Today was a glorious day, ministry wise. Since I work second shift, my first appointment was a 1:30 PM. My next appointment was at 3, a standing weekly appointment which is really the rehearsal of our church's marching band called the Spark of Love Joy Band. The members of our band can't necessary always make our rehearsals, but there's a current core who get together every Friday. The current core is Julie, Duncan, Zack, and me.

We pull out all the drums that we store in my office, cannibalized sets, djembes, a cowbells, shakers of various kinds, an agogo bell from Building 19.

Our rehearsal is like this. We sit in the cold, very cold sanctuary in a circle and wait for spirit to direct us. One of us begins with an idea, and the others follow. It's all improv. When I look at my sister/brother drummers, more often than not, our eyes are closed. The cold becomes bare-able, the drums warm up because we've turned the thermostat up and because we play our hearts out. Sometimes we don't do very well, but we are very generous with each other. Sometimes, our playing is so amazing that we have to hold our breath for just a few seconds when were done, so as not to disturb Spirit who lingers with us if we hold very still.

Often we just laugh with delight. My laugh sounds like a seagull calling, but it doesn't matter compared to what does matter. What matters, I think is that we hang on, play the best we can, and believe that our drumming is led by spirit. This is everything. May I die doing this.

The last appointment today was a gathering, the third event of our orientation for eleven people who will join our church on Sunday. Molly, our lead pastor hosts this event at the parsonage. She cooks crepes, serves bubbling beverage, we bring crepe stuffers.

We tell our spiritual journeys during this third event of our new members class. Tonight, it took a long time to tell these precious stories. So amazing are the people of God. Our congregation doesn't attract folks who want to walk lockstep in their spiritual journey. The people we attract have been to hell and back and to heaven and back. The people we attract want to know why, how come, why not, who else, how does this make sense. Oh, I love these stories of people's spiritual journeys. We are a diverse people. We make relationships by telling our stories.

At my church, we've asked every member and attendee to fill out a "Spiritual Gift Inventory." We want to know what people love to do, and not ask them to do stuff they hate to do. One of the questions is, "What were you doing the last time you felt completely happy?" Tonight, my answer to that question is this. I was listening to the stories of people who are in search of God.

I'm a lucky sister.

Night, y'all.