Sunday Salon ~ demolishing the past

CHURCH

This building being demolished was the first church I served after graduating from seminary.

Even this second photo of Forrest Avenue United Methodist Church seems barren to me.  When I was there from 1987 to 1991, green bushes grew along this street side of the building, and we regularly put something new on the sign.  The elderly people died, and the younger people mostly moved on as the neighborhood changed.  When the church closed, the homeless ministry moved a block or so away, first under the bridge (yes, ministry by the Rev. Barry Kidwell — not just the homeless people themselves) and later to First-Centenary UMC across the river.  One friend of a friend who commented on Facebook said, "The other day I looked as they were bulldozing part of it and the pulpit was still there.  They didn't even have the respect to remove it."  That's so sad.

YOGA

I started a yoga class this week with Katelyn of Plum Padma Yoga.  My new yoga mat shows the tree of life, as I move my stiff body to regain some of the flexibility I used to have.

BOOKS

I'm reading three (or four) books at once:
The Dalai Lama's Cat ~ by David Michie, 2012, fiction (India)
The South Beach Diet ~ by Arthur Agatston, 2003
Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back ~ by Brooks Palmer, 2009
The Cove ~ by Ron Rash, 2012, fiction (North Carolina)

The Sunday Salon's Facebook page has links to other blogs.