Uphill idealist

It's been a while, but the conversation is one of ease. Not that what is discussed is always easy, but the foundation is secure. This space lets us stand strong - even in hard times. Spoons clink and words swirl to fill the air. Ideas breathe new life into spaces that were dusty and dim. Hands move to punctuate important points. If someone didn't know us, they might think this was an argument. But it's not. This dance of words and movement of hands is how we stay connected. This is how we "talk". Like a pen scratching on paper or nails tapping on a keyboard - we are getting our message across. With coffee in cups in hand, we face life's challenges and hold on to laughter. Our eyes flash with treasure of these memories and all the times we've taken to sit down at the table - face to face - eye to eye together. This is coffee klatch with a good friend. T. Eastman  May 2014 Image found at: Jack and Friends

In creative efforts, always work from and listen to your gut.  Connect with how and what you really think and feel... something important will surface.  Even if that important truth is for you alone - seek it out! How do you mine for your creative truth(s)? What practical tools help you to stay connected to that source? Which creative mediums (writing, art, music, exercise, etc...) help you to shake out of a dry spell? Image found at Palagems.com

This last week my Holy Conversations group wrestled with the questions, "What difference does Christianity make in your life?" and " Why does it matter that others consider becoming Christians?" What I share below is meant to be the start of a conversation. I do not desire that this be the end of the conversation, just a beginning prompt. Please feel free to post your responses in the comments or at the Holy Conversations Facebook Group. Please read, reflect and comment as you feel comfortable. . Living a Christian life is not something that I claim to have mastered. It is a daily challenge to balance in that place of "love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself." While Jesus says there is no law greater than this commandment - it's at first apparent simplicity makes it easy to read. But when this all encompassing commandment sinks in some more; the hearer begins just how dependent upon God...

The word repentance was once explained to me as " stopping where you are, turning around and going the other direction with purpose and passion." This weeks question has to do with the topic of repentance. Give an example in your life of repentance: how have you faced a hard truth about yourself and made a decision to go a better way. What happened? Tell us your story... For the last several weeks, a small group of friends have been meeting over lunch on a weekly basis to discuss and share their answers, questions and conversation in response to the questions found in the book, Holy conversations by Richard Peace. Feel free to comment here or on the discussion page found on Facebook .

The following segment is taken from Chapter 6: Talking about sin in the book Holy Conversations. For the last six weeks, myself and a group of folks have been meeting and sharing our thoughts and the process of telling our faith stories both online at Facebook and in person with a small group that meets at First Lutheran Church on a weekly basis. Would you like to become a part of this conversation? Our question this week has to do with the topic of sin. Take a minute and read the following section and feel free to post your responses below or at our Holy Conversations group online here . Thank you for your honesty and mutual respect as you take part in the ongoing conversation of faith, life and the challenge to understand and talk about it. Peace, Tara "You are dirty rotten sinners, the whole lot of you!" We can picture the scene in our minds. A tall gaunt, dark-clad minister is pointing his bony finger at a group of people who are cringing at this words. They aren'...

“ That’s our problem. We just don’t talk about the gospel. If we don’t have that kind of conversation in church, where can we have it?” ( Richard Peace) Welcome to week one of our discussion on the book Holy Conversations. As the quote above suggests, Richard Peace (the author) noticed a great absence of "Christian witness" within church and decided to do a study that eventually produced the text that we are currently discussing. Peace states that "Evangelism is a community activity - not a isolated process." If that is the case,what are some ways you have invited, involved, and drawn people to join in your Church community? If you have been on the receiving end of these kinds of invitations, how were you approached and invited to become a part of a church community? Robert C. Fuller says this: A large number of Americans identify themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” It is likely that perhaps one in every five persons (roughly half of all the unchurched) cou...