My most recent adventure

I'm in Greensboro, NC where Mowgli goes to school, as the guest for the Religious Emphasis Week for his school. Mowgli picked me up at the airport and said he was ready to just hang out with me for the rest of the day. I, however, knew that the Guilford College Fighting Quakers were playing the number two team in the nation, the undefeated Virginia Wesleyan somethings so I suggested that we go to the game. Guilford won the game with pure grit and teamwork in the last 6 seconds . . . and I get to be the hero for making sure Mowgli got to go.

This morning, I preached at First Friends Meeting in Guilford, a historic, semi-programmed, "Christ-Centered, universalist" Quaker meeting here. The pastor told me, "People tell me we feel Methodist" and I think she's right . . . Methodist 40 years ago! The people were absolutely lovely and I had a wonderful experience. There is as much dissent and disagreement among Quakers as you find in any other denomination and I've been told that First Friends is in the center of the continuum between conservative ("practically snake-handling," I've been told) and liberal (humanist, even nontheist).

Tonight, we had a wonderful, organic homemade dinner at the home of Max and Jane. Max is the Campus Minister at Guilford (a Quaker school) and is an answer to our prayers. He is joyful, brilliant, funny, spiritual, and he follows Jesus. Jane is all those things too and meeting them both--and knowing what a blessing they've been in Mowgli's life--was a wonderful privilege. After dinner, Jane popped popcorn on the stove, the old fashioned way and set out tea and homemade brownies and oranges for about a dozen students who came to talk about vocation and calling and leadership as part of their Quakerism class. They asked me to tell my story, which I did as authentically as I could and I think it was a rich blessing for all of us.