Fall-ish

Last night I experienced Fall...kind of.
Ashley and Meredith held a "Fall Fest" at their house. We had fall food. Such as the following beautiful Apple Pie. We wore fall clothes ( the girls turned the air up so that we could wear sweaters), and carved pumpkins. I have never experienced fall before. Except when it happens for about 4 days here in Texas (the leaves change and fall very quickly). However I am pretty sure that would LOVE it. I love cold weather, without it being biting. I love sweaters, and cordaroy, and clogs, and argyle. I love layering! Also when I think of Autumn, I think of sitting outside on a park bench reading a wonderful book, while sipping on a hot drink. I love that too. I need to go somewhere with that has a true fall next year. But this year, the wonderful fall fest will suffice.

A Quote.

"But down in the darkness below those dreams-- in the place where all our notions of God have come to naught--there is stil reason to hope, because disillusionment is not bad. Disillusionment is the loss of illusion--about ourselves, about the world, about God--and while it is almost always painful, it is not a bad thing to lose the lies we have mistaken for truth. Disillusioned, we come to understand that God does not conform to our expectations....We review our requirements fo God and recognize them against our own fictions, our own frial shelters against the vast night sky. Disillusioned, we find out what is not true and are set free to seek what is-- if we dare."
-Barbara Brown Taylor, "The Preaching Life"

Heaven is like...

Tonight in life group we talked about Heaven. It was this beautiful moment where everyone in the room spouted off parable like statements regarding our deepest hope:


"When I was in Germany, I was working at a camp for refugee children. These kids had fled to germany from War-torn countries. They had been abused, some were child soilders, some had fought eachother. We took them to a pool. Some had never seen a pool. About 12 or 15 of us climbed up to the top of a water slide and sat one in front of the other, in a long train and all went down the slide together, a mass of us splashing into the water laughing. I think that is what heaven is like".


"When the soilders in Darfur look into the eyes of those whom they are oppressing, see humanity and then set down their guns...that is what heaven is like"

"I think that as I have thought more about heaven it is less about the picture in my mind's eye of castles and golden streets. Instead of seeing heaven I now feel it. It is what i long for. It is contentment. It is no longer striving"

"I think when we realize that we are all a part of systems that hurt people and oppress humanity, and we let that change us and effect us...we have begun to realize heaven"

"Heaven is a suprise. We will see people there that we didn't even expect"

"Heaven is not the end of one part of life and the beginning of another. In heaven we will continue to grown and become more of who we are supposed to be. Except that Heaven is more of an adventure than this life. Our senses are heightened, emotions run deeper...we are more alive."

This week Heaven has become more tangible to me. Dr. Ruth Ann Foster longed for the Kingdom of God to come. She wanted to help bring the kingdom to earth. To see the oppressed freed, the hungry fed, and for love to abound. She told us always that the Christian life isn't easy...but it's worth it. She loved deeply, prayed whole heartedly, and in all of it groaned for the kingdom. She talked about the kingdom of God and heaven alot. She didn't talk about it in terms of the American dream with mansions and streets of gold. She talked about heaven when she spoke about the upside down kingdom, and our faith becoming sight, and humanity becoming whole. She believed that Christ was the ressurection and the life. I know without a doubt, that her faith is complete now. She has seen the kingdom...whatever the kingdom may look like or be...she has seen it. And though I am sad that we have lost such a beloved sister, my heart is full.
Today in class today Dr. Gaynor Yancey said that the best way to honor Dr. Foster is to be the kingdom of God for a broken world...I think she is right.