by feasts and prayers

It looks like we'll be having a good size group at our table for Thanksgiving dinner. Friends from here and some from Evanston, too. So I've been making arrangements with people and figuring out what we need (we'll probably get a couple young roosters from friends near here and Erin and Heather will slaughter them). Party planning is not a usual interest of mine. But somehow this has seemed more important, maybe because it's a way of building and strengthening relationships.

Next week we're also starting a new "small group" (sharing and prayer group). I've also put energy into this, though it's not the kind of thing I am naturally inclined to do, not the way I usually pray. When we first meet we'll probably discuss what we're looking for in the group and I'm not sure what I'll say. Maybe that I want to deepen our relationships. And I think this is best done on a more intimate level, in quiet conversations in living rooms, in smaller groups where each can get to know the others more completely. And in more naturally-occurring groups, where friendships have already begun to draw people together. That's how we decided who to gather in this small group.

Maybe this is my way of contributing to the health of the community here. On the low-profile level of personal relationships. I've become suspicious of organizational solutions and higher-level group decision-making, and basically dropped out of the church members meetings. I guess I think things will get better, not by the work of committees or the introduction of new structures, but by the growth of each individual and the deepening of love between them. So, rather than council meetings, feasts and prayers seem to be the way to go.