Tuesday, September 11, 2012

3rd Street

Off the top of my head I can't tell you what is found on 3rd Street in downtown New York; however, I can tell you some of what is found on 3rd Street in downtown LA, because that is where I've been staying this week with my friend George. 

My friend Sarah asked me how I know George, and I explained we danced on top of a picnic table together at some frat party in college.  You can read a bit about him and my exposure to Greek life in the opening chapter of my book. 

You can also read about another guy friend of mine who I met up with for lunch today in Beverly Hills.  I wanted to pitch my idea for my second book to him but never really got there in conversation.  I hesitated because I'm not sure how he'll feel about the book because it involves a lot of him.  In fact, the title of the book is him - My Second Hottest Guy Friend. 

After lunch he headed to work and I headed to Santa Monica to yet another 3rd Street - the 3rd Street Promenade, located just a few blocks in from Santa Monica Pier.  I intended to spend the remainder of the afternoon on the beach, but the clouds pushed me inside to a coffee shop to write instead.

Before traffic got mad I returned to LA's 3rd Street to be a part of a studio audience for a potential new television show - a show similar to the one I've been dreaming about ever since I was in college and wrote a 30 page research paper on the effectiveness of the use of media in the dissemination of the Gospel.  I honed in on radio, television, and film, and in doing so realized how poorly Christians have utilized the gift of mass media.

The professor I was working under, who didn't share the same faith as me, equated the Gospel with fundamentalism.  I didn't even know what fundamentalism was so I didn't know I might need to explain to him that Jesus and fundamentalism are not the same thing. 

Anyway, I ended up at this filming because I saw a tweet by Rob Bell explaining there are still walk up openings to be a part of the studio audience for this show.  When I learned the show was being filmed on 3rd street in downtown LA, and that several of my friends were on the film team, I knew I had to attend. 

Now, this is where wonderment gets me.  Why did I need to attend?  And did God want me to attend so badly that he orchestrated my visit to LA, my housing arrangement, my tweet feed, and a seed planting conversation with the film director, who is a good friend of mine?

Hmm...

I anticipated some sort of significant conversation would take place, or that God might have a specific reason for why I needed to attend, but instead, I'm just left going hmm... what was that all about?  Why did God want for me to see an old dream of mine becoming a reality, when that dream really isn't mine any more?  Or maybe it is still a dream, but perhaps I've let it escape me.


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