My Trip to LA

I just returned from a three-day trip to Los Angeles. The main reason for the visit was to attend a meeting of the Presbytery of the Pacific, of which I am a member.

The Sofa

Before the meeting I spent some time with Daughter #1 who moved to LA to pursue graduate studies in August. To her amusement I slept on the new sofa she purchased for her apartment. I remember sleeping on my future wife's sofa when I would visit her at her mother's apartment years ago. I remember Daughter #1 sleeping on our sofa when she has visited us from her own apartment from time to time over the past two years. Now it was my turn to sleep on her sofa! Just knowing that it was my own daughter's sofa turned it into the most comfortable and satisfying "bed" that I have slept in for a long time!

Presbytery met at Immanuel Presbyterian Church near downtown LA. It is a gothic marvel....nearly sublime in its exhuberant excess....what some architectural history writers often refer to as a "gothic pile."

Even so, it has been magnificently maintained and proved to be an inspiring venue for our presytery business on Tuesday night.

Wednesday I spent at the Presbytery's annual Pastor's retreat, held (of course) at a Roman Catholic inter-faith retreat center (Mary & Joseph Retreat Center).

The site offers a spectacular view of the city of Los Angeles from the top of Rolling Hills as it blurs into Rancho Palos Verdes above Torrance. The day was billed as a "spiritual retreat" and there was time set aside for personal reflection and meditation. A lovely, landscaped garden area enhanced this aspect of the retreat.

I connected with some new friends and collegues in ministry and strengthened the ties that have bound me with friends that I have known since my seminary days back in the late 1970s.

All in all it was a good trip. I moved from family (Daughter #1) to family (Presbyery) without missing a beat. "We are all one in Christ Jesus."

As a bonus I enjoyed the pleasure of interesting airplane companions including the Principal of Waianae Elementary School and a rock musician (born the same year as me) from Palm Springs now living in Lahaina!

I also came home with some good ideas stolen from West Hollywood Presbyterian Church and a fresh look at some very familiar and meaningful passages of scripture.

There are good people in LA and I was privileged to have spent several days with some of them.

View of LA at night (click to enlarge)