Sunday, April 25, 2010
Yesterday when I arrived a huge tornado (sometimes two miles wide) ripped through Mississippi touching down over a 149 mile stretch. Ten people were killed and many injured. One amazing story is about a man who ran into a nearby church as the tornado approached and hid under the altar. The church was leveled and the only thing left standing was the altar and the man hiding under it survived.
Today I spoke with Baxter Kruger at a laid back intimate setting. Five hours with a couple breaks and it was wonderful. Before the event, Beth K and I headed out to buy some copies of The Shack. We found them at Wal-Mart and while we were self checking a clerk came over and told us what a great book we were buying. Beth introduced me as the author and she told us how the book had been instrumental in her life after a family death. Teary-eyed, she hugged me and thanked me.
The event focused on Perichoresis, a term used in the early church which means ‘mutual indwelling or mutual interpenetration of the persons of the Trinity’ and has the sense of inclusion into a great dance. It carries the understanding that Father, Son and Holy Spirit have included us into the great dance of their love, mutuality and union. We talked about how religion has destructively impacted many of us because it communicated a caricature of God as untrustworthy, distant, detached and disappointed, as if the Father had an agenda behind the back of Jesus. While Baxter brought the historic theology that undergirds The Shack, we both wove story and experience. People, especially the younger generations, are hungry for authenticity and for something that actually ‘works’ and would rather vote with their feet than commit themselves to something they consider archaic and ineffective.
A bunch landed at the Kruger house for Pizza and conversation and after a few hours I dismissed myself to seek some rest and comfort under blankets. I am headed there now.
Today, an incredible friend, Scott Closner, turns 49. May grace dog every day of this coming year. Sorry I missed the party.
This week, The Shack has reached 100 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Tomorrow is a day of rest and maybe a little fishing. I’ll try not to hurt myself.
“If Jesus would withdraw himself from the human race, they would vanish” – quote regarding John 1:4 by John Calvin
Baxter and Steve messin with my fish
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Monday, April 26, 2010 was indeed a day of rest, for the most part. Baxter K and I spent the morning working on ideas such as how to creatively bring Trinitarian Incarnational understanding to the larger community of faith. I don’t think most people realize the extent that the book is ‘early Church’ orthodox.
This afternoon Baxter, Steve and I went Bass fishing. I was my first time and I am pleased to say, I never injured anyone, including myself, while casting. As tends to be in line with God’s sense of humor, Baxter and Steve, Bass fishing experts and highly experienced, each caught one and I caught five. I told them it is because God helps beginners.
Tomorrow I get up at 4:30AM to catch an early flight to Grand Rapids, MI via Memphis TN, where I will be speaking at the Holland Schools.