Have we hit a nerve? Let's move to something more uplifting...

Sorry about the long and rambling previous post. My relationship with my congregation is still so complex. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

Anyway, the rest of the weekend: PARTY!!!!

So, my other half and I have thrown a party the second Saturday of December ever since we moved into our present house (five year ago now). I've noticed that we tend to make our parties and open house and invite every possible person. This makes for really interesting combinations of people. I'm one of those folks who has "separate worlds". Often, those worlds do not mix. I associate with certain people around certain circumstances. Well, this party makes my worlds collide in the most extraordinary ways.

This year, I invited a lot of people from my work. I've invited a few in the past, but often they can't/don't show up. This year, a number of my co-workers came and brought family with them. That was interesting, because they got to meet a lot of my church worker-type friends, and my gay friends (there's a lot of overlap between my church friends and my gay friends).

This was also the first year my parents came to the party. The main purpose in coming down was to take the dog back up north with then for Christmas, while we are out of town. My mother, however, has the same party-planning tendencies that I have. So, she became a great hostess for the event. It was very helpful to have her and my dad around.

There were three definite "shifts" to the party. It began at 3:00 and went until midnight. The first two hours were filled with folks who were going to some other function later that evening. Most of my co-workers and some (shall we say) older folks were in the early shift. The middle shift were several of my friends (often the ones who stay until the bitter end). They holed themselves up in the back TV room to talk away from the rest of the crowd. The end shift were a lot of my urban youth ministry friends.

Also stopping by, were my former pastor (of Downtown Lutheran Church - everything seems to come back to that, doesn't it?). She and her husband were the folks who talked to us about the coffee shop idea. They informed me that they, also, have cooled to the coffee shop option. Alas, it was fun to dream...but that will remain a dream.

The last people to show up is a friend who is a white Christian rapper (no jokes, please). He came to our place after a concert in a suburb. It was him, his wife, a dancer, and a couple of gay folks who got to sit and chat until mid-night. He is the one who does all the work with the hip-hop worship service I'm involved in (where we did the ghetto version of a Christmas pageant).

Most of the food was eaten. There was very little glogg left (spiced Swedish wine). I'm calling the party a success! Good times were had by all.

Thus ends the recap of the party.