10.10.2009

Adventures at "The Express Lube Center"

Today's Photo: "Frozen"

“I didn’t even know women could be priests or whatever,” the uniformed man said with a curious smile. “I’m Baptist…well, I haven’t been in a church for years, but I was Baptist back home in Chicago.”

“I’m non-denominational now. I had some bad experiences with the church growing up,” his co-worker added in.

This morning I woke up and headed into the neighboring town to find a place to get the oil changed in my car. Also, I’ve been noticing a strange smell when I turn on the heater, so I wanted to get that checked out, too (it turns out there’s just something stinky in my garage). The place I found: “The Express Lube Center.” There was no sitting area for customers so the two workers invited me to sit in the garage as they worked on my car.

They were friendly. One has two kids and moved to Minnesota from Chicago a few years back. The other has 4 kids (one more on the way) and likes to talk about politics and taxes. They both looked to be in their mid-to-late twenties.

It never ceases to amaze me what kind of doors get opened up the moment I answer the question, “So what brought you to Minnesota?”

“Oh, I came to serve a congregation as their pastor.”

People are so terrific; I love their blunt honesty and frankness. These two fellows were great. They shared about their own life experiences and thoughts on church. I’ve been so focused on “listening” to people at church lately that I’ve apparently nearly forgotten how to share what faith/God/church mean for my own life. There was a moment today when I thought to myself, “Emily! Share! It’s time to talk about faith. They’re done sharing their stories - now share your own story.” But I became a shy little clam and went back to question-asking and listening.

That’s my new goal: practice sharing my story. When people are genuinely curious, it would be good to have a brief way of sharing my personal thoughts on the life-long journey of faith out-loud. I was thinking it might be a good goal for all of us: regardless of what we believe or don’t believe about God. It's healthy for us all to be able to articulate our values and beliefs. I think that for people who tend to listen more and speak less, it can be a challenge to vocalize our deepest-held values spontaneously. But we can do it, friends! It’s an important piece of the developmental puzzle: sharing what's real.

It was such a nice, holy encounter at The Express Lube Center. It felt like the most genuine God talk I’ve shared with people for quite some time.

3 comments:

  1. you never know what may happen at the Express Lube Center. that's for sure!
    here's to sharing your story. it's a lovely one, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. you never know what may happen at the Express Lube Center. that's for sure!
    here's to sharing your story. it's a lovely one, you know.

    ReplyDelete