One of the points made by United Methodist congregations when they consider the possibility of becoming Reconciling Congregations is that the opportunity to change the Book of Discipline only comes around every four years, due to how the church is run at the international level.
I stumbled across this article today.
I found it interesting (if harsh in places) because I've felt for quite a long time--even before I'd heard anyone use the term "Millennial"--that I was "between generations" in some way. My trigger was this realization:
I am about three years too old to consider texting to be a normal method of communication.
Some people feel very anxious about going to the dentist.
I'm not one of those people who feels inherently bothered by having a dentist poking around in my mouth. Most of the anxiety I feel there stems from the perfectionist nature of dental hygiene.
A friend is moving today, and I'll be helping her.
When I first saw The Force Awakens, I went with a friend, and we had so much fun talking about the movie afterwards that we managed to miss the right exit on the highway twice. One of my observations was the large number of female background characters present in the movie. She admonished me for not saying that about the protagonists.
Granted, that's generally the more important category to be concerned about, but here's why attention to extras matters too--and why a change in their demographics is so striking.
When a plant sprouts unexpectedly in a garden, but the gardener decides not to classify it as a weed, and lets it grow undisturbed, that plant is often called a "volunteer". Charlotte was a volunteer spider.