The Veritas & Caritas Group

After much deliberation, two arm wrestling matches, and a cage fight, we have settled upon a new name for our group.  No longer are we "the group" or even "the village", although our numbers certainly have not decreased.  We are now the Veritas & Caritas group, from the Latin words for Truth and Love.  Some have said "V & C", and sometimes I just say "VC".  And so we are named.  Hooray for conformity, right?

Well, as if that weren't enough fun, we also changed our meeting night.  Now we have our Small Church Community gatherings on Friday evenings.  This will help those of us with school age children, as they won't have to miss sleep or study the night before a school day.  The change means that we meet twice this week.  Hooray!

Yet another wonderful evening as our families gathered for Small Church Community.  I cannot get over the amazing feeling I get when I think of the transformations we see in each other each week.  Getting to know one another, sharing our struggles, our victories, our prayers, our attention, our homes, not to mention our munchies, I can see us really becoming a community.  When I take a step back to see where we began and where we've arrived in just a few weeks, I wonder what we'll look like in another 3 months.  Now, what is sure to be the most critical decision we will make this side of heaven, what do we call this rag tag bunch of merry men, women, and children?

Do we take the pious sounding approach and choose a name that sounds supremely religious?  Do we go with a "secular" phrase for the fun of it?  Is there something in between?  And what would really describe us anyway?  Is there a one word descriptor?  Is there something that will fit in the URL?  These are the eternal questions we must ponder.

In the meantime, there is this amazing spiritual growth happening among us as individuals, as families, and as a group.  I am still amazed at what I see and hear each week.  Kids, you all really threw me for a loop with your responses and participation this week.  Wow!  And, Janice, that was probably the most totally awesome activity I have ever seen for such a wide age range.  Well done.  Seeing our children participating with us in prayer, scripture, and praise just gets me fired up.  They truly are part of our group in every way, which is something beautiful to behold.

Well, people, come up with a good name.  You certainly won't bother me if you reference lions, squirrels, lemurs, sharks, leprechauns, or badgers.  Anything related to the saints or the scriptures is wonderful as well.  Hmmm.  Oooh.  What about John Paul the Great?  Did anybody think about that?  What a champion for the Gospel and the family?  And who better to symbolize our unity than the humble servant of God who served as the visible head of the Church?   Yup. That's my vote.   

Was Sunday not awesome?  Saturday night we're watching boxing and hearing our associate pastor yelling, "Finish him!" "Knock him down!" People are walking off with shoes and on the television a guy sits in the ring for 10 minutes bleeding like mad while officials determine whether the bout is a knockout or a disqualification.  As a pro wrestling enthusiast, by the way, I never saw a steel chair, interference from a manager/valet, brass knuckles, or thrown fire, so I saw no grounds for a disqualification.  Oh, but there was blood.  Wow!  I thought the guy's eyeball had been punched out.  And that wasn't even the main event! But I digress.

Sunday's SCC meeting was a treat.  I look forward to our meetings each week, and I know my children do as well.  It would have been easy for me to remain in conversation into the wee hours of the morning because I am at such ease with our friends.  

You all know I would never divulge anything of our conversations on something as public as our blog, but there is something that I didn't get to say last night that is easy enough to share here.  It's relevance is universal, AND I GET TO USE GRAPHICS! Joy!

Look at this chart.  It has become for me an illustration of our growth as Christians.  As I studied models of sanctification, I saw many models that postulated that there were immediate and sudden "conversions" after which a person was, for lack of a better word, "perfect".  I tend to think that those cases are rare, though by manipulating the definition of holiness or sin, one could easily broaden the list of those who claim perfection.  That, however, is a talk for another day.  What conversion looks like for most of us is the chart above.  If you were to zoom out on this chart, the lines would smooth and you would see a steady progression "upward".  Yet, zooming in you see the many pits of the stock market.  Translate that into our spiritual lives and the struggle of fighting against sin, learning detachment from the things of the world and conforming ourselves to the will of God.  We rise, we fall, we rise again, and we fall again, but the continuing trend is an upward progression.

That is what growth looks like.  We have times, I'll call them "mountain top experiences", when we experience great growth.  Other times are slow and steady.  Still others are downright failures because we lapse into sin and self-centeredness.  Yet, when we sin, we are reconciled to God and to each other through the Sacraments, and we dust ourselves off and move forward.  There are millions of people in the world who "go through the motions" of Christianity, but who are oblivious to the relationship with God that they are neglecting.  Those of us who are aware, by the grace of God, notice when things are not right.  We see the struggle.  We are frustrated.  We know where we want to be, and sometimes we know that we just aren't there.  We are not unlike St. Paul (this is now the year of St. Paul, by the way), who struggled with sin, with his own ambitions, and with persecution.  Yet, at the end of his life, St. Paul tells St. Timothy that he has finished the course and that he has fought a good fight.

The saints show us that growth is possible, that it comes by submission and sacrifice, and that it is not easy.  No wonder Jesus says that the way is narrow that leads to eternal life and that the path is wide that leads to destruction.  Our growth by cooperating with God's grace is how we will become saints, and that is the goal.  It has nothing to do with feelings.  It has nothing to do with popular trends or opinions.  It has nothing to do with the charisma of our leaders.  It has everything to do with the objective reality of God's grace acting in our lives. So we stick it out and fight the good fight, knowing that all we experience in this journey is strengthening us as we grow.

I hope everybody has a great week.

Since nobody else is posting, it must fall upon me to write something.  To those who refuse to post, shame and fleas for you.  

Yet another thrilling meeting on Sunday.  Many thanks to Kevin and Lori for hosting.  I know I tell people this all the time, but we really do have an awesome group of folks.  I feel totally at ease speaking with the men and women in our small community and our children seem to be getting along very well.  Add some killer snacks afterward and you've got our Sunday evenings. 

Looking at this from the perspective of a man who used to try to get things like this going in other congregations, I am excited to see things done right.  There are infinity groups doing it wrong all over the place, especially those "small groups" that are detached from the pastor and the rest of the Church.  Becoming an entity unto themselves, they are open to many dangers.  However, the SCCs I'm seeing at Incarnation have the proper ties.  What a welcome relief!  And, on top of all that, the group I find myself in is the best group of all time.  I think we'll be getting a trophy and commemorative t-shirts soon.  

So maybe I am a bit biased, but the rest of you, who happen to NOT be posting, could chime in and share your thoughts.  You're having fun here, right?  Experiencing spiritual growth and finding encouraging community?  

I just wanted to take a minute to tell everyone, "Thank You!" for all your love and prayers.   I speak for not just my little clan, but for the Walkers as well.  It is such a blessing to have friends who care and who rally around when troubles come.  That is a beautiful picture of what community looks like.  The love we see lived out is a HUGE help, especially in a time of great pain.

We who trust in Christ have a hope that goes beyond all pain and all the unknowns of this life, but we still hurt.  We still miss.  We still struggle.  Being part of a family of believers is a great aid and reminder of that hope in Christ that we share together.  I can't comprehend how those without this hope are able to survive in this messed up world we call our pilgrim home.

We love and appreciate you all.  Thank you very much.