Hmmmm...

This past Sunday I showed up (45 minutes) early to church. A man was warming up on the drums and as I sat there the room went dark. All the lights went out except those highlighting the center stage, giving the drummer a remarkable glow. I secretly came early hoping to have some silence before others congregated. Instead, I was in a very large and dark room with the drums beating and an image of Caren MacMurchy. She, ladies and gents, is the one woman I may ever witness (and you may ever hear about) to play the drums during her own husband’s funeral.

The room filled with intensity, this thundering anticipation of all the excitement and pain and joy and anger to come. Moving on, I then began thinking how one of the best services to date would be if Rob Bell gave the sermon and the David Crowder Band performed the music. Please note the ultimate of this dream would be if Rob Bell performed a Catholic service with Father Holtzman at the cathedral in Toledo, Spain and David Crowder was the cantor, but that's neither here nor there...

Soon the “56” band joined their drummer on stage and practiced their first song. Their leader strapped on his accordion and began playing none other than “Here is Our King,” a song which is safe to say was made well-known by the David Crowder Band. At that moment I then realized the instrumental intro to this song is very much reminiscent of that played during The Office opening credits. I couldn’t help but smile. Then, my mind jumped back to the first night I attended the church and the first woman I see is wearing a sweater my mother owns. Not just any sweater, but the sweater I chose to borrow from my mother for an ugly Christmas sweater party.

You know those nights when you lay in bed exhausted because of the countless ideas running through your mind ALL day? Tiring? Yes. Inspiring? You bet.

Next, a woman sitting behind me with her two children asked if I went to this church often and she then asked the question of the day: How did you end up at Mars Hill?

Instantly I pinpointed it to a conversation I had with a friend who introduced me to Rob Bell and his writings. I then took this conversation and wondered how we reached that topic and realized it lead to my sister and Grand Rapids, MI where I recently applied for an internship (the one I am currently at). This became a trail of the internship to my interest in baseball to a guy I dated who showed me baseball to Sonshine music festival to a few girlfriends convincing me to go to Sonshine…you get the idea.

Life becomes this intricate design. Some things we may believe coincidental, but this can definitely be outweighed by the “path” of tracing life back.

Right now take something that has happened in your life recently, big or small, and make a path. If you don’t find your path(s) fascinating then call me and we can work something out…