{"id":3938,"date":"2014-06-27T03:32:45","date_gmt":"2014-06-27T09:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankschaeffer\/?p=3938"},"modified":"2015-03-12T17:40:51","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T23:40:51","slug":"live-from-the-wild-goose-festival-and-a-nearby-bbq-pit-at-457-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankschaeffer\/2014\/06\/live-from-the-wild-goose-festival-and-a-nearby-bbq-pit-at-457-am\/","title":{"rendered":"Live From the Wild Goose Festival and a Nearby BBQ Pit at 4:57 AM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Photo:<\/p>\n

4:57 AM. I\u2019m sitting in the dark next to the BBQ pit of the restaurant across from the room Genie and I are living in while we\u2019re at Wild Goose<\/a>. \u00a0Yesterday was a long day of driving, the second since leaving the Boston area to come here. We arrived in time for a 2 hour filming session with Brian McLaren who was interviewing me for a Wild Goose video. Then I interviewed him. We were talking about being survivors of evangelical backgrounds, trying to articulate why in spite of everything we are still clinging to faith\u2013 faith past doubt.<\/p>\n

I always get up early to write. So this morning I made coffee in the bathroom while Genie slept, showered then sneaked out to find internet service outdoors behind the BBQ joint. The smell of the smoke clings as I write by the light of a street light. I\u2019m a mile from the Appalachia Trail where it crosses the road in the lovely mountains here.<\/p>\n

I saw old friends last night and had every author\u2019s dream come true: I came across people reading my new book, I mean literally holding it and reading as if Genie had paid them off to stroke my ego: \u201cHere, hold this book and say you love it! My husband will be so pleased!\u201d But they really had the book, actually already well worn. And someone else held up her Kindle and showed me which page she was on.<\/p>\n

Other than meeting people reading my new book what Wild Goose is for me is a refugee camp. We are the survivors of dashed hopes and certainties. We are not alone. We are in America but not of it. We love to love God but do not always hear his her or its voice. We are like dream walkers on the edge of waking up in a new place we do not know.<\/p>\n

Once you ask certain questions, step out of the safe place there is no return. As I say in Chapter 17 of my book\u00a0WHY I AM AN ATHEIST WHO BELIEVES IN GOD:<\/strong>\u00a0How to give love, create beauty and find peace<\/em><\/a> :<\/p>\n

Some of my friends don\u2019t get why I \u201cstill\u201d go to church. When they say, \u201cFrank, God\u2019s only in your head!\u201d my answer is, \u201cYeah, whatever. What isn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n

Or as the poet Yehuda Amichai writes in Gods Come and Go, Prayers Remain Forever:<\/p>\n

I say with perfect faith<\/em><\/p>\n

that prayers precede God.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prayers created God.<\/em><\/p>\n

God created man,<\/em><\/p>\n

And man creates prayers<\/em><\/p>\n

that create God who creates man.<\/em><\/p>\n

My question isn\u2019t, \u201cDid I create God who creates me?\u201d but, \u201cDo I need God, however he, she or it came to be?\u201d My question isn\u2019t \u201cCan I find a church, mosque, synagogue, a gathering of atheists or some other temple that\u2019s perfect to stroke me?\u201d but \u201cWhere can I find spiritual beauty that feeds my soul?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One answer for me is that I find that soul-feeding place at the Wild Goose Festival. For a day or two I see community and love. Sadly it is temporary, but then again, what isn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

The passage above has been an excerpt from Chapter 17 of my new book please buy it and then walk around holding the book until I can see you doing it so my life will seem to have a\u00a0point! \ud83d\ude42 <\/strong><\/p>\n

TO READ MORE OF THIS BOOK PLEASE\u00a0GO TO AMAZON AND ORDER THE PAPERBACK OR THE E-BOOK (ONLY $3.99)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe new book, \u2018Why I Am an Atheist Who Believes in God,\u2019 is [a] distillation of wisdom.\u201d\u00a0Washington Post<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(June 12, 2014)<\/p>\n

Frank Schaeffer<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a writer. His latest book \u2014WHY I AM AN ATHEIST WHO BELIEVES IN GOD:<\/strong>\u00a0How to give love, create beauty and find peace<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

Available now on Amazon<\/h2>\n
\"Picture\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
\"Picture\"\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Follow Frank on Twitter\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>www.twitter.com\/frank_schaeffer<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

See Frank\u2019s paintings\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>http:\/\/www.frankschaefferart.com\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Follow Frank on Facebook<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/frank.schaeffer.16<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Contact Frank at<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>http:\/\/www.frankschaeffer.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4:57 AM. I\u2019m sitting in the dark next to the BBQ pit of the restaurant across from the room Genie and I are living in while we\u2019re at Wild Goose. \u00a0Yesterday was a long day of driving, the second since leaving the Boston area to come here. We arrived in time for a 2 hour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[680,7],"tags":[831,20,1794,1793,829,830,411],"class_list":["post-3938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-2","category-religion","tag-bbq","tag-evangelicals","tag-politics","tag-religion","tag-sirituality","tag-why-i-am-an-athesit-who-believes-in-god","tag-wild-goose-festival"],"yoast_head":"\nLive From the Wild Goose Festival and a Nearby BBQ Pit at 4:57 AM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"4:57 AM. 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