Stuff White People Like

This blog is hilarious. If you haven't already, check it out. Here's a good post about San Francisco.

Yesterday was a good day

Yesterday was a good day.  We've been looking for a house in East Oakland for some months now, but it's beginning to seem like years.  I've been frustrated and impatient with the process.  We've been waiting to hear back on a house that is a short-sale for a month.  It has seemed like the perfect neighborhood and a great place.  Then, on Saturday, we found a house just a couple blocks away with more space and for fewer dollars ($65,000 actually).  We made an offer and it was accepted yesterday morning.  East Oakland here we come.  Our prayers have been answered.  We'll be moving in 30 days.

Then, to top the day off I downloaded the new Roots album, Rising Down, with an iTunes gift certificate my friend gave me on my birthday.  It's amazing.  Thanks Craig.

Be careful what you wish for

Since I moved to "The City" (our term of endearment for San Francisco which I may stop using out of respect for our beloved city of Oakland), I've been whining about a lack of people to play basketball with and lift weights with.  Since I turned 30 a few weeks back (February 23 for those of you who forgot to send me a card), I've been looking at myself and who I am and who I want to become.  I decided to recommit myself to being a competitive basketball player for a number of reasons.  I truly enjoy playing.  It keeps me in great shape.  I will meet people in Oakland while playing who may never talk to me otherwise, etc. etc.

So I emailed one of my favorite people in the world, Paul Davis, and asked him for a workout plan.  When he asked me what my fitness goals were, I just told him to imagine I was trying to make the NBA.  He didn't just email me a workout program, but he mailed a DVD that outlines a strength/plyometric/jumping program for basketball players.  So on Monday I got up early in the morning, went to the weightroom in our garage and got after it.  

Later in the early evening I went to shoot a few baskets over at the Potrero Hill Rec Center.  A couple guys over at the other end of the court invited me to do a basketball workout with them. Turns out one guy played for Pepperdine a while back and the other guy was the leading scorer for USF and the entire West Coast Conference, including Gonzaga, St. Mary's, etc.  I know only like two people reading this care about those couple details, but I hope you two people enjoy them.  So we did this strenuous workout of shooting, dribbling, and sprinting, and after my morning workout I felt like my legs were going to fall off, but wow, it was so fun.  The guys invited me to workout with them three days a week.  Suddenly I've got a plan and seriously talented guys to practice with.  By the time I get to Oakland (mid-May?) I'll be ready to play some basketball.

Good Ol' Dietrich

'...the restoration of the church will surely come only from a new type of monasticism which has nothing in common with the old but a complete lack of compromise in a life lived in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount in the discipleship of Christ.  I think it is time to gather people together to do this...' 

  -Dietrich Bonhoeffer in 1935

I Dream

As I walk along these city streets I dream
Of a Kingdom come
His will be done
Laying down our weapons
Casting aside our hatred
Along with our ambivalence

All Creation knowing and realizing
The HOPE that was promised long ago

We dream, we hope, we trust
That somehow we can be
The advocates of love
The conduits of peace
The messengers of grace

We know that a force beyond comprehension
Can take root inside of us
And transform us into a new humanity
We yearn for the focus, the discipline, the sacrifice
To become one with this good force

To feel the flow of a Spirit
Guiding our hearts, minds, hands and feet

Let us be the people we were made to be
Present in every moment
Aware of your presence
Awakening to our true purposes

I dream that this dream would be realized
That this way would be inhabited in the real world
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven

My wise little girl

Just after Christmas my brother (also known as Uncle Noah) and I took Kayla out for a night on the town. After almost being run off the road by a couple of taxi drives, I found a great parking spot. On our walk from the car to Union Square my little girl quickly noticed the men sleeping in front of the closed doors on the dark streets and asked aloud why they were sleeping there in the cold. I did my best to explain that some people don't have houses, like my friends under the overpass near our house. She asked "Why?", her questions she asks me 8,000 times a day, and we had a little talk about some people having more money than other people for lots of different reasons.

Yesterday Kayla and I went on another date, this time to a coffee shop. After thoroughly enjoying her treat from the beloved coffee shop, Kayla asked why the big girl was talking to people in the middle of the parking lot. Well, the truth was the girl was asking people to let her wash their windshields in exchange for some money. "Why?", asked my little girl. I was about to ask the same question since it was raining outside, but that thought is for another story. "Well, some people don't have enough money," I tried to explain. "Everybody should have enough money," Kayla quickly replied, before adding, "Daddy, the girl doesn't have enough money just like the people who sleep in front of the stores downtown?" I was speechless...shocked she could put this all together in her head, proud of her to care and think about it, and saddened at the truths she was calling out. We talked some more but I can't even remember what I said. A few moments later I pointed out the new condos being built that our car was now passing. "Daddy, are those new houses going to be for the people without houses!?" She said it with such hope and joy, like she had it all figured out and she was so excited about it, that I didn't want to dash her hopes and tell her the truth.

The crazy thing is that I don't have long talks about social justice and poverty with Kayla. Most of the conversations I initiate with her are very simple. I want her to know that her Mommy and Daddy love her, that God loves her, that she should take care of her little brother and share with him, things like that. But something in her little head starts churning when she looks around this City, and I love the truth and hope that comes from somewhere inside of her when we have our little conversations. I can't imagine what we'll be talking about when she's 4.

the unexpected

I was having one of those days. Got up a little later than I meant to, tired from the kids being sick and having a hard time sleeping. I thought I had a few minutes to chill before my next meeting, but then I got a text...could I meet right now instead? Sure, no problem, just need to find directions to the cafe for me and my bike from BART...got it. I'm in a hurry and hop onto my bike and down the hill. I'm at the entrance to BART and quickly realize I am without a wallet, or a BART card, or any cash, or any change. What to do, what to do. Ride back up the hill, get my wallet and be exhausted, sweaty, grumpy and late anyway? No thanks. Other options? None are coming to my mind. What if...I just ask people for money? I'm standing here next to the gate going through my pockets with obvious frustration and anxiety. Maybe someone will notice and want to help? Maybe one of these nice looking people who probably have extra money. I look at the people walking by, and they all make an obvious effort to look away, or even walk away. The Moms with kids, the business professionals, the hipsters, they all walk by. Suddenly a rather pudgy man wearing faded sweatpants, beat up tennis shoes, an old beanie and several days of stubble walks down the stairs. He looks straight at me and asks what is wrong. He says he wants to buy me a ticket, for people have done far more for him. He tries to enter his credit card several times, because he is pushing it in upside down. Contemplating giving him some tips on buying a BART card, I hold my tongue and wait. He finally uses cash and buys me a ticket for $1.50, just enough to get to the Embarcadero. I try to express my sincere gratefulness and desire to pay him back, but he tells me not to worry. "What goes around comes around, right?" he says and waves me ahead to my important meeting.

Creative Assistance

I have an assignment for all you dedicated readers out there ...

We are in the process of starting an intentional community and a non-profit organization to initiate missional projects in Oakland, and it needs a name. I love the word and deeper meaning of SHALOM. It means so much...peace, safety, well-being, friendship, health, salvation. All my hopes and dreams for what we could see happen are contained in the meaning of this word. I'm just wondering if it really works, and if it does, what goes with it... "The Shalom Initiative", just "Shalom"?

So, for all you creative thinkers out there, please give me a little help. I'd love your honest opinion of Shalom, and if you don't think it works, suggest something else. Thanks.

No liquid on airplanes

This guy really didn't want to waste his vodka...

Oakland anyone?

So, if you read this you may know we're planning on moving to Oakland in April. ReIMAGINE is helping us launch a new organization and team, and we're excited about it. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare and plan to move forward. If you or someone you know is interested in helping us start something beautiful in Oakland (intentional community, projects to serve the neighborhood, experiments in following Jesus in an urban context...) let us know. We're looking for partners and friends to join us in our new neighborhood, maybe even some folks looking for college credit and a season of intentional spiritual formation. So after you read this post hit me up with an email with contact info for dozens of young radicals who just told you they want to be a part of a special community in Oakland, California...