation in Harrisonburg, or consuming gallons of party mix at the beach or cooking Dan's Indonesian feast for a couple dozen volunteers in August, or the Home Place roast beef for my birthday in September.

But most likely, it's the many, many occasions spent at the Happy Elephant in Schaumburg, site of probably a dozen celebratory meals over the course of the year. The simple suggestion of their peanut sauce can make my mouth water, they make this melt-in-your-mouth banana thai pastry for desert, and their logo is no holds barred ADORABLE:

best-of

At Callie's tagging insistence, I'll be blogging every day through the end of the year, capping off the year with an always-enjoyable "best-of" list.

Trip. What was your best trip in 2009?

My life is so mobile, I'm not sure which days count as "trips" anymore. Cheryl asked me this morning which place feels restful and at-home now. Um, wherever I am on any given day, I suppose. Any other answer would drive me insane, given that I'd never get to be there for any period longer than 12 days.

So, I'm going to create a Frankenstein of a trip, combining all the best elements of my many sojourns throughout this year:

I'll ride the train (certainly the most civilized mode of transportation) out to the West Coast, where the light and the peacocks and the roses make me think everything has potential for re-birth. I'll officiate a wedding for people I know dearly and celebrate into the wee morning hours with all the people who love them. I'll spend a couple of days with BVS volunteers who are full-up with optimism and hope and passion for restoring the world to it's original goodness. Then I'll while away a few hours on a beach with my entire crazy family, jaunt out to Yosemite to take in the GIGANTIC rock formations (who only wish they could be as dignified and wise as the Blue Ridge), and end the trip on a humid night sitting on a hot patio in Mississippi drinking Pacifico and probing the mysteries of the universe with boys whose accents drip off their tongues like honey. I'd road-trip it back to the East Coast, sip some coffee and eat fresh produce with friends in DC, then head back down to the mountains, giving thanks for the genius of the interstate highway system and rocking out to my custom-created road-trip soundtracks.

All of this really happened.

How Sarah Palin Ruined My Day...and other tales of exaggerated tragedy and woe

Populism Gone Mad
Roanoke, Virginia joined the long list of not-quite-urban places of populist conservatism targeted by Sarah Palin’s book tour this weekend. Everyone from the NYTimes to the Christian Science Monitor to the Wall Street Journal has warned against Palin’s folksy, anti-intellectual whining and the damage it’s doing to both a democratic system overrun by populism and a Republican party unsure how to lead with any vision for the future, but it's the people who follow her who infuriate me.

The Roanoke Times quotes a supporter in line as saying, "I think everyone in this line would say our values and her values are similar." As I walked out of the nearby Panera (an unfortunate choice for Sunday morning coffee), I overheard a cluster of people discussing their encounter with Palin: "She's just a REAL person." "That's exactly right, she's just a REAL person."

I grew up here. My family lives here. I can unleash a southern accent as thick as buttermilk on command. I know what you're trying to say. When you say "real," y'all, what you mean is "like me." When you say that this Sarah Palin is a real person who shares your values, what I hear is racism, and anti-intellectualism, and a deep-rooted and unacknowledged fear of the unknown. All of that is incredibly unbecoming on a people who I know to be devoted and faithful and courageous. Suck it up. Try something new. Test your faith out a little. You might find it stronger than you give it credit for.

The Internet, aka Boo Radley
In the same vein: technology is not a frightful beast. Information is not something to hoard and use as the currency of power. Blogs are fascinating ways to have a conversation without being in the same room. Facebook is what you make of it. People can and do create, discuss, debate and learn together online. Stop being afraid of the internet, Church. Your suspicions are based on ignorance, not on relationship, and like Harper Lee's Boo Radley, it might turn out that the thing you fear is the very thing that will solve some of your problems. Stop trying to control your brands and your information and let the Spirit move in the ways that she will. Don't get sloppy, don't give into the mediocrity that becomes so easy when everyone has access to everything; but don't run away and hide. Be creative! Use the tools available! And, for the love of all that is holy, figure out a way to allow me remote access to shared files without causing our poor I.T. guy to have a coronary.

Caffeine Wars
In a different artery altogether: Is there any way to combat caffeine's turncoat nature? The level of focus achieved after just one cup is unparalleled and necessary (at this addicted point in life) to proper functioning, but the subsequent and unmitigated crash after the second cup - combined with the recent onset of incurable insomnia - makes consumption incredibly impractical. Shall I turn to tea? Can it ever compete?

happy holy days

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in a room full of alumni from various church-related volunteer programs. These were people who spent several years of their lives serving alongside people in extreme poverty - from the Southside of Chicago to the Horn of Africa. They lived in intentional community with fellow volunteers and found joy in living simply and together. These were some seriously amazing people, intent on continuing to commit themselves to sustainability in both their economic and relational lives. Plus, they wore gorgeous scarves and huge earrings. I liked them.

During a panel discussion, the conversation turned to Christmas gift-giving. For most of these former volunteers, acquiring more material things was no longer high on their priority list, and talking to their families about that was inevitably awkward. The conversation went on, and on, and on -  we talked more about gift giving than anything else all weekend. 

I get the awkwardness, and I've had my share of uncomfortable family interactions, most of them infused with my own youthful condescension and militaristic progressivism. I like giving gifts - I like getting gifts. And I'm happy to be a part of what has become a really important tradition for parts of my family. But it's still a sticky time of year, when I inevitably begin to think about which weighs heavier - living a life of integrity or loving and respecting the people who formed me into this kind of person. Life, it turns out, is always a constant negotiation anyway.

So. Here are some ways to think about this particular season of negotiation, faithfulness, integrity, and relationship.

Check out the Advent Conspiracy website for more resources and suggestions. Happy Holy Days.