First - it is St. Patty's Day. As Creech wrote on his blog, it is a great day to think of an apostle who took the catholic faith to ireland and formed irish catholic Christians. Of course, green bear and general merry making is good too!! (I must say - I do like Guiness - but has anyone out there tried Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout? It's a trendy import but it is yummy!!!!!).

Second - I am getting more and excited about what God might be doing in planting this Anglican community we a re dreaming of. I pray there can be citywide Kingdom partnerships that are bigger tha any one church. More and more folks are finding out about what is happening. We are praying that God will raise up a start up group.

Third - My wife wants us to find a big house where we can live upstairs, host a home church that follows some monastic practices and where the downstairs can be set apart as sacred space where the broader St. Patrick's community can meet for Holy Eucharist and have available for all sorts of God stuff. One place where I am entirely non-pragmatic and into wasting money is in setting apart some space that is for being with God (either communally and individually) - i.e., sacred space. Have you ever been in a Roman church where the body and blood of Jesus are reserved, there is a smell of beeswax, a restful and inviting silence and a deep sense of the holy? I want a place like that. Hope God let's it happen.

Fourth - been thinking about the atonement from a more thoroughly Trinitarian perspective. I am moving away from the notion that Jesus appeased the Father's wrath. I think that sets the FAther against the Son and can undermine the unity of the Trinity. I am beginning to see the cross more as the ultimate expression of the self-giving incarnate life of Jesus - the lkife that is at the heart of the Trinity. The cross is about Trinity love. Don't get me wrong - Christ died for our sins. Its just that I think it is more about him becoming one of us and through death conquering death, sin and evil. He took sinful humanity that is seperated from God and reunited humanity with the life the Trinity. He did what Adam and me and you could no longer do - he gave himself fully to the FAther, even to the point of death. Now, he shares the victory he gained through his life, death, resurrection and ascension with us through faith, community and the sacraments. By the way - this why I believe in sacramental worship. I don't think worship is primarily about our offering to God. It is about Jesus' offering to God. When we celebrate the liturgy around God's table we are entering into the worship Jesus offers to the FAther through his self-sacrifice. Grace, grace, grace . .......

Pax.