Day 2

As I walked through the Subway station so many things were flowing through my head. First was the fluttering in my stomach. After such long planning this adventure is upon me, but part of me, a big part is ready to turn around, get on a plane, and come home.

For so long in my life I have lived with a very defined set of certainties. For elven years I have gotten up each day as the pastor of FBC Athens. I have to go back to the Spring of 1984 to identify even a vaguely uncertain time, but even then I was married, living at home, saving to buy a house, attending Seminary and preparing for ministry.

It has been along time since I have had to flex the muscles that help in the unknown. Trying to make sense of these feelings is uncomfortable, but I believe will be beneficial. Lots gets stripped away in the process.

It helps me know how much I define myself by my tasks, by my goals, and by my relationships to people, order, and routine. Already I can see that I need to spend more time feeling loved, accepting daily grace, being transformed by the sustaining presence of God.

I"m praying that all of these raw thoughts might help me be a better me, a better communicator.

All of these ideas were crowded around the thoughts and feelings of the surroundings. There is so much diversity in the subways. Hair styles, clothes, nationalities, clothes. There are happy people, sad people, incoherent people.

A group of boys came flowing through the corridor. They each had on blue blazers, stripped ties, white shirts. The were jostling to be next the the center boy. He was a bit taller than the rest. Like of flock of sparrows they wheeled around me and the others in the hall, forming, breaking apart, and then reforming into a ball.

I kept looking for Harry Potter, but he was nowhere to be seen.

It made me nostalgic for my school mates, for easier times, for the joys of recess. In part this was also the effect of sitting and talking with one of my best friends in High School, Holly Robinson Young.

I have this vivid memory of riding with her and Mark Wade in a car and all of us being silent. We had been friends for along time and on this moment we didn't have anything left to say. Holly said, "It is great to have good friends that you don't have to say anything to each other." It was the first time I remember feeling this absolute peace in a friendship and relationship.

She met me at Paddington Station. I told her we would meet at the statue of Paddington bear. I figured everyone knew it existed. She had never seen it. We have family photos sitting next to it. I had gotten there early to make sure I didn't miss Holly and Buddy. I scanned the train station waiting for them.

Then I saw Holly. She was talking to a policeman, I could tell she was trying to find the statue. Then our eyes met. We figured it has been eight years since we have seen each other (our 20 year high school reunion). Buddy had been delayed on his trip from Rio in Brazil. Holly and I headed for a place to eat.

At first we just walked. It was so much fun to begin to find a way to let the stories of a lifetime become shared moments. How to share without dominating the conversation, or boring the other person.

I listened to her tell about her professional triumphs. About the many places they have traveled, about the crushing workload, about the resolve to come back to the US (The have been gone for 10 years). We talked about extended family, helping others, and faith. She gave me updates on lots of our shared friends.

We had food at a Pub and then coffee at Starbucks. The only thing that could have made it better was more time. It made me treasure my friends all the more.