Initial Thoughts

Hello and welcome to what I humbly call "A Little Dose of Positive." This is my first real attempt at blogging so please bear with me. However, my hope is that I can share some positive thoughts, musings, etc. throughout the coming year.

I guess the idea started the other day when I was eating lunch in this coffee shop and the news was on. It was probably the most negative load of cow manure I've seen in a while. For the hour I sat there eating, it was nothing but "so and so got shot in downtown Norfolk," "so and so got robbed in Newport News," and so on. I sat there and was just stunned that the news folks didn't report a single positive or happy thing. Period. That's sad, isn't it? Because let's be honest, as much as there are a lot of negative things that happen in our world, I can guarantee you that there are lots of positives, too. Perhaps that's part of everybody's problem (myself included). We focus so much on the negatives that we just end up being negative people. So, here's my attempt at bringing just a little happiness into your life. It's the least I can do!

Yesterday morning, Saturday, my wife and I went to a meeting called "Zip Code Fellowship." It's an idea our pastor came up with. Notionally, what it's supposed to be is folks from similar zip codes getting together and developing relationships, growing spiritually, and hopefully revitalizing our dying parish. I had my own doubts about this meeting as I was afraid it was going to turn into one of those "let's all get together and complain about our church" sort of things. I was happily surprised! We showed up and, while we lowered the average age there by at least 25 years, the five other people there all were extremely positive. We spent an hour and a half sharing stories about our lives, about our experiences, and about what we were hoping to get from the Zip Code Fellowship venture. Candidly, I think I was also able to convince everyone that we needed to start looking outwardly and asking not what can our parish do for us, but what can we do for our parish.

Then again, it wasn't really me convincing anyone. I just felt moved by the Holy Spirit. Ya know? It was just one of those  "I think God really wants me to say this" moments. I love those! It ended up being an extremely positive experience and I hope and pray that slowly but surely this expedition will be successful, that people will continue to meet and grow closer, and that our church will feel the breath of the Spirit renewed within the hearts of the parishioners.

Isn't it interesting though? The other people there all expressed consternation about the Zip Code Fellowship idea. Personally, I know that I have even discussed all sorts of shortcomings of the idea with other friends from church. But isn't that completely hypocritical? I mean, none of us even gave the idea a chance. Just like the parable in the Gospel where Jesus speaks of the seed that falls on soil and begins to grow but is choked by thorns, we gave up on the idea before it even started. Now, I'm not waving the flag of victory just yet, either. There are a lot of folks who still haven't met and it may very well be that this venture flunks. However, I would put to you that we shouldn't give up on such things without trying them. How can you say you don't like guacamole if you've never tasted it? How can you say you don't like Zac Brown Band if you've never listened to them? How can you say that an idea will fail if you've never actually tried it out?

So, in short, give being positive a chance! It might just make your day!