Singing Silence...

Have you ever spent an entire day in complete silence with a group of people? I hadn't before this weekend. We were at Michael's cabin, a place we have been twice before. This time we were there for our "Silence and Fasting Retreat". Outside was cold and windy, but inside the fire was crackling, and everyone was sitting around it on the couches or on the floor writing in their journal's, reading the Bible, praying, or simply taking a nap. It reminded me of sitting around the fire in our family's living room with various cousins sprawled around all reading books. Every now and then I would catch someone's eye and we would share a smile before going back go our own thoughts. It was peaceful.

I never realized how much noise we bring into our relationships and how that noise can distract from simply being in someone's presence. There is so much that can be said with a look, a hug, or a nod. I found joy in simply being with the other fellows. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for each one of them.  

I will have to say more about this retreat later... for now I am going to have to join the throngs of other people who are saying to one another, "Goodnight!"  

One Semester Late... Here we go!

Hello Everyone,

I am definitely starting this late. I have already been apart of the Trinity Fellows for a semester and I am just starting to get this blog put together. Procrastinate much? Yep.

To tell the truth, I have never had much luck with blogs because I am such a slow writer. And by "slow" I mean that I have a bad tendency to hit the backspace key before I get a thought completely out on the paper. So. I am doing something a little different. Instead of looking at the page while I am writing this, I turned my screen off. That means that if I don't get a thought out right the first time, it's gonna stay on the page either way. I can't see to delete it. So, be warned, you are getting an unedited version of what ever I write. BAD SPELLING ALERT!

I am also going to be writing this in such a way that I am going to force myself to post every time I write something down. In other words, if the post is not complete, I'll have to come back to finish it later. That, or it will remain incomplete for all eternity.

Ok, my rules are set. Here we go!

I am currently sitting in my room on my bed listening to the Wailin' Jennys singing "Glory Bound." That seems appropriate. I just finished writing down a bunch of answers to questions from an exam I took last semester. The questions were based on the theme "Living on Purpose." I'll write some of the questions below so that you can answer some of them yourself. I found the questions extremely helpful and I put a lot of thought into each one. The cool thing was, I got to talk to other people about some of the questions and get their input about my strengths and weaknesses. I always appreciate it when I can get people I respect to give me their honest opinion on where they think I can improve and where I am doing well. Being required to do it was great, but I felt like I needed to put some more thought into it. So, I went back over the questions today. Here are some of them, I recommend that if you have time you answer a couple (all of these questions come from John Cunningham's book entitled "Living the Story"):

1. List 10 of your good qualities, strengths, skills, etc. Then list 10 bad qualities, weaknesses, inabilities, etc. (Talk to other people to get a better perspective).
2. What can you do with excellence?
3. About what do people say, "Oh, you're so good at..."?
4. Which of your achievements give you pleasure?
5. Do you have any special abilities?
6. What 3 topics do you often read or think about?
7. What are 5 of your favorite books or movies? What do they have in common?
8. What is your favorite childhood story?
9. What angers you?
10. What gives you joy?
11. List and describe three areas of folly (habitual ways of trying to live apart from Christ that could undermine calling).
12. List the top three deadly sins with which you struggle. Describe the way these sins manifest themselves in your life. (Pride, Envy, Greed, Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, Lust)
13. What positive events of your story have shaped you and how?
14. What loss, pain, regrets, or damage have marked you?
15. What have you gained from your experience?
16. Sketch out a time line of the major events in your life. (Birth <--------------------> Today)
17. Where and how has God intruded in your life/story?
18. What are the themes, and/or memorable characters you are aware of thus far?
19. What are your parent's expectations and dreams for your life?
20. What were your parent's expectations and dreams for their own lives?
21. What intrigues you most in your story?
22. What encouragement is there for you in following the plot of your life?
23. Who are 5 of the most influential people in your life?
24. Who are your heroes?
25. Who are your mentors or models?

The questions go on and get even better, but I will stop there for now. I already probably freaked you out with how many I listed. Oh well, if you get this far into this post then you are a better man than I.

I am about to head out to meet with some of the other Fellows tonight, but I will try to keep this blog fairly regularly updated. Don't expect the most well put together posts, but something is better than nothing... hopefully.

Alive with two legs,

David