its all upstairs...

i've been struggling a lot lately with what community looks like, especially here at seminary. last night, i think i got a taste of what it should be. i live in mezger, which is pretty much the international/co-ed dorm. of the sixteen of us that live there, 4 are women and 7 are international students. we are a unique community. we often laugh at the dining hall because we always seem to eat together.

but last night was great. i had come in late from a deaconess meeting. as usual, there were a bunch of people hanging out in the lobby drinking brazilian tea. as i sat down just to chat for a few minutes, i found myself laughing and joking for the next hour. looking around the room, we are an eclectic bunch. kebede is from ethiopia, tiago and ismael are from brazil, thomas is from south africa, brandt spent the last two years in germany. i started thinking about all the languages what were spoken in the room: portuguese, spanish, german, zulu, afrikaans, amharic, english. and this was just from the people in the lobby at the time.

as the evening progressed and the chimarrao is passed around (which i tried for the first time), i laugh at what was about to happen next. thomas came out playing an accordion and shawn was reading his sermon. before too long, shawn is playing his accordion while reading his sermon and tiago is adding dramatic effects. kebede came in a little later with his guitar and sang us a song, and then tiago and josh and ismael and jon and brandt and even i played a song! it was so humbling to be sitting there last night, laughing and enjoying each other's company.

i groan about lack of community and cultural diversity sometimes. and that's when i am humbled, because it is all upstairs.