Introductions are in Order

Greetings from Seattle...
My name is Richard Dahlstrom, and I'm senior Pastor at Bethany Community Church in Seattle, WA. I've started this blog so that I can record my own thoughts about being a middle-aged pastor, in a great city, at the beginning of the 21st century. Just the facts today... and then we'll unpact each fact a bit over time, in future entries.

I've been at Bethany for nearly 10 years, and during this time, it seems that my entire theological world has been deconstructed, and recontructed again on the same foundation - with the end result feeling somewhat as if I've been through a squeezing machine, had some of the less essential elements removed, and came out on the other side feeling spacious, joyous, better able to love and enjoy all that life has to offer.

The learning has come from all kinds of places: "The River Why" (David James Duncan), "Matrix", "Pleasantville", "Dave Matthews Band", "Radiohead", the Bible, fellow pastors on staff, countless folk in our little flock, (an intergenerational lot consisting of lots of university students, and plenty of folk who remember where they were when Kennedy was shot) with whom I love to converse over good coffee, hikes and climbs in the Cascades, Colorado, Europe, my wife, my kids, and early mornings, again with good coffee, on the deck - quietly listening for the voice of the creator. And these sources are even less than 'just the tip of the iceberg'.

The squeezing, deconstructing, and rebuilding is, I have a feeling, going to be a never ending process. But I can't go back - and am looking forward to sharing more of what I learn on the journey.