A life lived out of order (part one)...

Another great thing about meeting up with Gary and Bruce this past week is that we had a chance Monday night to stay up late like young seminarians and talk about "big ideas" -- or rather, to reminisce about the days when we WERE young and could sit up late and talk about big ideas.... well, you get the picture. Neither of them had actually realized just how young I was when I started at Harvard...right out of college and still 21; they are both a few years older than me, although not so much that you'd really notice. Still, I've always looked up to both of them. Gary is one of the smartest people I've ever met, and I've often said that I've only had three good ideas in my life...and two of them started as Gary's! (since then I've had a few more good ideas, and some of those were Gary's too). Bruce has a depth of intellectual curiosity that far surpasses mine, especially when it comes to things theological. He reads books by European authors with strange-sounding names whose titles make me shudder with fear. I'm more of a Marcus Borg/Sallie McFague kinda guy, who likes those big ideas spelled out in bite-sized words.

But to get back to my current idea -- one of the things about my life that both of them have noticed too is that I haven't really lived it in the "usual order." Started seminary as a youngster, but then after my graduation and ordination (at age 24) spent another two years in graduate school and a third year as an intern assistant minister before finally being called to my first church (in Midland Texas) at the age of 29. Was married that same year to a woman with two half-grown children (10 and 7 years old), and became instantly middle-aged: a mortgage, two car payments a dog, orthodontics, and all the rest...both Bruce and Gary (along with Steve Kendrick) were present for THAT event as well, and apparently quite amazed that I would take on so much so young. But then, a decade later, both kids are out of the house and I'm back in school again myself during my late 30's and mid-40's. Divorced and single again (after an 18 year marriage) at the age of 46, at 50 I finally felt like I'd caught up with myself, here serving this church in Portland -- a magnificent congregation in a marvelous community, both of which I came to love very quickly, and where I sincerely believed I would continue to work and live until I retired.

Which I have. At age 52, in order to battle a life-threatening disease . And yet I still kind of feel that this isn't quite the end; that I still have at least one more chapter to write in this book of life. But what could it be?

Gary had the answer. "What about meeting your soulmate and falling head-over-heels in love?"

There you have it. Another great idea that started with Gary. God bless you Brother Kowalski (and you too, Brother Johnson). More on this in a subsequent post...