it's not Wagner, you know

this month, i've been invited to be the communicator at Trinity Community Church in Oro (where i'd been on staff for 3 1/2 years). it's a real privilege to be able to share with this community of Jesus followers again, and especially to cover the Easter season. honestly, when i initially said 'yes' to speaking, i didn't realize that i'd agreed to the month encompassing Easter ... neither did i have the foresight to check whether or not it was a 5-Sunday month ... oh well. no worries.

i'm going to try to deliver a message series called "oh, the humanity!". you probably know that phrase from the coverage of the hindenburg disaster. we're going to use it as a leaping-off point to look at the worst of human behaviour in the bible ... and how even those incidents became the putty with which God has been able to sculpt something beautiful and lasting.

if you can join us (and that's not intended to be an enticement to leave behind your own communities of faith and worship), i'd love for you to be in on the conversation.

it's not Wagner, you know

fighter

i just got back from sunnybrook health sciences centre visiting my friend cindy. she was in a horrific car accident when she collided with a school bus. after undergoing numerous surgeries, she is now out of intensive care and slowly recuperating.

she seems to be in really good spirits, and deeply concerned about the welfare of others - including her children and close friends. can you believe that she actually mustered up the energy to grill me about how the voodoo lounge initiative is progressing??!

anyway, she tells me that she plans to be out of the hospital and at home in a week.

don't laugh - she's a fighter. if anyone can do it, she can.

fighter

let's get physical

some of you know that I've gotten involved in my first community theatre production ... and having a blast with it. it's called "Boeing Boeing", and it's being presented by the South Simcoe Theatre in Cookstown, ON. we're driving towards opening night this thursday, and tonight is our first dress rehearsal with an audience ... yikes!

it's been a real steep learning curve for me. from memorizing plenty of dialogue to memorizing stage blocking to ensuring that cues come quickly and accurately, i've definitely found myself stretched and, on numerous occasions, quite underequipped.

another real challenge for me with this play has been the fact that my character ("Robert") is required to kiss two of the other female characters. that's awkward enough when you consider that i've only ever kissed two other girls other than my wife (all of them before I was married, I might add!), but add to that that both of the actors that I kiss are younger (one much younger) than I am ... well!

but here's the real revelation for me: it's astonishing to me that I can kiss these women, both of whom are incredibly beautiful and talented, and feel nothing. no romantic feelings, no animal magnetism, no improper thoughts. nothing.

i wondered at first if there was something wrong with me ... and then i started to feel sad. not for me or for them (well, maybe sad for them because they have to endure kissing me), but honestly sad for any and everyone who engages in relationships and physical intimacy where there is no emotion or commitment. i imagine that that must be the tragedy of sex without love, of desire without devotion. it may seem appealing from a distance, but there's an emptiness that resides within.

i'm grateful for the talents of my co-actors (thanks Kristen and Ashley!) who make our kissing encounters work in the context of the performance. i just hope that there aren't that many people who are trying to play those scenes out on the stage of life.

let's get physical