A delightful tradition adopted by a loose group of friends has been to celebrate our 50th birthdays together. Over the years, this practice has included one very large poker party, a trip to the beach, a Colorado ski trip, and a few other fun endeavors. The most exotic celebration came courtesy of one friend who rented a villa in Tuscany and invited eight others to join in. I recommend having friends like that.
To help us get to know each other, the Tuscany group designated evening hosts to be in charge of activities each night. One person hired a chef, another organized a dinner out, and still another decided that our closing dinner would involve playing a game called "This I Believe" modeled after the NPR show by the same name.
The game started by everyone taking 30 minutes to write a statement outlining what they believe... essential truths, core truths, inviolable truths they hold to be universal and inviolable. We then put our statements into a bowl and our evening host pulled out one at a time, read it aloud, and asked the group to discuss its content and guess the author.
It was fun, controversial and surprising. The most surprising "This I Believe" statement involved one of our youngest members, a recent cancer survivor, who said, "I believe in miracles."
The doctors in the group jumped into the discussion first. The lawyers then argued about the nature of evidence. The ministers chimed in about faith and personal experience. And, before we knew it, the night was very late.
This week's scripture passage speaks to our friend's challenging proposition. Do we believe in miracles?
I invite you to read the story, consider it carefully, and come ready to be challenged. Jen Christianson will be preaching in the Chapel at 9:30, the youth will be singing and ringing at 11:00 in the Sanctuary, mission teams will be commissioned at all services, and the whole morning promises to be uplifting.
