Greetings, everybody. I hope everyone is having a good ol’ summertime!
So, what have I been up to this summer? Just this afternoon I got back from Jesus People USA where I lived for a month. I didn’t know anybody when I first arrived, except for the few people that I had met when I went up with University Ministries over spring break last year, so there were many, many people to meet. The folks there are amazing, and I miss them already. I washed a lot of dishes while I was there. 450 people living together=lots of dishes. Also, the parents never cleaned up after their kids, so I cleaned up a few “cheerio-bombs,” or so that’s what I called them. But it was an experience staying there, to say the least. One neat thing that I did was go out with a group of folks on an outing called “Manna.” Manna is basically a free picnic, open to anybody and everybody, where you share food together and build community. It’s especially neat when homeless folks show up because it’s not another “food-handout” type environment, it’s a picnic where everyone gathers to have fun. It was started out in California, and now the founder, Paul, lives at JPUSA. The food from the Chicago chapter of Manna comes mostly from Jesus People’s stash of leftovers, and sometimes is supplemented by just expired dumpster diving foods. I hear Trader Joe’s throws out a lot of good food. Anyways, point of me telling you that is I am thinking and praying about maybe starting a chapter of Manna in Nashville. Granted, I haven’t talked to Micah about it, but it’s something in the works. Maybe I can work less hours at the Campus for Human Development and also start this gathering? Who knows, but it’s something that I think I would love doing. Maybe see if I could get some of the Cafeteria’s left-overs or something, and have it where Belmont students could come, and also where some hungry folks off the streets could come and eat as well, all as one big partying-picnic-community. Tell me if this sounds like a complicated and bad idea, because I am prone to those.
Anyways, I haven’t had too much time to think about all the experiences I had in Chicago because I haven’t been back for too long yet. But, I look forward to telling you guys about it, and hearing about your summers too! I can’t wait to move in. I am excited about having bunked beds with Austin. My room-mate last year wouldn’t let me bunk beds with him. It was a bummer. I am looking forward to eating with everybody, and praying and worshipping together, and getting to know all of you, brothers and sisters.
The rest of my summer? I am going backpacking with my brother and a few other friends in North Carolina for five or so days, and then celebrating my brother’s birthday, and then sticking anxiously around the house for a few days while preparing to come to Nashville and move in.
These are the books i’ve ben reading this summer- The Kingdom of God is Within You -Leo Tolstoy (not quite done yet, working on it)
Francis: The Journey and the Dream- Murray Bodo
The Lessons of St. Francis: How to bring Simplicity and Spirituality Into Your Daily Life – John Michael Talbot and Steve Rabey
Armageddon in Retrospect, The Sirens of Titan, and Timequake- all by Kurt Vonnegut
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance- Robert M. Pirsig
Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
I can’t wait to move in with you people!
peace and good,
Aaron.
