Blowing The Pipe (From Gabe)

So, here we are... Nearly ten months into a journey that has taken us quite far from where we expected to be. And why not? I mean, God alone knows the plans He has for us. What we know of that is simply that His plans are for our good and not harm. How presumptuous we can be, to consider that we have even an inkling into His mind, His wisdom and His plan! We, who should be honored just to be invited to the dance, should be delighted beyond words when we are able to get even a few steps right!



Some of you are asking: Who are you?



Well, do we even know? Yeah, we do. Sort of, anyway. At least, that is, we believe we know as much as God has allowed us to see at this time. We are Church of the Renaissance. We are here - in Philippi, West Virginia, in the heart of Appalachia - simply because God called us here. What are we doing here? If you'd asked us that ten months ago, we'd have had an answer for you. It just may have been the wrong answer, perhaps. Actually, the verdict is still out on that one. Now, all I can say that God believes we have something to offer this community: ourselves. For myself, I'd be the first to admit that doesn't seem like much. But it's what I have to offer, and offer it I will, and I have.



I am Gabe Saporito, though that is of little consequence. If God is the author of this strange saga, then I am the protaganist. My wife is Laura. Actually, I think she is the protagonist. I am more likely the antagonist. I believe that she and I will share this blog. Perhaps over time that will get confusing. Then I'll just boot her off and tell her to make her own (at which point, people will stop visiting this one, I'm sure).



Some months back, our support team - the "leadership team" for Church of the Renaissance -challenged us to create a newsletter. We've tried. Oh, how we've tried. But there is this thing called "life" and its nefarious partner in crime called "inertia", and where life meets inertia you find many of the best intentions - languishing. The fact is, it's difficult to produce a work to properly convey the comings and goings of life. For those of us to whom "good enough" is never good enough, this spells disaster.



Anyway, that work, currently lying dormant as we pursue lesser ventures like teaching kids to read, praying with pastors and generally being available to God, is called "The Dulcimer". I'm sorry, you'll just have to wait for its debut to understand why it's called that. I realize that this might mean you'll never understand it, and all I can say is that there's not really room here to explain, and besides, sometimes understanding is just not that important. (Mercy, alas is not my strong suit)



This blog is an attempt to compensate for the dearth of information otherwise making its way to all of you. Over time, it might rather support The Dulcimer, rather than serve as its surrogate. Either way, it seemed important that this blog be given a name to relate to that other, more noble publication. "Tuning the Dulcimer" seemed appropriate, because this blog is likely to provide something other than the newsletter. Where it will one day provide information about where we are and what we are doing - and more to the point what God is doing, this blog will hopefully offer insight into why and how things are happening.



This first post is tedious, I know. It is, after all, a first post, and therefore providing the groundwork for what will follow. After all, when an instrument is tuned, there must first be a reference tone sounded. So here, we are simply blowing pitch as they say in "the music biz". But, for those of you concerned that this whole blog might become tedious, remember this: A pitch pipe sounds nothing like a dulcimer. It only hints at the promise of sweet tones flowing forth as time goes on.



I will warn you further, though, that the sound of a complex instrument being tuned is not necessarily always pleasant. A blog, after all, is still a blog. And so, from time to time you may find posts here that are emotionally difficult to read. Sometimes, you might not even agree with us. And, you know what? That's fine. Iron sharpens iron through friction. But please remember, blogs are not one-way communication. After all, friction requires contact. So we ask that you offer us feedback, whatever it may be. So far, one of the hardest parts of being here is the occasional feeling of isolation that sometimes threatens to consume us. So, please, be iron. Be fire. Be a douse of cool, refreshing water. Just don't be silent.



The pitch has been blown. Let the tuning commence.