an enjoyable day

Oberlin, OH

Had a rough time finding shelter last night and got a little wet. The night before, though, I slept well in a cemetery (a place recommended by Peace Pilgrim). And today I'm enjoying Oberlin, a pretty college town that I've walked through a couple times before, two years ago. I was able to rinse my shirt in a pond this morning and even shave and trim my beard before I got here, so I'm feeling (and looking) pretty good. There's even a $3 movie theater here, with an old-fashioned marquee. I think I'll go tonight.

I'm also involved in an interesting conversation in the Jesus Radicals forum. About raising kids in radical Christian communities.

This morning I noticed these verses:

"These are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when suffering or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

"And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful." (Mk 4.16-19)

Jesus focuses on two things that cause people to fall away from him:

1. Avoidance of suffering
(not just any suffering but suffering "on account of the word")

2. The accumulation of money and possessions.