How Comfortable Are You?
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I recently spent some time in a Hostel in Santa Monica, California. You see my work takes me all over the country, but if you are anything like me, you can relate when I tell you that Hotel rooms are for tourists... Hostels, however, are for travelers.... and, yes, there is a difference. This being noted, another reason I enjoy staying at hostels is that there is such an eclectic spirit within. Many cultures, languages, personalities, backgrounds all coming together under one roof.. We eat together, sleep together (OK don't go with anywhere with that ) & we learn from one another outside the comfort zones of fancy hotels & dining halls... The fact is that I'm that type of traveler; and in fact, that type of individual who does not want to go where many have gone before. I don't want to see what the eyes have already seen and the ears have already heard... I don't wish to sleep in a queen size bed with a mint on the pillow.
Life is rarely so comfortable - So why should my travels be?

OK so now that I have gotten your attention, all of this is said to introduce this month’s message which I can also preface with a question -
How Comfortable Are You?

We live in a society of comfort. While our nation indeed faces a financial recession, walk into any Starbucks Coffee on a Monday morning and you might have second thoughts on this as you watch dozens line up to order their $4.00 Venti Soy Caramel Macchiato... Or perhaps consider that here in California we are facing a drought - We have been for years and yet - We Play in Water.... Water Amusement Parks rake in thousands of tourists a year and tens of thousands of dollars....

How Comfortable Are You?

Beyond our Means of Living as a Nation of Comfort we are also a nation of the uncomfortable. Last year a group of youth from a youth group I was involved in visited one area of Kentucky largely considered to be within one of the poorest counties of the United States. It was Christmas time during that visit and one of our youth presented a playstation to one of the resident youth who I was told kept saying over and over - "Now all I need is a T.V. to play it on...."

How Comfortable Are You?

Comfort, friends, is more than a state of economics, it is also a state of mind. Perhaps it originates there and expresses itself in our ways of living & thinking, viewing & treating one another..

One of the beauties of our Church is that we in many ways stand collectively outside the comfort zone which exists in many a "Brick & Mortar" Church across this nation & world for that matter. Others used to tell our Founder Kirby Hensley that what he taught was uncomfortable at times to hear. Good. We needed to step out of our comfortable spiritual boxes then & we still could benefit by doing so today... Here we stand as ministers collectively but not necessarily comfortably at all times. We represent many cultures, languages, personalities, backgrounds all coming together under one roof.. And yet, we do not always see eye to eye. We have Christians & Pagans, Buddhists & Atheists. We have Progressives & Traditionalists. We have heterosexuals & homosexuals, Republicans, Democrats & Independents. And yet, we stand - Somehow we stand... Visit our Ministers Network one day and you'll see how everyday we make what may seem uncomfortable well, comfortable.

How Comfortable Are You?

How comfortable are you with what you think you know? Well let’s see... Did you know for example as a minister of our church that our founder Kirby Hensley ran for President of the United States in 1964 & 1968? Here's another one... Did you know that the spiritual leader of the Hare Krsna movement His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada recognizes Lord Jesus Christ as "the son of God, the representative of God... our guru... our spiritual master..."

And here is a "Comfort Trip" for Christians... What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry's tomb and do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing the Gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra & Dionysian religious cults that were hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births? But what if as you study the origin of the word virgin, you discover that the word virgin in the gospel of Matthew actually comes from the book of Isaiah, and then you find out that in the Hebrew language at that time, the word virgin could mean several things. And, what if you discover that in the first century being "born of a virgin" also referred to a child whose mother became pregnant the first time she had intercourse???

This message isn't designed to have a comfortable message necessarily... It may not even rhyme or reason nicely from its beginning to end. Good. That’s very good. Perhaps it will stretch the comfortable mind to consider beyond its thoughtful means...

So, How Comfortable Are You?
And now, more so, what do you do with that comfort?
Do you use it to reach out to others?
Do you use it to learn about others?
Do you just sit in it?
And, Are you willing to be uncomfortable? Are you willing to step outside your Tourist Hotel Room within your mind & heart & venture out?

Ask these questions of yourself & each other & perhaps we'll meet at some Hostel along the way toward a less comfortable but perhaps more meaningful existence...