Emergent Gathering, 2005

What a magical time we had together in New Mexico. A hundred and fifty or so people made their various ways to Glorieta, a forest retreat laced between the hills and evergreens, and together we made of our gathering what we could. We began cautiously, but I knew things would go well when upon finding a seat before the first main session, a curly-haired stranger named Wendy, noticing I was alone, sat beside and befriended me. It was the kind of ritual in Christian compassion and solidarity that would be rehearsed many times during our three days together.

Perhaps the best part of this event for me was the sheer lack of strut and puff. We were not a people who needed our egos stroked. We were a people led to this place by a desire for Christ and his mission. In many ways the spirit of our gathering was summed up by Grace McLaren in a pleading prayer that God would never forsake us. We were pilgrim souls in breathless need of God.

I talked to a fifty-something man who said he felt like a giddy 14-year-old at a really good youth retreat; he said he did not often get to feel that way. Indeed, we don’t, and I believe this has more to do with our cocoons of protective busyness than anything else. I know how silly it is to get caught up in the emotion of newfound belongingness. But it is a holy silliness, a joy born of relief that maybe somebody out there can relate to me.

It is not so much ideas and theories that I carry back home with me in this jet at 32,000 feet but rather dreams of how I might make a living offering to the kingdom of God. The conversations I participated in brought me into ways of living I had never considered before. In the words of J.R., “I thought I was living holistic Christianity. I wasn’t.”

Highlights:

- Cigars and scotch at 202!
- Meeting Julianna, an obviously sophisticated, generous person.
- I saw a coyote! A real live wild dog trotted between two copses of trees, glancing over his shoulder at me, Doug, and Damien while we were on a walk. But it gets better. Damien shrugged his shoulders like it was a squirrel and said he saw those all the time. Show off.
- Meeting Grace, a recent empty-nester who is loving life.
- Brian’s talk on the need to shift from the idea-driven language of postmodernism to the life-driven language of post-colonialism. See anewkindofconversation.com
- Meeting Jason of Christian Century. What a publication. And after meeting Jason I know why.
- No TV, no telephone, and very limited access to the Internet. It was hard at first, but I grew to love it.
- Meeting Andrew Jones finally and hearing the words of Jesus from him as he taught us how to make pizza.
- The children. All those beautiful children.
- Kelly Bean. She looks like a young version of my mom. I’m serious. If I showed you a picture of Kelly next to a picture of my mom in college, you’d think they were the same person.
- Ken and Deborah. Wow! These two should be beatified.
- And so many more…

If you missed this one, stay tuned at www.emergentvillage.com for the next as well as comparable events. You can also sign up for emailed updates there.