I spent a few hours doing this pen and ink drawing today. You can click on it for a larger image of it. It is on high quality archival watercolor paper. It measures 4″x10.5″ (10.2cm x 26.7cm). You can purchase the original here.

Lisa and I spend the last weekend with a great bunch of younger people. Well, generally they are younger. There were some older ones there too. And I would put myself in the older group. It was an entirely refreshing time for me. Also disturbing.

It was refreshing for me because they are a curious collection of people. Nobody necessarily agreed with anything I had to say. That wasn’t the point. The point was for me to come and share what I had discovered with them. In turn, they shared their discoveries with me. No conclusions or comparisons had to be drawn. Even though their spirit is deep and rich, it seemed free of negative religious spirit. When I shared with them an explanation of the z-theory (type z-theory in the subject box of nakedpastor to learn more), it was refreshing for me to see interest in their eyes instead of the usual glazing over or anger or indifference. The discussions were lively, courageous and edifying. When we were nearing the end I had the impression that what had happened that weekend was like two subversive underground collectives meeting covertly. It was an affirmative time for me.

It was disturbing because I realized that these guys and I share the same DNA. I saw that my critique of the church is justified. There are vast numbers of people like them, like me, who desire community that respects and embraces a spiritual component but entirely free of manipulation, control, exploitation, expectations and confined thought and belief. I returned more commitment to authentic community free of all these things. I realized on my drive home that this means commitment to receiving more maltreatment, but I’ll deal with that.

The photo is of the group on Saturday morning working together on one canvas. The themes we worked on were journey, sacred, truth and reverence.

This is a picture of the wine and cheese party that John and Judith Brennan held at their house last night. We took a while just getting to know each other. Then suddenly the conversation around nakedpastor, community and the z-theory started. What a lively discussion! I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with these people who aren’t afraid to think outside the prescribed box. I was a little anxious about talking about the z-theory because I’d only written about it so far. But it was fine. We went late into the night. This morning we are heading to an art studio to do something. I’m not quite sure yet. A surprise.

Yes people this is a joke. I thought this up some time ago. A real cheesy Christian t-shirt. I’d wear it! Perhaps I should create a vector graphic of it and upload it to my t-shirt shop.