This weekend was a long weekend, not just because we had an extra day off with Monday being Memorial Day, but because it was so full of significant time spent with significant friends.
We kicked off the weekend on Friday, with Alexis hanging out with her good friend Joli in Worcester and then in the evening Alexis and I had a fun time with Jayne, Jayne’s sister Joanna, and their family and friends at a party celebrating Jayne’s graduation and Joanna’s regained health.
Saturday we attended our friend Gary’s daughter Bethany’s wedding, quite a neat time! We got to see a bunch of military folk (the groom and his men were all in various branches of the armed services) dancing to country music and tearing up at every emotional moment. What is it about military men that gets them so emotional at weddings?
Sunday morning we reconnected with Jayne’s family as we attended her graduation from UMass - quite a fun time marking a significant accomplishment in Jayne’s life! We are so proud of her!
Sunday evening my friend Vick drove out from Newton to stay with us overnight. The four of us (Jayne too) went out Sunday night to see The DaVinci Code and had a neat time!
Monday morning Vick treated Alexis and me to his special recipe for eggs benedict, it was yummy! Then, shortly after noon, Alexis went off to help Jayne pack her belongings (she’s moving out of the UMass area) while Vick and I headed out to the nearby Swift river for a frustrating afternoon trying to catch fish.
We didn’t catch any fish, but we had a lot of fun practicing our casts and enjoyed being simply on the river. This was our first time out on the river this year, we’ll likely do better next time 
In the evening, before Vick left to head back to Newton, Vick and I ended up shooting the breeze and chatting casually about many things, philosophical, religious, political, God, Buddhism, Bible verses, OT vs NT, evangelical idiocies, etc.
For the first time in many years, probably for the first time since my conversations with Randy 6+ years ago before I became a Christian, I felt like I could have an intelligent conversation without worrying about an evangelical agenda.
It was so freeing!
At one point Vick voiced his questioning of the abstract notions of “heaven” and “hell” and “sin” that evangelicals seem to toss about so casually - he remarked that those notions left unanswered the bigger question of “what now?”
Amen!! I don’t think anyone could ask a more Godly question than that!
I love these resonant friendships that God seems to be blessing Alexis and myself with. They are wonderful venues of creative joy and unjudged ideaspaces - I find myself stretched and growing as I explore new ideas without fear of condemnation.
Thank God for Vick and Jayne!
