Granny and PaPa

I drove up their driveway this week
In a closet of memory that's been kept shut
Grief opened the door to risk a peek
I saw sun bouncing off fresh blacktop
Showing up in our old Pontiac station wagon
My mom and us three kids
That driveway meant salvation
We would run out, estatic for a place
A refuge and hole to burrow and be
The sunporch, jujubee's, cookie jar and old cast iron sewing table
Granny's antique doll, jewelry and nail polish, the shed and PaPa's creek and garden
All signposts of relief
A brief layover in a village void of
Alcohol
I never knew until now that they saved my life
Taking naps with PaPa
The smell of his sweater as I lay my cheek on his chest
The touch and feel of a Father
356-5429
A number not dialed in over twenty years
It's retrieval so instinctual
Like milk in it's place on the fridge door
Oh, to brush now finger over numbers and press down...
I'd tell you thank you
PaPa, for the quarters and dollars and trips to the park
For Yankee Doodle Dandy
For your guardian eyes, watching and perpetually pacing and tracing our footsteps through play
I'd hear your stories and ask and listen more
Granny, you birthed a stillborn son and buried a daughter
Cathy was her name
Your childhood had you webbed in it's own alcohol
Nightmare
Did you know you could name your son and grieve his death?
Or was that sorrow shoved down too in a pit named forgotten and no more?
I see why the yarn of control had you wound up in such a tight ball
I'd want to gently snip through those stitches of a heart so bound and sewn in pain
And allow the space for the beat to begin it's pulse again
You called me your angel
I think you were mine
And, I would give anything to drive up again down that winding road
That led to your house
On Brainard Street

Can Churches Learn From Microbreweries?

I think it goes without saying that microbreweries, and the craft beers they produce, are huge right now.  Michigan boasts a rapidly growing micro-brew industry and it seems like any medium size town will have a microbrewery.  Even the big beer execs have seen the trend and they are marketing their own versions of "craft beers." 

What makes them special?

Microbreweries are almost universally seen to be good for the local community.  They encourage a neighborhood sensibility and hometown pride.  They are thought to encourage economic vitality and stimulate local artistry and creativity.  Then there's the craft brews themselves.  Typically local sourced and always locally made.  Each batch crafted with attention to the distinctive details of its particular flavors.  

Is there anything churches could learn from here?

Can churches be widely regarded as good for the local community?  What if churches encouraged a sense of hometown camaraderie and pride?  What if churches contributed to the local economic health and nurtured creativity and artistry? 

And what if churches made disciples, followers of Jesus - our "product" - the same way microbreweries crafted beer?  What if churches developed more homegrown disciples - locally sourced and produced - instead of relying so heavily on imports from other churches?  What if pastors and church leaders crafted followers of Jesus with careful attention to the qualities of each person (or each small group batch?) so that its distinctive flavors could be developed and savored? 

Might God be pleased?  And the world too?  And might we enjoy the process along the way, as a master craft brewer must surely enjoy his or her work?

What would it take to do this?  And are we interested?