Monday Brief

Highlight of the week: Tons of them, most notably the gardening approval (previously mentioned on DSimmer.com) as well as the opportunity to meet and spend time with Blake Lewis. Blake is a photo/video journalist from Brooks Institute in California. He has traveled to Detroit to capture the story of the city's homeless and give them a voice. It has been exciting to share a beer or two with him, and I look forward to seeing the completed project (he has posted a few of his photos of Detroit here).

Book(s) I’m reading: Working now on N. T. Wright's Justification along with a collection of Thomas Merton essays titles Passion for Peace. Wright brings his usual accessible-but-scholarly touch while Merton's essays give a glimpse of him unfamiliar to readers of his autobiography and works on prayer. Highly recommended. As a result, I've edited the reading list, which now includes two new titles on urban gardening as well. *Have since finished Merton. It was as good as I thought.

Music I’m digging: Eminem's Beautiful. I realize most people have an opinion of Eminem at this point, but please watch the video (edited for language) here. It reflects his talent as an artist, his introspection, and his love for the city of Detroit. 

Something(s) that blew my mind: How quickly the school year is approaching. This means my regular teaching gig will happen in only a few short weeks. Oh man am I not prepared!

Ministry update: The blessing to the work I'm doing for His Church Anglican (Livonia) is that it duplicates some of the work we're doing in Corktown. Building relationships, raising up leaders, all of this falls in line with how we believe ministry will need to work in Detroit. Part of what we're working on for the fall is Evening Prayer, Compline and Bible/Beer study time. Let me know if you'd like to be involved in any of those.

Seminary/ordination update: The service was incredible. Preaching in Flint went very well (as well). It has been a relatively quiet week since the investiture service, but I think we would all agree that that is a great thing.

Looking forward to: Every day. I'm so thankful for what we've been given right now. Come visit us!