i'm just a bus driver ...

every now and then in preparing for a message or a series of messages i will spend a half day or whole day at a place that inspires or teaches me concerning whatever the message is about. for example, when i was talking about suffering i spent the afternoon in a local emergency room working on the message but also just soaking up what was going on around me. awhile back for a message on community i spent the day at a mall watching people (the mall is a place that looks like a great community place - a large gathering area - but instead is a place of disconectedness). i try to do this every now and then and i find it very helpful.

in the near future i will be speaking about being on journey with CHRIST and therefore i figured i would spend the day traveling around baton rouge on it's brcats public transportation system. the public transit service in baton rouge is not a very big deal. it's a good system, it's just that it's not a very popular thing in louisiana to use public transportation and thus everyone tries to use their own vehicle instead. so i went to experience brcats for myself. jonathan, our minister of belonging, decided he wanted to go with me so i had a buddy for the day (really only about a half day). having a buddy meant i couldn't really "write" anything while i was traveling but it did make for an enjoyable time. i'm still processing the day trying to figure out what to say from it. it may turn out that unlike most of my "message field trips" this one may not "produce" allot. all i know right now is that it was a good time.