Just three blocks, but a world away

I did something this morning that I probably should have done ages ago. I visited a church down the street. It was a small church (though larger than the many storefront churches in the neighborhood) with about a hundred people worshipping this morning. The music was good, the minister energetic, and the ritual of tradition deep. I never knew what to expect exactly when someone in the sanctuary changed position or we stood or there was a quiet pause. This was a church filled with traditions and practices that were largely unfamiliar to me. The style of the preacher, the combination of music with the preaching, the offering procedure, the songs.... all unfamiliar.
I knew before I walked in, though, that it would be unfamiliar. I would be lying if I said that I walked in confidently. I walked up the sidewalk to the front steps, took a deep breath, and said out loud, "I can do this." I knew that whatever was inside those doors would be unfamiliar to me. I knew that I would be the only white person in the building. (Incidentally, I was right.)
I didn't just walk into a different church this morning. I walked into an entirely different culture. Three blocks from my house! This was a mere three blocks from my house. I am living right beside people with such a different experience of worship than me. How can I live here and be ignorant to this culture? Better yet, how can I live here and endeavor to reach beyond my ignorance? Ignorance is not bliss -- Ignorance lacks love. True love does not live in ignorance. I want to be a part of the neighborhood, not be afraid of it. I want to love the people here, on my block, down the street, on the bus. But, how can I love these people if I don't understand them? Or, at least attempt to understand? And, how do I start to understand? Lots of questions. Not many answers.

A few books for a few prisoners

I went with a small group of awesome people to help out a local nonprofit that sends books to prisoners. For two hours, I hung out in a smallish, dank room in the basement of a church in Dupont Circle, filling requests from prisoners for books. We read their letters, then looked for books that matched their requests, wrote them a short note, and packed them up to be shipped off. Many of the requests were for dictionaries, fantasy and other sundry kinds of fiction, but I did fill one request for erotica. (He said it would fill a need of his. :) But, alas, that is not the point. The point is that I really enjoyed spending my evening that way. It definitely had the feel of a small, underground (literally!) band of mismatched people getting together to make a tiny little difference in the world. One person opened a letter from someone who said he'd been in prison for 40 years. I can't imagine what it would be like to spend 40 years - an entire lifetime - in prison. I can't even stand being in my apartment for a full day! I hope to make an effort to go back and help out again. And, now I will look at books at yard sales in a whole different light!

Dream of the Day

Last night I dreamed that I got a tattoo. This is strange for several reasons:
1 - I've never considered getting a tattoo and don't reckon that I ever will.
2 - It was on my upper arm, near my shoulder. If I was ever going to get a tattoo, it definitely wouldn't be on my arm or any other place where it would be easily visible.
3 - It was some sort of cheesy looking banner thing that said Christie Jean IV.
4 - In my dream, I had a conversation with someone in which it became apparent that I didn't actually want it to say "Christie Jean IV".
5 - I concluded that I could probably have it "fixed" to say Christopher and make the IV into a heart!

It amuses me to no end that I came up with all of that in my sleep! Fortunately, when I woke up there was no tattoo on my arm.... or anywhere else for that matter!

Today is Amy's birthday!! (and other stuff)

Nightmare on 15th Street - The other night I dreamed that someone stole my flute. I woke myself up crying. Sadly, this is not the first time that I've had that dream, nor the first time I've woken myself up crying in my sleep.

Runnings-Into - As aforementioned on this blog, I love randomly running into people around town. In the last few days, I've run into several people. Last night, on our way home, Chris and I saw Ian and Bekah (super cool folk from my small group who are moving to "East Asia" next month). A few days ago, I saw Candace (of Grand Jury Fame), but we were in a car and I thought it might be weird if we stopped so we just kept going. Then, this morning I ran into Molly in the metro station. Speaking of Molly, she just started a new blog. I haven't even visited it yet so don't yell at me if you don't like it. :)

Also, I would like some frozen yogurt please. sigh.

Second Grade expert

I remember being in elementary school and thinking that anyone who passed second grade was then qualified to teach it. That made sense to me. After all, as third-graders, we were second-grade experts! Of course, now I realize that there is a lot more to teaching second grade than just having been through it. However, it seems like that elementary school logic is applied in a lot of situations. Frequently, people come to me or my friends (maybe even you!) and ask for advice about something that I've just barely been through. Lately, it seems to be related to relationships. I guess people have always come to me for relationship advice (which was VERY strange when I had never even been on a date and people came to me for advice!), but now it's more specific and drawing on my experiences. Anyways, that happened again today so I will attempt to be helpful and draw on what little wisdom I have to share. :) So, as a wise old third grader, I will bestow my knowledge on a second-grader!