A pleasant way to spend an evening

I have some really good friends. I had the good fortune to spend the later hours of last night with three of these friends. The four of us have formed MSBC -- More Serious Book Club. It is an attempt for four people who are rarely serious when together to spend some time tackling some serious topics. The first book we are reading is Brian McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy.

This group is made of people that sound like the beginning of a joke...A Catholic, a Methodist and two Southern Baptists walk in to a house... I think our diversity is one of the reasons that makes this group so special to me. That, and the fact that they can make me laugh harder (usually at myself) than nearly anyone else.

You can track their lives outside of MSBC here, here and here. The last one is not really his site, but he is a proud supporter.

We'll take more people in to the group and we'll be happy to have the additional input. The only real criteria are: 1) The host must provide salsa, 2) You must be willing to share opinions, 3) You must be respectful of the opinions of others, 4) That salsa thing is pretty important and worth mentioning twice, 5) Tangential conversations are allowed and typically the norm.

We started the book last night and covered the Preface, Introduction, Chapter 0, and Chapter 1. That doesn't sound like much, but it is. I may share some of my thoughts in future postings, but right now I'm still trying to figure out what my thoughts are. It is quite disconcerting to leave the comfort of your childhood faith. But as I've gotten older, I find it harder to maintain those same beliefs.

I have faith...I just don't know exactly what I believe. I feel like I've ventured a long way from being 'a Christian'. In a lot of places, that would be called heresy. In this group, it is expected and really the reason we are together. Well, that and to laugh at each other. On to Chapter 2...