Nov 18, 2006

nywc06: saturday pm - pt. 5

I cannot believe how many people I was able to meet this year. Two new friends include Damien O'Farrell and Jim Newberry, a couple of guys who I share ties with in the Emergent Village coordinating group. Until now our relationship has been online, and so meeting in person felt a little like an eHarmony moment. We had some good times, though, hanging out and digging into each other's stories.

We had a bit of a hard time finding each other, though. We were all hanging out by convention headquarters in a mass of people coming to and fro. I started shouting out their names, and after a couple of minutes found Damien. A few more minutes went by and then Jim heard us calling him. The odd thing was that Jim was the first guy I saw when I came into that area but he didn't initally respond when I called his name.

It's always funny when you go to meet someone you've never seen before. A part of you starts to guess what he/she might look like, often from the details you have in your head. We think of other people we know who share those characteristics and try to come up with a composite concept of who to look for. Many times I've found I am more often surprised than I am correct about what the individual looks like.

I expected God to be a certain way today. Based on what I knew of him in the past, I was counting on him to reveal himself in a particular way. I even called his name out through music and prayers, but he didn't answer right away.

Then he did.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

How's that fleshing out for you today?

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