Rules for Proper Road Tripping

1. If you are to make plans, make them at the last minute, and make them scarce.
2. If your destination is known, leave out the 'getting there' details. If you're not sure where you're going, make sure you have lots of maps.
3. Bring snacks.
4. Bring music.
5. Look for the unexpected.

So Amanda and I took a spontaneous road trip to Cedarville, Ohio last week. We went to visit Mark, our good friend, and to see Donald Miller. Spending time with Mark is always rewarding. The Donald Miller appearance was fun and, at the same time, a little disheartening. Miller was asked by the host, 'What is your role in the emerging church?' His response was 'I don't even know what that means. I don't like the criticism that comes with it, but I like the book sales' (more or less). I stuck around for 1 1/2 hours after the show (show? appearance? reading?...), but when I got to the table, Miller pretty much just wanted to sign my book and keep the line moving. I said, 'I was surprised to hear you say that you don't know anything about the emerging church movement.' 'Ya,' he responded. I'm not cracking him. 'O. Are you familiar with Brian McLaren?' I continue. 'Ya, he's a friend,' Miller responds. At that point, he didn't seem interested in hearing me say anything else, so I moved on. How can Miller be friends with McLaren, and not know anything about the EMC? How can his church, Imago Dei, have 'emerging' hidden on their pages to draw Google searches, and yet he doesn't know anything about it? And does the fact that he didn't say 'ass' or 'bastard' in his reading, as the pieces read, have any relation to the fact that he wouldn't associate with emerging at school as conservative as Cedarville?

I'm not sure what to make of it. But the reading was good; Miller seemed like a very nice, very tired guy. I can't blame him. He's been on the road, I think, for a while. Plus, I was one of about 300 people who stood in line to get a signature. It must be tough to be friendly and forthcoming under all that pressure, expecially for a guy who, it seems, doesn't do well in the spotlight. I hope that he comes through whatever he's going through a little better refined.