We’ve been on the road for more than a month now, and have more than a month to go. Already we’ve accumulated some epic memories, including boating on Lake Washington with author Barb Pine, and enjoying a trombone serenade in the lovely and hospitable home of the infamous Rob Bell. And, night after night, the fact that anybody, much less hundreds of people, would pay $15 to come out and hear an author speak amazes both Susan and me.
My favorite part of each night is guiding the audience into the tension involved in the idea that Jesus is not the climax to your human story, and that God intends and even lends very difficult conflict to your life. Both of these are Biblical ideas, largely indisputable, that are not taught in churches in America, and are downright opposed in most Christian books. You can cut the tension in the air with a knife, each time I get to that part of the talk. Hopefully the tension is relieved by the end of the talk, but sometimes it isn’t. I’ve actually had people come up to me and say they thought I was about to renounce my faith, which, in ways, I actually do. At least my faith in whatever has become of Christianity.
I’ve only had one heckler, a man in Des Moines who, during the Q and A kept asking a question I simply couldn’t understand. It felt more like he was trying to make a statement than ask a question. I usually just let a person make their statement then move on, but he wanted some kind of response I couldn’t give and this upset him. I felt bad for him, but I still don’t know what he wanted.
On down days, and there are fewer and fewer as the tour progresses, we try to find things to do in whatever city we are in. In St. Louis, our friend Annika Johansson was singing in the chorus of Phantom of the Opera and so we went to see her and got a backstage tour. And in that same town, we visited The City Museum, perhaps the most inspirational museum I’ve visited, and I’d include the MET in that mix. If I were to build a museum, The City Museum is probably what it would look like. Instead of coming up with a theme, they seemed to just ask themselves what would be neat or fun or interesting, then they just welded it all together. There are planes on towers, busses crashing off the roofs, caves in the basement, sixty-foot twirling slides that used to be shoots in a shoe factory, turtles swimming through aquariums, a pipe organ three stories tall, and a giant white whale. They even had a train running through the third floor. It was paradise, I think.
The group on the bus, which includes myself, Susan Isaacs, our World Vision rep Melody Wilson, our tour manager Brent Gibbs and our bus driver Bruce have gelled like a family. So far we’ve had no fights. Susan doesn’t allow us to look her in the eye or go into the back of the bus or use the bathroom or talk, but if we just do all those things, the going is great. We also have to jump across the bus putting a pillow under her head when she goes to lay down, but it’s a small bus so we normally get there in time.
We still have five more weeks of the tour. We’ve got dates in New York, Tennessee, Florida, lots of stuff in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina and Chicago left, so if you haven’t seen the show yet, come on out. We’d love to see you on the road. Thanks so much for even being interested in what we do. It’s been incredibly encouraging.
Best,
Don
