One of the funniest people I know – even when she has cancer – begins 2012 
cancer-free. Check out her blog here. D’s Christmas letter was an inspiration and she sums up her life’s philosophy by quoting the label of her favorite shower gel. It’s indeed a good quote to live by.
Products from coffee to shoes sometimes try to do more than serve our basic caffeine and foot needs: they attempt to move us spiritually and emotionally.
Church is also – sometimes – a product. Many have written about the consumerism around spiritual communities. If a congregation fails to serve our needs, we go elsewhere. I believe this is the biggest misconception of what church is all about. It’s not about coming into a sanctuary on a Sunday morning, hearing an inspiration sermon, going out to brunch, and then being done for the week. It’s about what happens next in our offices and classrooms and shopping trips and carpools.
This is old news, obviously. But I am struck by the many people who loved and cared for D in lavish ways through her cancer year who would not call themselves church people. They weren’t just around for the fun parts of loving a friend (bringing milkshakes, watching movies, getting their own attention for Being Good Friends.) They were inconvenienced and they made sacrifices. This looks more like following Jesus than perfect attendance in Sunday School.
The shower gel label is inspiring. But it was more inspiring watching people rally around a person who needed them. So here’s my simple inspiring ditty for today: notice someone who needs you and then serve them. It’s not as easy as you might think.
A Church for Starving Artists 
