House Concert

So it's true. I will have a house concert here in one week. One week. I'm as excited as a little kid.
I got to tell Faye why tonight and I'm still bursting with it. She was at possibly the first house concert I have been to and she loved that one too. It was in Sheri McConnel's apartment downtown. At the time she had a crazy studio apartment in East End with massive floor to second level ceiling windows looking out on the city. Crystal [Lozchuk] played and sang. She told stories about her songs. There was undoubtedly funky snacks / beverages. Faye probably invited me actually. I think it was mostly her house church at the time that was there.

Anyway, I was in a bit of a stressful, short-on-sleep, deeply-friend-deprived state of life but I decided to go anyway. It was awesome. I remember very clearly that it felt like a slice of perfect in the middle of all of that weight. The atmosphere, the music, the art, the sharing of life's stories, new people, and God's tangible presence. It was beautiful.

I have always found one of Jesus' stories intriguing. It is the one about the king who has a wedding banquet and invites his friends. They decline with a variety of excuses, and the king says to his wedding planner, well screw them, but I want a party, so go out and find whoever you can. So strangers on the street corners are invited and the party is fully attended. The story goes on with the King finding someone not wearing proper wedding attire and throws him out. The point is that I have always thought it was an interesting way of showing some of God's personality. He wants to hang out with people. The important part is having company apparently, not being too choosy about the invitations (if people are losers then throw them out later I guess).

I have had the pleasure of enjoying a few small concerts in my life and have loved them. Jacob & Lily for example, at a pub in Eau Claire, at Curtis & Andrea's, at Jenn Uhl's house. There's something very savoury about them. Big concerts are usually like going to the movie theatre. You don't have any interaction with the other people in the theatre. You just happen to be there together. But small concerts, you end up meeting interesting people, or at least feeling a little bit more of a bond with these people enjoying music with you. Who doesn't like to find people who enjoy the same music as yourself? People who understand or at least have discovered how great something is are a treat.

In some small way, it reminds me of one of my favourite places: camp. Camp combines people of all kinds of backgrounds, enjoying nature together, and meeting with God. It's a snapshot of heaven. Music is a part of nature, and a meeting of a similar nature can be just such a snapshot.

I have a house concert / birthday party, and in some ways a smaller event with close friends would be more satisfying. However, sometimes I just want to share something wonderful. It's very difficult to actually have a big event when people are reticent to include you in their difficult schedules, and so you must be like the King and not be very selective about your invites. You need to invite 200 people telling them to bring friends to actually get 50. I have switched tenses and started saying you though. I need to invite people. I've been doing so contagiously, but I must continue. I'll invite families from Jesus Love You tomorrow night and I feel I should invite my neighbours. Who else is left?