Sozo Smiles

Sozo Smiles, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago at sozo. I just thought it really captured what we are all about down here. Actually there were about a half dozen conversations just like this happening all over the shop, and I thought--wow--somebody should document this for posterity's sake. So there I was, camera in hand . . .

What we are shooting for here is a living room environment, a home away from home, a place to come before, after, and between classes to hang out.

Sozo is a place for coffee and cereal for sure, but it's also about connecting. From the free wifi that many use to check and update their emails (and a few use to blog), to the conversational environment that emerges as people come into this comfortable space and begin to relax and enjoy one another's company.

That's what sozo is really about--it's about connecting. It's about smiling and laughing. It's about tears and compassion. It's really about people. Without people there would be no sozo--we would just be an empty storefront in downtown Morgantown.

We all long for community, for a place that's safe, and a place where we can share our ideas and our time with others. I realize not everyone who reads this lives in Morgantown, but every one of us have the same longing. May you find a space for connection, for community--and if it happens to have fair trade, shade grown, organic coffee, then it's all the better!!!

Yucca Moth

Yucca Moth, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Yesterday afternoon, Susan, one of the owners of The Grind, a coffeeshop in Carolina Beach with great coffee and free wifi saw this beautiful moth and pointed it out to me.

This photo doesn't quite do justice to the delicate nature emanated from this little creature. I tried to identify it online, and the closest I could come was to say that it was a yucca moth.

It looked like something spiritual and pure in contrast to the landscape of the tourist filled beach community. It appeared clean and light, not damaged or burdened a bit by the cares of this world.

Of course it is a moth and probably is quite destructive to the yucca seeds on which it feeds. But there's something about it that seems other-worldly and out of place when seeing it. It drew me kind of like a moth to the flame (forgive me for that one).

I wonder if that's what we look like when we live for Christ? A familiar form, but something about us is different, intriguing, engaging. Just a little early morning thought as we each strive to reflect the glory of the risen Son in a world looking for something of lasting beauty.