So I am doing "Facebook Live" this week and next week. It is a whole new adventure for me. When I volunteered to do it in Pastor John's absence, I immediately knew I could not do it the way he does it. He does all the talking and manages all the technology. There is no way I want to (or can!) do that.
Instead as I sat with the prospect of this time, I realized I wanted to interview people of the church and it didn't take long for 5 questions to emerge to ask. I wanted it to be not threatening for them or for me, so to have 5 questions that I asked everyone made sense. They are these
- what brought you to Gender Road Christian Church
- what is your favorite hymn
- what is a place where you encounter God's presence
- what is a time of struggle in your life where God strengthened you
- what is your philosophy of life
I gave the questions to the people ahead of time and then sat with them and asked.
The technology has been challenging. I am so grateful for Kacey who makes everything easier for me as my "director." My first thought was that we would meet outside socially distancing and the traffic and the sound was a problem. The second day we met in the church narthex socially distancing and the sounds othe children from the preschool who were playing in the gym we problemmatic. Yesterday we met in a classroom and it finally worked. Sigh.
Regardless of the technological challenges, I have been touched every day by the answers that people have given to these questions. I realize that this is really what gives me life - hearing faithful people tell about their faith journeys. It always inspires me.
This pandemic has been hard in so many ways, but I have truly been blessed by my work at the church. The Bible studies and the book study (Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton) have encouraged my faith as we really dig into what it means to be a follower of Jesus. And now, these facebook live sessions have been another great blessing. And everyone who has participated has also enjoyed the experience.
I think these are pretty good questions to ask people. You don't usually get to do that in casual conversation, so I am glad to have an opportunity to learn from others.
Always I will say - God is good, all the time.
Here's a blessing from Maxine Shonk I need today as I spend time on this week's sermon:
May the God of CREATIVITY be with you,
helping you to brace new ground and test new horizons
calling you to trust and risk being a co creator of the Kingdom
May the gift of creativity bring you to a recognition of every new revelations of God's goodness.
May the blessing of CREATIVITY be on you.
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