Tuesday, October 23, 2007

dinner at a monastery and a night at convergence

Last Wednesday night Shey and I joined friends Tom and his wife Lore for cocktails and dinner with the brothers in the order of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, at their house in DC. It was one of the best nights I have had in a long time. Hanging out with Tom and Lore was a lot of fun, and our time with the Oblates was wonderful. They were so kind and welcoming, making us feel right at home as soon as we walked in the door. Even though we were a few minutes late after taking a wrong turn after the metro, and thus missed evening prayers, it didn't phase them one bit. Marc Gherardi is a seminarian taking a class at Leland and was our host for the evening (you may remember him from a previous post). We had a round of drinks and hors d'oeuvre, then had dinner in this warm room, with these beautiful wood tables with tall-backed chairs. The food was absolutely amazing, pastas, vegetables, wine, and great desserts and coffee. We had great conversation, and Shey and I came away sensing a stronger unity in the body of Christ after this night, and having made some new friends. Brian Zumbrum is a first-year postulant, and was a great conversation partner throughout the night and helped us to feel at home along with Marc throughout the night. Micheal Castrilli helped keep the good beverages coming our way, and encouraged the singing of fight songs, great laughs, and an overall wonderful spirit throughout the night. This was a night that I won't soon forget, and I would encourage anyone looking for a place to do a retreat, or who is looking to make some new friends in an ecumenical setting, to meet some of the Oblates, especially the guys at the house in DC. Thanks for a great night friends!

On Sunday night, Shey and I went up with some good friends, Katie and Justin Straight, and Justin's younger sister and freshman at JMU, Anna Straight to Convergence. My pastor and the George's joined us for a contemplative and meditative evening together. My friends Todd Cullop and Lisa Hawkins are co-pastoring the church and leading the arts center piece of their community, in an effort to incorporate the arts into the DNA of their community of faith, and to give voice to artists as a whole. Other friends Harp 46 led the jazz service that night, and it was a wonderful night together of prayer, reading of scripture, and conversation. It was good to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in a while, and to worship together. If you are in the Alexandria/DC area, be sure to visit Convergence if you get a chance.

Harp 46 is going on tour and is starting to pre-order their new cd. Check out their website for more info! It was good to see folks on Sunday, David Hawkins, Tom and Lore, Scott Erwin, and all the Harp friends.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So. .. you are a one tree hill guy huh?

Josh said...

this is actually shey....

the one tree hills are mine, Josh cannot be blamed or held accountable for my teen drama addiction.

Tom said...

it was a great evening...both of them. privelege to share it with you and shey

Josh said...

Nicholas...yeah, since the wife already spilled the beans on her addiction, I guess it is okay for me to say that I have nothing to do with One Tree Hill. I have classes a couple nights a week and Shey gets to pick whatever she wants to watch...it just happens to be teen drama...

it's actually one of the funniest things about her, and one of the biggest surprises in our marriage...i was surprised it took this long for anyone else to joke about all the teen drama movies and shows that go through the netflix widget on the blog...

Todd said...

come on, Josh; let's be honest. You shouldn't be ashamed that we get together once a week to drink some wine and watch teen drama. It helps us connect with our feminine side.

After One Tree Hill we're gonna go back and watch all 10 seasons of Beverly Hills 90210.

Thanks for the encouragement!