Another Fine Day in "America's Finest City"

That's San Diego's nickname... and as far as I've seen, they've lived up to it.

Started off by misplacing my wallet. I had got up in time to head to church, but after wracking my brain, and heading off to look for it at Presidio Park, I realized I had stuck it in the drawer with my camera... after taking pics at the park. :)

I made it to church in a reasonable time for leaving right around when it was starting. Sat next to Emily and Kristin from young adult group for the 2nd weekend of Advent. This time we talked about Peace, and the pastor started by talking about the world's peace: the colt peacemaker (through power), the peace sign (through protest), peace of pie (through comfort), peace treaties (fickle agreements) and the peace prize (for valiant efforts). But then he talked of the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and how real peace transcends our understanding (Phil. 4:7) and can even be found in the face of death (Luke 2:29-30). And I thought it was neat that he mentioned Luke 2:14 (NIV) after Mike and I just had a long conversation about it a day or two ago (We finished Ephesians last night and started into Hebrews).

I love little churches! And the people to talk to when they have lunch served in the Fellowship Hall afterwords. Cheesy shredded potatoes and meatloaf! I'm now FB friends with Jenny, who makes or serves the meals every week. It's impossible to do that in anything bigger than this... maybe 80 people at the most. It allows for real interaction with other saints, which is exactly what "the church" is supposed to be. It's the same kind of church Robert and Julie introduced me to while I was in Chicago. And I love it!

Dropped off my Angel Tree gift, then made my way downtown. I parked at Seaport Village again, not realizing the metered parking by the Maritime Museum was free (it was only a loss of $2). But if I hadn't, I would have missed out on getting my Spiffy a Christmas present, and also missed out on the wood carvings I found: an octopus and a tropical fish... wow, are they neat... and boy, do they look nice on my wall! And on the walk to the Maritime Museum, I passed the shell of a Giant Spider Crab just sitting on the stone wall, and a Mexican guy playing his trumpet in the traditionally loud, Mexican way, so I dropped a dollar in his cup.

I was visiting the museum to look at their exhibit on "Three Voyages to Paradise": Captain Cook, explorer, Herman Melville, author and Paul Gauguin, artist. They had some neat stuff on display. I also made my way to the USS Dolphin, a research sub, and the US Navy's last diesel/electric which holds the world's deepest dive record for a working submarine. The sonar room was the first thing to see, and I enjoyed that... lots of 1960's equipment... very cool.

Made it to Symphony Hall with 4 minutes to spare before the concert started. It was Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Philip Glass's American Four Seasons, and Summer & Autumn from Glazunov's The Seasons. The guest soloist, Robert McDuffie, is touring this around the world... I got a good seat in the middle of the middle section for only $25 during their Thanksgiving sale. What a deal! As during the opening lines of the symphony performance I saw in Chicago, I nearly cried at the beginning of "Spring", it was so beautiful. The audience made it until the first part of Autumn before they started interrupting the breaks with applause... they just couldn't hold back. :) Vivaldi's Seasons were accompanied with descriptions projected on a screen above the orchestra. It definitely helped my poor imagination. :) Loved the sounds of rain, thunder & lightning. The first two composers had written for just strings with harpsichord. They had a real harpsichord for Vivaldi, and an electronic keyboard making harpsichord sounds for the Glass's American. A full orchestra with harp, percussion, winds and brass played during the final pieces.

Since there were a couple hours before small group, I stopped by Fred's Mexican Cafe for tortilla soup, rice & beans on 5th in the Gaslamp district (why not take full advantage of paying for unlimited parking?). As I sat down, I saw the Packers beat the Giants in the final seconds of the game. After all this, I had just enough time to swing by the house to pick up the cheese for the grilled sandwiches we were making at small group tonight before heading off to it.

The split pea soup was a good combination with grilled cheese... and we had a wonderful little meeting. Kind of a small group again, but we had a lively conversation. It was all about how sin (not plural) lives in us since we're stuck in the cursed world. And how trusting in the Lord gives us the ability to make the choice to deny sin's authority (Romans 7). The big conversation we had was about that age-old (and confusing) debate about wither Paul was describing a pre- or post-salvation experience. Gosh, I think that's a stupid debate. But we had a good talk about it.

Then, I finally went home, and rested. Talked to my Darling, fell asleep in my clothes, was wakened around 3:15 by Custer the cat clawing at my door and crying... so I let him in and he slept by my feet for the rest of the night.

Jp