:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Friday, June 20, 2003 ::

I attended my first small group meeting tonight since the final Cerritos/Artesia meeting three months ago. I asked about small groups at NewSong LA and discovered that there was a South Bay Small Group meeting in Redondo Beach on Thursday nights. It seemed like a good place to try out, being both near the beach and close to where I work... and I had nothing better to do that night anyway.

The first thing I had to do if I was going to get anything out of this was to temper my expectations somewhat relative to my experience at C/A. That group, for a church group, was quite social (read: rowdy) and the level of personal comfort one might achieve while attending that group was, from what I hear, peerless among all other community groups. The chemistry among the members made for a very entertaining, very hospitable atmosphere. I told myself to go in with no expectations whatsoever, and to not make any old vs. new comparisons. It's not healthy in relationships, it probably won't fly here.

So I drive up to Redondo Beach, walk up to the apartment, knock on the door... and I hear barking. Cool, the resident is a dog person (I'm allergic to cats). When I arrived there were only two others there (not including the dog). It seems that like every other group out there, punctuality is strictly theoretical. Which to me was a good sign, actually. People eventually started filing in but even when everyone arrived I couldn't help but think just how mellow this group was. This was a Diana Krall concert to C/A's Ozzfest.

I discovered later that it was partly due to the fact that they've only been meeting in Redondo since March, and almost everyone is fairly new. Apparently I wasn't the only one there to feel slightly awkward walking among strangers. Everyone was generally cordial and a couple of people did make an attempt to talk to me so I wasn't too uncomfortable. They're currently studying some book with the topic being something along the lines of "a purpose driven life" which seems interesting. One thing I couldn't help but notice was that out of the 12 or so people there, the guy to girl ratio is... well... favorable... for guys anyway. Which in some ways, it's better than the old C/A group. Not that it's of any relevance to me since my reasons for seeking out a small group is to find others who wish to draw closer to God as well as developing friendships among my peer group. And if I keep saying that over and over to myself, I might actually believe it. ;)

But in all seriousness, my reaction so far is neutral. There was nothing about it that stood out as an alluring draw, and there was nothing to dissuade me from going back. I was told that tonight's format was atypical of most meetings so I'll just have to see what it's really like.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 4:05 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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