Gasoline on the Burning Bush

To have a passion is a one thing. It can be a source of soul-satisfying vision, or it can be a crazy-making force.

Sometimes, both at the same time.

But when you have others … others who share your passion, who can see your vision and they get it, they cheer it on, just as you cheer theirs … really, there’s not much better, is there?

The Hysteric Cleric,  Rev. Sunflower, Rev. Soulful and SpongeBobbi, and I, all flew from our different cities across the country to a missional church conference. Poppa Bear couldn’t join us, but he was following our trek, commenting on various things we posted.

The conference was great. Rev Sunflower and I tweeted and facebooked like mad, all the great “YEAH!” quotes we were hearing. (Apologies to our friends. You may have your facebook page back now. Please don’t unfriend us.)

But for me, equally important were the times when we broke bread afterwards, discussing what we heard at our different workshops, compared notes, tested theories, discussed how they’d look in our context.

One message that is stressed amongst those seeking to do missional work is the need to have a supportive network. Because there’s no paradigm. The missional movement is a new movement, and there are but a few working examples. We’re learning, experimenting, sometimes failing, and sometimes succeeding, all as we go.

One of those great things I heard about was the need for leaders, when they learn of a member’s “burning bush,” to pour gasoline on it. Pour gasoline on the source of their passion.

As we wrestled with different ideas, the flame of my vision expanded. Thank you friends, for the gasoline.