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a well lived bland life
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Happy Avalanche Day
Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the avalanche in Colorado. It seems weird to celebrate the anniversary of something such as a car accident, but on the other hand it did bring us all closer together in a way a normal ski trip seems to fall short of accomplishing.
During church a couple of weeks ago, one of our pastors, Doug, used the word communitas to describe a local body of believers. A communitas can be described as 'an intense community spirit, the feeling of great social equality, solidarity, and togetherness.' These intense communities can occur after a shared intense situation or event or in close familial environments such as a local church. Doug gave several everyday examples such as a military squadron feeling tightly knit together after an horrific battle or a football team becoming like brothers after a intense football season. About this time in the service my phone sprang to life with a text message reading: 'Avalanche Communitas?' I glanced across the auditorium at Darren Johnson who was grinning from ear-to-ear. Darren may have texted the message as primarily a sarcastic joke, but in one sense he's completely correct. I feel bound to the other four people who rode down the side of the mountain going through the same rush of uncertainty and anxiety that I too was feeling. I don't mean this in some mystical 'I feel what they feel' kind of way, but in that I'm closer to these people because we were there for each other when it mattered, just as a family or church family is to function.
Tonight, those of us who were able got together for a nice dinner, played games, and talked for several hours. It was such a wonderful time that we have deemed this day as an official holiday. So I would like to take this moment to wish each and everyone of you a 'Happy Avalanche Day'. I hope this day reminds you of the things in your life that really matter and that we could be called before our Maker at any time. Cheers!
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Blando's Blog
Disciple of Christ, Husband, Father, and IT-guy.
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