I would so very much love to come but that is the last day of a BIG reunion with my father and his wife after a 12 year separation. I will try for the next one for sure.

And if I may can you all hold me in the light/pray for me that day. This is a huge challenge for me and I need all the courage and wisdom I can get!

Please let me know if another get together comes up.

Hi Adria... I just tried to e-mail you with the e-mail I have and it bounced.  I just sent a QQ friend request to you, but forgot to include a message.  I wonder if you could e-mail me (bairthompson@charter.net) with your current e-mail.

I felt compelled to say something to you in this fashion rather than add to the official conversation we're engaged in. I apologize if I implied that people are wrong if they choose to become involved with organizations or causes which they may be called to do by the spirit. As I contend with the Holy Spirit in my heart I have been renewing my perspectives and feel that I am starting to see the world through the lens of the Spirit. When I browse through the volumes of diverse Christian works I come across very committed people who love God and Jesus and who are or we're being transformed maybe as I am starting to be. One quote always gives me security I try and figure what good to do to bring the kingdom on earth through me.

"If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly,  but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world]  we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness,  but, as Peter says,  we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God’s glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.  No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.”

I am not a Lutheran but there is an assurance that in this broken world as we try to do good Gods grace is with us. So good intentions do matter to some extent I guess.

I've liked George Fox's writing and admire the spiritual grounding that Quakers I've encountered. I appreciate their social activism, too (at least the more liberal opinions). I also like the work of Parker Palmer. Though I recently decided to go back to a Roman Catholic church after becoming involved in Benedictine spiritual practice, I enjoy exposing myself to the spectrum of Christian thought.