How do you begin a journey? Do you have to have all the details worked out before making that first step or do you just tromp ahead and let the surprises be the point? Amy is a planner and loves to make (and strictly abide by) lists. I, on the other hand, tend to just plunge ahead, impulsive and at times foolish.
Last week Amy and I “tromped” into the New Year by making a small journey of sorts. My beloved and I hiked five miles through nearly a foot of snow near the Amicalola Falls in North Georgia and then spent a cozy night at the Len Foote Hike Inn. You can only access this inn by hiking in and hiking out. Perhaps the term “inn” is a bit generous. It is rustic, bare-bones, and no-frills. They do provide a hot meal at night and one more in the morning before sending us back out into the snow to hike back down the mountain. It was a lovely way to close out the year and prepare for the start of a new year.
In this particular jaunt, Amy depended on me for the details since I do most of the hiking and backpacking. Wanting to make a good impression, I worked a bit harder on some of the details and she, likewise, trusted me with some of the surprises. Fortunately our surprises were mostly positive and even when things were less pleasant than planned (like frigid temperatures in our bunk room) we made plans to adjust (I brought a winter sleeping bag that was warm and toasty).
In these early days of 2011 I wonder how we are planning our own faith journey. It is indeed a journey and like all good jaunts it has its fair share of surprises. Starting this Sunday I will be teaching a class on Beginning Christianity. It is for anyone interested in learning more about their faith or discovering what it means to follow Jesus for the first time.
Really, we are all just beginners, are we not? Each waking moment we carry out halting steps into new paths. Sometimes we are prepared and other times we are completely surprised, even lost. That is why we need one another – the community of faith – because we make the trek together.
I invite you to join me in this journey for six weeks, beginning January 9 through February 27. We will meet at 10 AM sharp in room 203 in the Adult Building. The sessions are as follows:
Session 1: Getting Started
Session 2: What Jesus Did
Read Mark 1-3
Session 3: What Jesus Taught
Read Mark 4-6; Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount)
Session 4: Why Jesus Died
Read Mark 14-15
Session 5: Jesus Lives! Can We Know Him?
Read Mark 7-9, 16
Session 6: Being Baptist, Being Christian
Read Mark 10-13
Happy traveling!
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