I Don’t Like Coffee . . .
I don’t like coffee, but I like coffee shops. Last week I was made fun of because when I was asked why people go to coffee shops and I answered, besides the obvious answer to drink coffee, to watch people. No, I’m not some weird person that sits in the corner of the room, even though that’s where the over-stuffed, comfy chairs are, starring at people, but I like to observe those who are sharing their personalities, relationships, and interest in a public, relaxed forum. You can’t tell me that people don’t go to coffee shops to be seen. People go to coffee shops not only to drink coffee, but to feel unique. Unique enough to dress as if they want to look like they belong in a coffee shop and taking the right electronic device which so happens to have an apple logo on it helps them feel unique.
You can see why people and their relationships interest me. How people act, project themselves, create an identity, give off impressions, are interesting to me. I have always been interested in what makes people tick. People seek relationship to fulfill a need, to get something back, maybe even to learn about the other and themselves. Relationship allows us to grow. For me the images that Rob Bell relays in the 3rd chapter of Sex God are so fascinating. He says that we are somewhere between angels and animals, but never meant to be one or the other. In the creation story angels and animals were created before humanity and ever since there has been a movement away from the “wild and waste” towards a greater harmony and order. He basically gives two warnings: first, don’t just be an animal by succumbing to our urges/desires. Secondly, watch out for the overcompensation of much of Christianity – thinking that we must be sexless beings in order to be pure. Instead, we must channel our humanness in healthy ways. So how do we channel our humanness? And that’s why I watch people interact, to see how people channel their humanness.
For the next four entries, I will giving my understanding of the relationship of humanity and my quest to understanding it (like that will ever happen). I will categorize my entries on the three parts of Faithbridge Church’s vision: God to People, People to People and People to God. This understanding and views that have been, and will be, shared are my opinion and should not reflect upon Faithbridge Church even though its vision is used. I will be using reflections of my own thoughts and uses of media, though other Christians think of them to be sacrilegious, that have infused thought of how we interact with each other and with our God.
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