Dance Hero

Tara Trafzer = my dance hero.

Tara and Nick were the Jack and Jill winners in Medford. They were matched with each other randomly, but they chose the music. Start the video at 1:49. So fun!

Life Together = Messy

I once heard a pastor say, "The church is a whore. But God died for that whore."

Brutal.

But I like the intention behind those words. A lot of people seem to be walking away from church life these days because it's not what they expect church to be. I'd probably agree with them, but I don't know if that's reason enough to leave (most of the time).

I read an excerpt from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together and I thought I'd write down a few quotes to convict me if I find myself in a similar slump in the future.

Notes to future disgruntled self:

"Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves."

"Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of community more than Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial."

"When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash."

"...we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients."

"...examine [yourself] first to see whether the trouble is not due to [your] wish dream that should be shattered by God; and if this be the case, thank God for leading [you] into this predicament."

"Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim."

"Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate."

All quotes from the chapter Not an Ideal but a Divine Reality.