`121°40'36"W 48°51'58"N <http://maps.google.com/maps?q=48.865802W121.678026N>`__
Yep, another one of my Sunday after-church random impromptu trips!
I was getting a little frustrated after lunch, had a lot of stuff on my mind, so I just took a drive to cool my head... I ended up out in Abbotsford, so I figured, hey, it can't be that much further to Mt. Baker, eh? So now here I am on the slopes of Mt. Baker, at this very famous photo spot at Picture Lake, looking across to the 9131-ft peak of Mt. Shuksan, still snow-laden in the mist of summer. After the other tourists left, I stayed a couple hours waiting for the evening light to get good; it was so peaceful! The mirror-still lake, and the little alpine trees, and the birds, and the zillions of flies and mosquitoes...
A number of people lately have been talking with me about our church's organization, the small-group model vs. fellowship model, and the LIGHT young-adults ministry in particular. I think I'm starting to see a bit of the tension and give-and-take between the capable and independent but young and transient young adults, and the parental figure of the "old guard" and church upper leadership. The leadership seems to be very cautious and conservative, but also top-down and hierarchical. On the other hand, a lot of the young adults are rather commitment-shy, and there is a dangerous "commodity" attitude towards church -- if you don't like one church, you can just go down the road to another one. At least, those are my observations, but I don't know; I still have a lot more to learn about this church. Seems you can't escape politics wherever you go...