Outside

This last week of the year has given us some incredibly great weather, even by California standards.  With our family taking some time to visit friends and family throughout the state, I've tried to find activities that would allow us to get outdoors as much as possible.  Here are some "postcards" from our week...

Toyon (aka "California Holly") in the Verdugo Mountains.  It is from this plant that Hollywood gets its name.

A trail in the Verdugo Mountains above Burbank on a beautiful day.  Downtown Los Angeles is in the distance.

Tristan and his friend (who we only see about once a year) on downtown Sacramento's Discovery Park Trail.

Happy Hannukah

Inspired by his best friend who is Jewish, my youngest son is curious to learn about his friend's faith. His best friend's mother gave us a menorah to use in our home, and we've been lighting candles.

Winter Solstice

Here in the Pacific Time Zone, the Winter Solstice occurs late tomorrow night. The days are short, the nights long. What a good week for a festival of lights and celebration of Christmas....

Garland

It seemed a shame to me that every year, we decorate the inside of our church so beautifully -- especially the sanctuary -- but do nothing on the outside of the building. Were we reserving the joy of Christmas for ourselves only, keeping it locked away as if it were our little secret?

I suggested to someone that we should add some decoration, some garland perhaps, to the front exterior. A day or two later, a box of garland appeared in my office. A few days after that, some lovely bows were brought in to adorn the garland. I purchased some hooks, and spent some time figuring out how far apart they should be in order to fit perfectly. (6 feet 10 inches, in case you are wondering.)

Then I spent 3 hours going up and down a ladder, measuring the distances, putting the hooks in, and hanging the garland. I'm very happy with the result, and am glad that we are able to now share some of the Christmas joy with our community through these decorations that all can see.

Red Leaves

Here in southern California, we don't get the colorful displays of fall leaves to the extent that other places do, which makes dramatic displays of color like this stand out all that much more.  The fact that these leaves waited to turn a brilliant red until just a few weeks before Christmas makes it even more special, I think.

Scarcity Vs. Abundance

Last week, I wrote about the Wednesday Night Dinners I started at my church. My reflections were influenced by a book I was reading:  The Abundant Community, by Peter Block and John McKnight.  Well, I've finished the book now, and it has led me to do some more reflecting on the dinner gatherings that I've come to find so meaningful.

At these dinners, the group that attends basically creates its own entertainment.  We're not paying someone else to provide us with their idea of a "good time," which is what happens when we go to a movie, a theme park, watch a DVD, or even eat at a restaurant (especially a chain restaurant where the meal you order in Long Beach is exactly the same as the meal that is being served to hundreds or thousands of other diners in restaurants all over the continent).

It's nice to pay someone else to entertain us once in awhile.  However, paying someone else to entertain us is an idea based on scarcity.  We can only experience as much entertainment as we can afford.  Also, when we pay someone else to entertain us, we are living out the belief that our own gifts aren't good enough to share.  Our own gifts aren't good enough, so we have to pay someone else who is "gifted" to entertain us.

Creating our own entertainment, on the other hand, is an idea based on abundance.  Every person has gifts, and is empowered to share them.  The amount of entertainment we can experience is limitless, as long as we are willing to share our gifts.

Christmas is approaching.  For some reason, we believe that the best gifts are ones that can be purchased from someone else, gifts created by someone we don't even know.  Thus, our generosity and gift-giving is limited by the money in our bank accounts.  Christmas shopping is an exercise in scarcity.  We can only give so much before we run out of money.

Why is it that we think that paying for a gift that was made, created, or cooked by someone else is preferable to - and more meaningful than - a gift that is made, created, or cooked specifically for us by someone we love?

Brothers

You're Invited to Dinner

Six months ago, I announced that from now on, I would be cooking and eating dinner at church every Wednesday evening - and that anyone who wanted to join me was welcome.

A few people accepted my invitation.  Throughout the summer, there would be seven to ten people joining me for dinner on Wednesdays.  I put out a basket and invited those who had come more than once to put a few dollars in to help pay for the food.  The money received almost covered what I spent.

The meals were simple:  quesadillas, hamburgers, spaghetti.  Later on I would get creative, trying new recipes, like the time I made Turkey & Vegetable Chili Verde from scratch.  Delicious, fun to make, but still simple.  The only beverage I provided was ice water, although our church does have a vending machine with reasonably priced beverages.  We ate on paper plates with paper napkins.

At the end of summer, the number of dinner guests began to grow.  Soon we were 15, then 20.  One week we had 25.  Some of those who came said they wanted an opportunity to cook, so I got to enjoy some Wednesday dinners without having to plan, shop, and prepare the food, which was nice.  And the money in the basket soon began to surpass the amount that was spent.

As we begin our seventh month of Wednesday night dinners, I'm surprised to discover that each week is more enjoyable and satisfying to me than the previous week.  I'm surprised, because I've been trained to expect just the opposite from life.  Normally, satisfaction decreases over time.  The new clothes I bought six months ago don't bring me nearly the same level of satisfaction today that they brought me when they were new.  The DVD I bought over the summer now sits on a shelf collecting dust.  I can say the same for just about everything I've ever bought.  They quickly become old, tired, boring, or obsolete, and never bring me the long-lasting satisfaction that I crave.

But Wednesday night dinners remain fresh, exciting, and deeply satisfying.  I figure this is true for several reasons:

1. It's REAL.  So often we seek to amuse ourselves with things that are VIRTUAL:  TV, internet, tabloid magazines.  But the people we encounter there aren't real.  They're not there with us.  We can't interact with TV and movie personalities, and we can only interact in a limited way with people via the internet.  This leaves us dissatisfied.
2. It's ORGANIC.  By that I mean it's something we create ourselves.  We're not dependent on someone else (TV producers, fashion designers, or corporate advertisers, for example) to mass-produce entertainment for us.  This is something we've created.  It's unique, and it's ours.
3. It's DYNAMIC.  The shirt I bought six months ago, it's still the same.  The DVD I bought: the story never changes.  But an experience that is real and organic will always be changing, different every time.  It's dynamic, not static.  New people show up, and the old people have new stories to tell.  The menu changes from week to week, and so does the location where we eat: outside on the patio when it's warm, inside when it's not.  In conversation around the dinner table, we listen and respond to what's going on in our lives and in our families:  births, deaths, lost jobs, new jobs, new relationships, and the joys and challenges of raising children or caring for parents.

This is community at its best.  This is LIFE at its best.  It's much more satisfying than anything I could buy.  And it just keeps getting better.

So:  Who wants to join me for dinner? 

(For those seriously interested in coming, yes, the invitation is real.  Weekly updates are posted at www.facebook.com/bixbyknollschurch.  If I'm organized enough, I'll even post the menu there.  Everyone is welcome.)