In true Hillsdale College spirit I have to help out the google bombers. So here it goes. I hope this works. HillsdaleCollege

Candle light was all that separated the people from the darkness. Faces were surrounded in the hallow of their small lights, while outside, the lights of the Fox Theater illuminated the stain glass. Neon light was never so sanctified before. Father Kelley stood at the alter and breathed a prayer, a blessing for the people. May this blessing be for you all as well. "The Peace of God, which passeth all understanding , keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ the Lord: And the Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you now and forever. Amen."

"Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel..."

I am in Toronto!
I don't think I would have come except that it was just a crazy enough idea. Daniel and I had talked about coming to the blog party in Toronto but I was non committal. But when he asked me to come along with him on Thursday night, late, I couldn't resist the craziness of it all. So we left late, drove to Detroit, slept for three hours and kept going. Six hours there and back for a Saturday in Toronto. Some might think it wouldn't be worth it, but beginning with the used bookstore followed by getting to know Gideon Strauss, his delightful and well informed daughters and his genuine and gracious wife, not to mention all the great fellowship with the other thinkers/believers, it is an experience that I wouldn't pass up. And as for thinking about it as a last hurrah with Daniel, its a great memory.

"Saying good buy"
A last long look. Anything you say will be trite and not worth the time and space between you. Trust in what was said before, nothing you can say now can be fitting for to the significance of the moment.

It is finally official.
I am headed to Uganda on January 11th, with a week long stay in England on my way over. (I couldn't pass up the chance to see Oxford when I am that close, could I?) I will be working with Brent and Inell Slater in Kampala for six months. I will have most of my energies focused on education while I am there through working a few days a week at a local private school, helping with education for some of the missionary kids, and organizing Bible studies at the University in Kampala. This is a great chance for me to get experience within the mission community and discover what some of the specific needs are for education in the third world. Brent Slater is involved with pastoral education both at the seminary, in the capital, and by visiting churches in rural areas. He has offered to let me work with him also, though only part time, since adult education is where I think my interests lie.
I am amazed the way that these doors have opened for me this quickly. This chance to test through service, and in a new kind of life what I have been gleaning these last few years here in Hillsdale is the testing of faith that I need to continue to grow in the knowledge and love of God. May God's perfect work be done.

The unwashed masses are so much easier to deal with in a Graham Greene novel. I can get drawn along into an affection for them and then the smell hits me in the face as they come through the door at work and I have trouble remembering that humanity is standing there in front of me, let alone the "image of God."