Facebook: Better than Life

Howdy,

I hate to admit it, but Facebook makes connecting with fellow Christians easier. Sigh.

After the church retreat I went to a few weeks ago, it was a piece of cake to find people online and add them as friends. Thanks to FB, I know who is having a tough week, who's scrambling to find a place to live, and who will get a nice little weekend vacation.

Also, I find myself working on what I hope will be a fun little video project. I'll be interviewing couples and finding out how they got to be where they are. And how did I broach the awkwardness of "Hey, you mind if I grill you about your personal lives and question you about your relationship?" Via e-mail. (Easier to reject me that way, that's what I reckon.)

Then there's the gal who had a mini-chat with me over Yahoo Messenger about my belief in God and if I'd ever had God speak directly to me...

Yeah, I now know more about people I sit next to in church by hopping online. And after that starting point... I can now have actual converstations with them. Madness.

I guess that means technology is our friend. Or will help us make friends. Perhaps both...

That little "cool" factor

An area I'm still adjusting to is that I'm not used to being "Cool". Quakers aren't cool. We're spiffy, but not cool. We sit around in our family groups or are collections of people over 50 and enjoy the quiet.

In new-churchville, there are multiple group singers and musicians, discussions about Darth Vader equals Sanhedrins, and endless references to Facebook.

During our weekly "turn around and greet people section", I found at that a gal I went to high school with was sitting right behind me. She'd since moved to Oregon with her husband, but was told that this church was "the place to be".

...? That would never have happened to me at my Quaker homestead. The only high schooler I've ever seen there was the one I brought there -way- back in 1998. Oy.

I suppose as long as God is present it doesn't really matter... either way I'm just going to wear my same jeans and simple shirt. Sorry, no flashy/neato purposefully untucked button-up shirts or blazers for me. ;)

Home again. And visiting that second home?

Labor Day weekend? Over. Summertime? Basically kaput. (This is the Seattle neighborhood. After the 2nd of September, you just expect some rain and see what happens. Sun is a bonus.) But the church hunt goes on! Well... I'm not sure "hunt" is the word I'd use this week.

I want to keep trying Quest. It's the first church I "visited", the first church whose website clicked with me (pun intended), and the fact that they are willing to focus on homeless and social justice? When the rest of world wants to ignore "bums" and go to war... well, let's just say we agree on many topics.

Plus, my "first" speaker was back. I like this Leah person. She'll admit that she's not perfect, while in the same speech, harass us for not sitting in the first two rows. Blessed with intelligence and a verbage that works for me. Music wasn't as great as a few weeks ago, but it still worked for me. The sermon was telling us how we shouldn't be forming little whispering groups, discussing "what do you think about what this person did?" No, if we have a problem, we should actually go and -talk- to people about what we see. Communication! Growing a spine! Two things I'm quite fond of. ;) Misunderstandings bug me. Now I just have to get off my butt and find out how much they care about me "shunning" communion. ;) Gotta practice what was preached, I suppose...

And since I went to the 9:15 meeting, that meant I had plenty of time to make the 11 at North Seattle Friends. Y'know, check in on the home front, catch those who hadn't been at camp the previous weekend, etc. Besides, I still like my church, darnit! I was headed up to my usual spot in the soundbooth (Look, I can sit up still and prooper in one service. But if I'm gong to two services, there's gonna be some slouching in that second one. I'm only so mighty.), Lorraine caught me and gave that non-verbal gesture/look that she had a litlte speech/explanation for me. I got comfy. Short version? She'd forgotten to ask for people to take offering, which I used to do, so while the last-minute selectees were coming forward, she informed those that didn't already know that I was on a search for the love of my life. Not how I'd like it all to go, but it is what it is and that's how it is. I'm flexible.

Regardless, she expressed a desire to have me come in front of the church and tell people what was going on so I didn't pull a vanshing Philip act. (Personally? I like vanishing Philip. Anyone who has visited with me will tell ya that I exit without saying anything. I don't see a need make a big entrance or exit. I draw enough attention already, I don't need more everytime I go from A to B. What you call "rude", I call... um... humble? Maybe it's just my introvert side.) I don't get asked to speak about myself in front of church, and I honestly have no fear of crowds, so I told her whatever she wanted to do was fine.

Since it is my church, and this is my blog, I shall summarize the speech in the under used, valley-girl dialect.


L- "So, I like, found Philip... who was out... like, I dunno... shopping maybe? Getting some totally gnarly threads?"

Me- "Totally. Did you see the shine on these boots? Aren't they like, totally awesome?!"

L- "To-tal-ly. Anyways, so there's been like, I don't know... a month? And like, before then, Philip was all like, 'Dudette. Lorraine. I'm like, totally bumming. There're like, I mean, nobody cool to hang with! I'm like, crushing for a posse to go hittin' it with, and like, there're like, no peeps anywhere! I'm so totally bumming! Like, foreves, y'knnow?"

Me- "That is -so- not how I phrased it"

L- "Whatevah! So like, Phil has been out on his own? Y'know, like, searching and looking and... y'know, like, not being here! And he's like, not hating on us, c'mon... I know that's so totally what you guys were thinking. But he's totallly awesome. And he wants others who are totally awesome too! Then he might like, bring those killer dudes back to us killer dudes, and we could be like... so -totally- awesome killer dudes!"

Me- "To-tal-ly. Fer sure."


Ahem. The only thing that really set my ears on edge (and caused a cringe, I'll admit) was that she stated that I was searching for my beloved. :

A: Never in my life have I uttered the phrase, "I am out to find my beloved." Ever. Beloved? Really? You don't think I could come up with a better word than that? Fellow flannel fan. Co-comics cohort. The shoelaces to my sneakers. The remote to my tv. Someone to keep me in check. But beloved? Come now.

B: I sort of put up my shields because it's about more than being single or attached. Would I
like to be single? Well, that depends. Am I going to call off this church quest just because I find there are no females I find attractive? Nope. Friends too! Don't discount the value of having females sure, but friends are still important! I have very few Christian friends. Especially in this area. I could use more! Like... y'know... more than 3. I'm just sayin'.

Let's just say that I was mildly taken aback that it was apparently me on some colonial wife-search. But again, I'm sure my paranoia was activated, what with "defending my actions" in front of the church. ;) Besides, all I had to do was tell them I was doing fine, say maybe three sentences, and go back to my booth to hide.

Oh, and I avoided the crowd of people around me. Ick. Look, I'm a hugger. I'm all for hugging. But a crowd up people all smothering you? That massive crowd that loses pretty much all intimacy? yeah, that's not me. You want to talk to me? Talk to me. The end. You want to pray for me? Go for it. But a big blob of people doesn't comfort me. It makes me feel like I'm one joker away from a bad game of pigpile. And I'd be the pig. Happily Lorraine asked about that beforehand, and I told her I don't do that sort of group activity, given the option. :)

Next week? I dunno. I want to go back to Quest, but I drove by a Greenlake church that seemed to have my demographic going into it, and I keep telling myself I'll go to Bothell Foursquare, even though it seems like the most impersonal of all churches on my mental list. No wonder I keep putting it off... ;)

Goin' back home... to Anacortes

Nuthin' like goin' back to the ol' stompin' grounds (hence all the apostrophes).

Yes, I had always been planning to take a break from my church search and visit Quaker Cove. See, on of the upsides to attending North Seattle Friends Church is that we have our retreat out in Anacortes.

For supposedly being simplicity-loving Quakers, it can be a little fancy. Look at that! Two showers in one place? Flushing toilets?

And this is just the oldest changes. Inside our chapel you'll find what was once a fireplace is now a heating system, complete with spinning fans and vents! And there's a microwave and coffee maker in the corner! Myself, I'm still a little put out by the television I just saw there yesterday... Where's the escape from it all? Where's the nature? It's like people wanna be comfy. Well I want no part of it! ;)

However, the people and the place make up for all the "fanciness". People I've known all my life show up once a year and check in with me. Stories are swapped, spouses are met, jobs are checked in on. It's good times.

Oh, and for the message? A Quaker guy preached to us aobut the Quakerly way we could interact with the world. While talking about the first generation of Quakers! (Listen to God, know that there are truths which don't change [justice, love, truth], and apply those as best as you can through the current culture. But always remember that the relationship between you and God is what gave you waht insight you might have. That relationship is what matters most.) Needless to say, there was much less conflict of ideas than I've had in the past few weeks.

Besides, where else could we have an untalented talent show, and see things like this?



Good times. Well worth the break from "searching" through other places.