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I find myself sitting with a Grande Vanilla Latte and a computer at Uncle Elizabeths in Capitol Hill. What has me up and out on a delightfully bright Saturday?  Well this mornign was the Seattle International Film Festival Volunteer Orientation . Yes another volunteer opportunity. I enjoy special events because I get a birds eye view of the event and it allows me to be part of the event.   With One Reels  Concert Series out, and giving up Oktberfest, this year was a time to add something new.  SIFF is going to be short in duration and intense timewise.

This morning I got up and hoofed it up to Capitol hill, running about 10 minutes late for the 10am meeting. Thankfully the event was running late as well, and I got there just as it started. They ran us through the opportunities available. (Box office, Merchandise, Promotions, Operations, Ushering, and so on) and what we would get out of it (2 hours volunteering = 1 movie ticket Wahoo!  5 hours = 1 membership Wahoo!)  I’m looking forward to the opportunity. Since they use  downtown theaters and capitol hill theaters, I’ll be busing down directly from work for most of it. Should also give me the option to see what comming down to class at Seattle Central might be like instead.

So that means my volunteer activites are now stacked like so.
PCC :Cooking classes assistant
Operation frontline  (need to hear about the next round of classes)
Seattle Farmers Markets (Waiting to hear from them)
SIFF (will be signing up for shifts shortly)

I’ve decided to drop Oktoberfest, and the beer fests in general. They are fun, but really I just get tired and then dont take advantage of my earned coupons later.

The service on Maundy Thursday was very powerful for me. Typically I dont attend mid week services. Too busy, too  far away (in Ballard) too something. This time I  decided to take the day off of school and to attend. It was at my church, and I was hoping to feel a stronger connection to the holy week, other then just giving up chocolate and coffee.

The service on Thursday gave me that. It was a fairly short service and the start was fairly normal. However once we had finished communion, the lights were dimmed and our attention was turned to the 13 candles in the center of the room on the table in the aisle. 6 members , 3 from St  Paul’s and 3 from Broadview . As each spoke 2 candles from the table were blown out, as we moved from the last supper to the desertion of Christ, then to the arrest. It was powerful watching those candles go out, to think of the fear the disciples felt, and  to think of what made them to the betrayel.

The second reader from Broadview was moved to tears, as she spoke the text "Peter are you asleep, wont you stay awake one more hour with me" I was moved to tears as well.

Today is easter. I’m celebrating the resurrection, andreflecting on what the last 40 days have taught me. But really my mind is on that betrayel, making me wonderf would I be strong enough to stay, would I have been any different as a disciple?

What does it mean when you learn of your Grandfather’s death through google? i’ve found out about the death of 2 people now all through the use of google Its amazing the connections that you can make through the internet. Why bother keeping in touch with family and friends when the Internet will suffice. I can tell you when my grandparents house sold, I can tell you when one of my JR highschool boyfriends died, I can tell you when my grandfather died.

i envision these are the things that family would tell you. This is the reason you might keep a subscription to your home town paper. but you don’t really have to anymore. The interment provides the answers to all. It’s no longer just gossip, its long distance news. A thread bringing you back to your home town. Unlike news carried personally, you are in a bubble holding this little nugget of news to yourself. you could share it with friends or family , but really does it matter?

I wonder what the ability to google death says about us as a society.

I’ve had two reasons to think of fellowship and what makes church recently. One event took place in a church and the other took place in a local bar. One was a women’s fellowship, the other was  a commitee meeting involving the fellowship of women.

It struck me how important and invigorating it is when we gather like this. I came home from both evenings with new perspective, new information and a deeper kinship with those in my community.  This is part of what I want out of church. Fleshed out relationships and deep drinks of conversations. Sprinkles of frivolity on top.

Sometimes its important to take the church out of its core context and see how we releate on a normal, not sunday morning basis. I think if we did that more often, and tightened our community, we’d see not only sustainable growth, but deeper relationships.