::myth, community::

You are a king among men.

Those were the words of my friend Brandon to me the other night, part of a deeply meaningful exchange, concerning life and my experiences here in Seattle.

What struck me was the way he communicated all of what we talked about to me, it was not so much propositional knowledge, but mythic in nature. He compared me to Strider of Lord of the Rings, a king in the making, with many many challeges to overcome right now (like grad school). It struck me then that the language of the heart is story, not proposition, probably why Jesus chose to speak in parable and story rather than just proposition.

The other thing that struck me was the call came at a desperate time for me, a dark hour, and it wasn’t lucky timing but because another friend, Adam, had called him to say he should call me. It made me think about the wonderful blessings of community, three men separated by geography, Brandon in Colorado, Adam in West Virginia and me in Seattle, but still involved in very deep and meaningful ways in each others lives,. And it’s not perfect, we are all fools and idiots to be sure, but we still have community, and that is essential.

I haven’t fully processed or even felt the depth of that exchange, and perhaps it is far too deep right now for me to even put words to, but they were words I did need to hear, and perhaps I can follow up at a later time, but for now I must leave you, and get some desperately needed rest after a very intense and exhausting week.