footpaths?

a word about this blog. i need a place to share my thoughts. i've known that for a number of years, and have blogged before. why a new blog? my old blogs were all about starting discussion. i tried to provoke emotion and get people riled up. that was fun! but it wasn't always honest...

this time will be different; that is, for this blog to survive, it has to be different!

the quote at the top is from My Father's Testament, the translated memoirs of Carl Johan Nyvall, an early leader in the Swedish Mission Covenant Church. "resurrecting footpaths" is about connecting people to Christ and to one another. in a time when bigger is better, i'm finding strength in the small things, on faith founded on footpaths rather than mainroads. it's the side-streets, hiking trails, and back roads that bring me closer to Christ. it's about being with people. it's about walking the paths with others in good times and bad.

but we need to resurrect these paths before they are forgotten. we need to remember and carry forward history and tradition as we write new history and make new traditions.

in irresistible revolution, Shane Claiborne writes, "A lot of things start small and grow smaller.” he says later, “God’s kingdom grows smaller and smaller as it takes over the world.” the footpaths are key to keeping us connected to one another, to the importance of tight communities. footpaths are a link; they are, as Nyvall says, vital to culture and religion. we use footpaths to communicate faith and share life in Christ with one another. there is great strength in "smallness" and footpaths are a key to that strength...