Feeding my soul

Today I turn in my third paper in three days. None of the three was particularly difficult, but the combined work the last few days was definitely draining. I didn’t finish today’s paper until about 2:30 a.m. and then the buzz from all the coffee I was drinking kept me awake until about 4:30. I suppose it would have helped if I had started the paper before 11:30 last night, but it was my turn to cook dinner last night and then I attended the monthly meeting of the Atlanta Emergent Cohort from 8:00-10:00.
Last night’s cohort meeting was a needed refreshment from the mind-numbing routine that school and work have been lately. For starters, I thought the turnout was really good. Adam Cleaveland, (who has a freakin’ awesome blog- Pomomusings) was in Atlanta for a few days and stopped by our gathering. Jen Van Camp and Leanne Gunter, two of my friends from McAfee who I think do some awesome ministry, were also there for the first time. Emergent needs more women practitioners. Tim and Trinity Honse came again as well. It’s good to see the McAfee crowd taking an interest in the Emerging conversation. Most importantly, my wife Jana joined me. I’m always flattered when she takes an interest the things I do.
We had a discussion about arts and the incarnation. The gist of it was that humanity needed to reclaim its role as co-creators with God. Everyone agreed that we needed to learn not to repress the creative urges of those in our churches and foster a way for more people to fan their own creative flames. Another good thought was that we needed to recapture a wide definition of what art is beyond just music, sculpture, painting, ect… The hope is that fostering the creative urge will allow us to be just as creative in our theology as in other areas of our life. There’s much more I could write here, and I just may in another post.
Good friends, beer, lively discussion. Last night was a refreshing and encouraging evening for me.