The New Normal

I like to think I try to be open to new.

My normal got new about 6 weeks ago. Each Sunday morning I drive 20 or so miles out to a little dive bar on Eagle Mountain Lake. Six to ten of us gather around coffee, doughnuts, and cigarettes and we talk about Jesus. A few of us know each other and others are meeting for the first time. We are Church of Christ, Catholic, Baptist, and mostly unknown. Some of us wear typical Sunday clothes and others wear pajama pants. Most of us come sober, but occasionally one or two arrive differently.

Each Sunday we read the Bible. The exact same Bible I've been reading for 33yrs. And each time has showed me that WHERE we read the Bible matters...

Want to see the creation story different? Read it with a group of people who can't imagine being created in the image of God because they've been told forever they aren't "good enough".

The fall of man? Way different story when everyone sitting there knows the dirt of everyone else. Something about our own equality makes reading God that much more real.

Discussing the 10 Commandments is totally different in a bar. Trust me.

Communion, complete with Welch's and official crackers, is special each Sunday because each time is a new experience for someone in the circle.

Most importantly we don't approach the Bible...there in that place...with right or wrong in mind. We don't have time for that. We get maybe 30-45mins and we try hard to spend it finding ways to interact with each other and Jesus through scripture.

We have no idea what we are doing or if you would call it right, acceptable, good, holy, or even orthodox. But we keep showing up each week and trying.

This is my new normal and any reader's prayers would be greatly appreciated.