Meeting with Icons

Today I arrived in San Antonio for the first of two days at the International Conference of Renovare', a spiritual renewal organization that I have followed and appreciated for 15 years now. The chief impact of the day was the chance to see in person two of the icons of this very ecumencial spiritual growth movement, Richard Foster and Dallas Willard.

I've read a considerable amount by both of these authors and have always been impressed by how they connect so well with liberal, conservative, and the wide spectrum between. It was fascinating at the end of the day to compare my expectations of what these leaders would be like with what they actually seemed like up close and personal.

Let me be a bit confessional here. Sometimes I've teased my wife, Becca, for her desire to brave any obstactle to have an in person encounter with someone she admires: policitian, musican, theologian, or writer. She's made considerable sacrifices to have those opportunities happen. Most of those times I've chided her saying that those in-person encounters don't match to the recorded varieties, whether we are talking about recorded music, written theology, or a DVR up close interview with her beloved Obama.

I'll eat a little crow today. This has been a day of revealing. Being in the presence of Willard and Foster has changed my understanding of who they are. In both cases the new version of the writers is more human, less plastic, less perfect, and somewhat less saleable to the wide spectrum of Chrisitianity.

That said, now that they are human again, I'm interested to revisit their writings and see what new light comes shining through these now new-to-me writers.