not talking

Well, it’s a few days past my twenty-third birthday and I suddenly realized that I have not made an entry here in a long time. I haven’t had regular access to the internet for several months, and my mind has been on everything that has nothing to do with blogging. Now I am seated in the St. Matthews Eline Library in Louisville, KY (actually “in” St. Matthews, but that’s old communities for you), typing with 43 minutes left on my daily hour of internet time, which has of late been devoted to correspondence on complicated travel and wedding plans. 42 minutes now. That little window with the time remaining in it is simply another way the system has conspired to contibute to mass high blood pressure.

Speaking of blood pressure, Jen (my fiancee, studying to be a nurse) made a surprise visit to me last weekend, just before my birthday. We had a great time doing not much of anything together. It was a particulary good week before she arrived, because I had gotten a job at Willis Music, where I start peddling music accessories and instruments on the first of March. This week I have scheduled a meeting with the search committee at a church who is reviewing me for a part-time music minstry position. Perhaps my chances will be considerably increased (or decreased?) because until last weekend, the pastor had never actually heard four-part harmony in his life. I comment in this way, of course, because most of the people who read this are (at least) somewhat musically inclined and will find this inconceivable. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about what a tragedy that story is. However, his first exposure was last weekend at a reformed church, wherein most of its hundreds of members had learned to sing their parts in the great Calvinistic hymns of the faith. He was shocked at what he had NOT heard in church all of his life. I suppose it’s hard to think of a better introduction.

That experience of his also gives me an inroad at the church, because I relate to him and understand his desire to move in that direction. Right now, the destination is far on the distant horizon for this church, and I doubt whether most of them see it at all. But I look forward to the possibility of working with the group and, in and through ministry, going together toward new goals and a deeper understanding of church identity and worship. If you happen to read this within a short time of its uploading, please pray for me as I meet with the committee to field questions and discuss concerns. Pray for this church. Pray that I will be an effective minister of the gospel through submission to the Word and through gracious leading in humility.

If I have not kept in touch with any of you reading, I apologize, as there has been a great deal going on. I will talk with you soon. Until then, I guess we won’t talk. But it doesn’t mean we’re “not talking.” We will talk. I certainly mean to talk with you. Don’t infer anything other than that I simply have not talked in a while. Not that my desire was to refrain from communication, but that my desire for other things outweighed the communicative impulse – just because we are not talking doesn’t mean we are “not talking.” Right. 26 minutes left. Later.