Music Monday*

It's Monday and alteration is fun, but really here are thoughts on the end of the day.

The day had been overwhelming and a bit too long. Entering to room echoing from the chaos outside she filled the apartment as she scooped a bowl of homemade chili and poured a mug of wine. It was nearly 8 p.m. she was late and this was the first night of the new community group.

After 2 and half years she was no longer a vowed member of a faith community. She was, however, a committed member of this little gathering.

She had taken the summer to heal and listen to God. Unexpectedly her summer break became permanent. The plan was to go back in August, but it was November now. Over the past few months she found herself in a community that was in the prayer process. With some hesitation she had joined in the process. That process was beautiful and painful. Just last week she shed tears of exhaustion and grief, but still knew that this was real community. The community had spent months listening to each other and refusing to move forward if it meant leaving community members behind. It was powerful.

Tonight after the challenging decision to become two groups the two groups met separately. Nine of people sat in a living room. They read a scripture together and it was suggested that as this new group move forward stories should be told. Tonight's story: what brought you to San Francisco?

Everyone shared.

At one point Jaclyn stated that hearing the stories of fellow Christians is like hearing the gospel over again. These are the narratives of God moving and it can be heard with every person that recounted the events that brought them here.

I left feeling refreshed. I am starting over. I am moving forward. I am rewriting and retelling my story. I am letting go of so much more than a heart break, and less so much less than my faith. I am redefining my life knowing that there are moments in this story that changed everything, but these moments are not the story, they are sentences, paragraphs and maybe chapters of a narrative only just begun.




*The song and the post might not have anything in common, but than again they might.