How can a weekend feel both action-packed and short?

So, this weekend, we went to church twice. One of the times was considerably more enjoyable than the other, but both were necessary. The story, in short, is this: Our church has a partnership with a bunch of other ministries that bears some resemblance to landlord-tenant, but is far more spiritual than businesslike. It was born out of necessity: shrinking congregation, large space. It's a great thing, a success story. But it's different things to different people, and it feels like shifting sands whenever we try to pin down whether or no "theological diversity" means that some ministries are anti-gay.

The questions just keep on coming, wave after wave pounding on this partnership. I want it to survive. But I want to know who I'm dealing with. We got some answers Saturday morning at a gathering that could best be described as raw ... yet valuable and ultimately constructive. It was a good first step. And it was interesting for me to experience conflict in the Christian paradigm. It is somewhat better than agnostic conflict, as people are trying to be their best selves in a way that, say, the players in a dispute over which stories go on the front page of a newspaper are not. (Not that good hearted dispute belongs only to Christians ... and neither should this partnership. But that's another discussion.)

So that was Saturday, until noon. Then came a quick lunch, and a bunch of cleanup and organizing and I don't even remember except that the next thing I knew it was Sunday morning. And it felt healing to be together in church with at least some of the players Saturday, though I've learned since that not all feel healed. I don't know what to do about that, other than what I think is right. Someone said they described me as "authentic" the other day, and I took it as a big time compliment, the more I thought about it. I want to continue to earn that. Not that I'm not smug and self-righteous and goofy. But I want to be authentic about it. :)

P.S. That cute baby in the picture of the preceding post is Raelee, my niece. Whose name I'm probably spelling wrong. She's about 6 months old and Cheryl and I are charmed by how many toys she has. Not like our kids have a lot of toys. Funny how one's perspective shifts.