Trivial Pursuits

Had a great night - after a 3+ hour nap this afternoon, I woke up just in time to clean up and go down to Our House East, NU's most popular beer drinkery. Sunday nights feature a trivia game and $1 burgers, which were consumed by 10pm. The beer kept flowing, of course, and me, Adam, J.T., Trisha, her friend Jen, Huskey, Dave from the Wilson House, Joel and Amanda from Simmons all had a terrific evening. The trivia went particularly well. We had to split into two teams per the rules, and my team ("Hugenberger", named for the Park Street Church pastor) edged Joel-Huskey-Dave-Amanda ("Three Blind Mice and the Farmer's Wife") for first place. Our prize was a CD boombox, and they took a $10 gift certificate. We all got to share the 3rd place prize - a pitcher of watery Miller Lite - which the 3rd place winners ("Wicked Smaht") were wise enough to pass on. After a Sam Adams, the lite stuff tasted like dirty tapwater.

The best part: the weekend's not over. Thursday night was a potluck Agape dinner followed by a Tom Cruise movie at 650. Friday night was a dinner at Danielle's followed by a late night walk down at the Harbor. Saturday night was a dinner with Meredith et al in the North End, followed by a walk AND a Tom Cruise movie at 650. Sunday was a great sermon, followed by a relaxing picnic, followed by a long nap, followed by Beer-Burger-Trivia night. Now I'll get some shuteye and head over to Calumet for a double-birthday barbeque bash, followed by a game of capture the flag in the Arnold Arboretum. And graduation parties haven't even begun yet!

It's amazing what nice weather does to Bostonians.

On a philosophical note (speaking of notes, note that I've had a few drinks and it may be best to stop reading now), these are trivial pursuits in more than a pun-intended sense. Adam and I chatted on the way home from the bar, and we both feel like our social times as Christians should have a lot more meaning than they do. I also felt the same way after the picnic: why don't we discuss the sermon? What stood out, and more importantly, what are we each going to apply to our lives? As much fun as Sunday afternoons have been this entire year, from tackle football games, to the Pats' championship run, to hearty Momma Hill lunches, to pool and chill time at my place, to it's-finally-warm-so-lets-have-a-picnic, I fear that the after-party has begun to eclipse church in its importance to some of us. Not in our commitment; that's a cerebral decision that we've been well-indoctrinated to get right. However, we "move on" from the service a lot faster than we would if we really considered it the word of God with the power to change our lives.

More pressingly, I feel, general "Christian hangout times" lack purpose. If we're growing closer and building one another up, that's good. But Adam and I agreed that in Agape, hangout times are far too often cliquey and closed, especially to non-believers. Jen was the token non-Christian (she's Jewish) tonight, and over the festivities of the wicked long weekend (for some of us), I've spent zero quality time with non-Christians, and I can only think of 2 non-Christians from the entire time off the top of my head.

I don't know if this is just my problem; it may well be that most IR readers and most of my friends have more and better contact with members of other faiths and non-believers. If that is the case, though, it's not apparent, and I would appreciate any tips that you can give me on how to better broaden my life in that regard.