disconnected drifting

For someone who typically is connected all the time via technology (within limits), sometimes I start to feel... disconnected. Not disconnected in the positive sense, as in unplugging from everything for a while to keep myself focused, but as in feeling like I am isolated. I suppose in this case, it sort of works out for the better since my current mode of inspiration and spiritual exploration has been coming in waves; a crest here (lots of thoughts), a trough there (nothing at all). With not a whole lot of cohesive material to put together, my disconnected feeling is forcing me to try and wade through the randomly scattered bits of information and discern some kind of pattern.

Part of my mental drifting lately has been influenced by the currents of thought coming from Emerging Churches (see author info at left). Some of the experiences, stories, and testimonials in the book are really forcing me to stop, reflect, and re-think everything about what it means to be and do church. I know I've talked about it in the past, at times with some strange ideas, but some of what is actually going on out in the wider world (beyond the U.S.) is pushing the envelope further and bringing the focus back to where I had been leaning -- however, I think I had often failed to fully understand the possibilities of just what it was I thinking. For instance...

I've said before that I really don't like the term church, not because its a bad term, but because it is so tied up with the historical context it has been rooted in for the past millennia. So many people equate church with a building, even if they know that the church isn't the building. I've said, and many people know, that the church is the community of people committed to God's kingdom and Jesus's teachings. However, I think even that can get muddled up, because some people while attempting to avoid equating church with the building, end up subconsciously equating church with worship service (whether that is Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday.. whatever). While that is a good step, eliminating the focus on the building and shifting it back to the people, it still misses the point -- worship service isn't the church either (well not the only component anyway). Church; ekklesia; the calling together of people; congregation; assembly; a gathered community...

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am with them.

Wherever I am in the future, should I be asked where I go to church - my answer is:
Here.
If ever I am asked, what kind of people are at my church - my response:
At the moment, they are just like you and me.
And if someone were to ask me what worship looks like at my church - I would reply:
Frequently, it looks a lot like what we're doing right now.

Church - it doesn't always need a building, or a schedule, or a formal leader (other than Him), or chairs, or scripture readings, or songs - it needs people, a love of God, and a desire to be in community.

Cheers!

(So I guess I wrote my way out of my drifting and into something that actually makes sense, I think.)