OK. I need to download my experience from last week's trip to St Louis to be a part of Search Party.Things I enjoyed most:1. Sharing a room and hanging with my good friend Doug Pagitt of Solomons Porch. We always have a blast together.
We have chased gators in Florida, rollercoasted in Dallas, and have tested the food in a dozen cities (best was beef in Sante Fe and chinese in San Francisco). We also climbed the William Wallace Memorial in Stirling, Scotland (see photo for proof) 2. Speaking with Len Sweet. This was a real honor. Len has written, like 18 books, and I have a problem holding a thought for more than 2 pages - which is why I blog and write short articles. Len is a great thinker and it was fun to do a dialogue with him. We had an hour on stage together. Len kicked off with some thinking about the need to "double boot" our systems in order to cope with the multi-dimension world of global/local realities that some call "Glocal". I was coming more from the receiving end - I call it "Lobal" - which was very protective of local cultures around the world while enjoying the freedom and opportunities that the global tools give us. We had decided that any disagreement would be a postive thing - add a little tension - but as it worked out, we ending up agreeing and supporting each other all the way through. Who would have thought?
3. Meeting Heather and some others from the mainline denominations, especially United Church of Christ. I didnt realize that I had more in common with my Catholic friends (like Brian - see yesterday's blog) than with the Mainliners. Heather told us that she had never heard the Holy Spirit referred to as "He" before - she was responding to Todd Hunter's excellent message - and I told her that many people at the conference had never heard the Holy Spirit called a "She". Amazing how distant our worlds can be in the same country, and yet there is a real desire for us all to learn from each other and move forward together.
The team from Levis Table who led the conference did an amazing job in organizing it all. Thanks to Rob Graham, Ryan Hale, and the guys.
I gave Doug a shampoo bar from the Lush store in England. For his wife, I got a bar of exfoliating soap that takes dimples away. It's called "Buffy The Backslide Slayer." Hope she is not offended. This picture is Doug consoling his wife after she receives my gift. Hey - I dont know if she has dimples or not - I just liked the name of the soap!!!
