regroup has begun

So it only took about 3 months longer than I anticipated, but ReGroup finally made it off the paper and into reality. Honestly, I couldn't be more pleased. I was organized, I was ready, and our house was open and ready for some of our friends to come over and join in this new experience. Once we all sat down and got the ball rolling, everything I planned was tossed right out the window.

At first I was concerned that getting started was going to be like being back in college, you know the times when the professor is practically pulling teeth to get something, anything, out of the students. But, since the whole point of getting this group together was to provide a safe place to talk about whatever topics we might not be comfortable bringing up in other environments, that's where I started. Luckily, once the first topic was tossed out there the conversation flowed and twisted and moved under its own power so that I only pulled a couple of items from my jotted down ideas (which I had up my sleeve in case nobody could think of anything). Interestingly enough, we spent a good part of the night discussing a few topics that all sort of hovered around the grander topic of death; things like predestination, heaven and hell, divine influence on lives, and that ultimate question, "why do bad things happen to good people?" We didn't end up bringing any scripture into the discussion, since this was more of an introductory gathering and involved a little bit of probing as to where people sat on certain issues. However, the discussions have spurred me to gather more information, seek advice, and I'll eventually pull together some scripture references to help provide some food for thought on the topics we discussed.

We've already decided that we do want to continue meeting; everyone seemed to have a good time and thought the time was well spent. For now I think we'll be meeting on a monthly basis, since anything more frequent I think would feel oppressive. From my perspective, it gives me more time to find information to add more depth to previous discussions, and maybe find material that will transition to a new topic. I think it would be fairly obvious that getting stuck on something for a long period could be detrimental, unless we're all enjoying the continual discussion that is. In some ways the first ever ReGroup meeting was anticlimactic for me, but that was actually a good thing. I didn't feel a lot of pressure, and I never really talked through any of the finer structural points of where I wanted to go with the group. Honestly, I never even brought the name ReGroup up, and I think it was better for it. I've stated from the beginning that ReGroup should be about meeting the ever-changing needs of people seeking answers and faith with a "come as you are" mentality; I think the first meeting did just that.

terribly exciting business

When you have a few spare moments and want to read something exciting about the state of business and finance in America today, check out this article.

Terribly Exciting -- by Ben Stein (yes, THAT Ben Stein)

Exciting enough for you? I won't ruin it for you, but let's just say I thought he nailed it.

nothing beats a live performance

There are some truths I cling to fiercely, and two of the more fun and experiential ones that I love go something like this:

Beer tastes better on tap.
Music is better experienced live by a band that knows how to play live.

Last night, I had the absolute pleasure of catching Switchfoot live, as their tour swung in through Hartford. To put it bluntly, they rocked the place hard and had a great audience. The Webster Theatre may not be in the greatest part of Hartford and its standing room only, but it keeps you close to the band and the music was loud. Having never seen Switchfoot in concert before, I was hoping for a good show; after all, they had to live up to my experiences of shows like Smashing Pumpkins, Live, Counting Crows, Korn, Billy Joel, The Dixie Chicks, and countless Dave Matthews Band performances. Switchfoot blew my expectations out of the water! They fed off the crowd's energy, had some interaction, played awesome renditions of many of my favorites, and the music was loud (I know I said that already). Their warm-up band, Copeland, wasn't too bad either, but their was that obvious difference between the rookie and veteran tour performances. Copeland's music was loud and the songs were good, but to me it sounded like they were overcompensating with volume because the whole time it sounded like blown out speakers in my ears (that kind of scratchy, peaked noise). I would have attributed it to the large speaker in a small space, but I didn't get any of the same during Switchfoot's set.

More importantly than the technical aspects of the show, there is just something spiritually uplifting for me when I experience my favorite bands live - well maybe not all of them, Korn is a bit harsh for spiritual nourishment. Being in a crowd, singing along at the top of my lungs, cheering the band, and just letting myself experience the music - the sound, the feel, the emotions - it all just invigorates you and recharges your soul. Even the temporary partial-deafness after the show is worth it. I could have milled around in the crowd after the show to pick up some merchandise or my official bootleg CD (Switchfoot has been recording the first few songs and giving them away at the end of the show), but I had to get back and there's a site out there where people are making the bootlegs available online (again legally, Switchfoot even mentioned and encouraged it in their newsletter). I might still order some tour schwag from their site, it was an awesome show and worth a t-shirt.

Cheers!