Musings
Shannon Kropf
Falling Face-First

And I feel like we’ve missed the chance to learn some profound truth, that we’ve turned away from some universal doorway that led to a better place. Everybody wants to get back to “normal,” and I can’t shake the feeling that “normal” just ain’t that great.

Falling Face-First
Musings
Shannon Kropf
Traffic and Assholes

It seems unlikely that anyone would thrive in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, and yet here I sit, and here I grow, a lot like that pesky weed that keeps cropping up in the crack in the sidewalk. In the most odd environment, life is present.

Traffic and Assholes
Shannon Kropf
It’s Been a Year

The gentle rocking of the universe and the lullaby that sings, “I am here. You are safe.”

It’s Been a Year
Blog
Shannon Kropf
...Elsewhere

Death is an incontrovertible part of life. 

Why do we struggle so? What is it about this final veil--the veil which separates forever the living from the dead--that causes us to beat our flying fists against it so firmly, so resolute with no result? If death is a part of life, why does it hurt so much?

...Elsewhere
Shannon Kropf
Two Years Later: Processing the PULSE Nightclub ...

There is so much material online about the PULSE nightclub shooting on June 12, 2016. I can’t possibly do a better job of honoring the victims—both living and dead—of the massacre. But I can share with you the weight of it, the heft, the residual dread and anxiety, that this anniversary stirs up for someone who wasn’t there and didn’t know anyone who was hurt or killed.

But I know a lot of people who do. And I watched with them as the day unfolded and the horror became known and real.

Two Years Later: Processing the PULSE Nightclub Shooting

worship

The Conversational Nature of Worship

The Conversational Nature of Worship

Mankind has been grappling to understand the nature of worship for thousands of years. As we take a spin through the Old Testament we see the elaborate formal rituals of the temple, the joyous celebration of Israel as God moves on her behalf, and the spontaneity of Davidic worship. In the New Testament, we find people meeting together to share, and eat, and drink. Each person brings an encouragement, a song, a prayer, or a testimony.

Many theologians tend to describe worship as something along the lines of being "the response of the created to the creator." I definitely believe this is correct. But it seems somehow incomplete, and even--dare I say it?--unfulfilling.

And before you hit the "comment" button, I'm not a heretic! I know that worship is not about man, but about God. The purpose and point of worship, from our point of view, is to magnify the creator of the universe, and please him with our offerings of praise and our whole hearts devoted to him. But is that all there is to it?

When Retreating Pushes Us Forward

When Retreating Pushes Us Forward

I just returned from the Visible Music College Winter Retreat. A great concept, the retreat takes all the students and staff--140 or so total--out to a retreat center and they spend a few days together in a completely relaxed environment. Rather than over-programming the time, there is a definite focus on worship, on input from the guest speakers, and on hanging out and sharing free time fun together.

I've been to ten previous winter retreats with this group of people, and God is always faithful to move in big, lasting ways.