Typically my blog posts center on my travels and everything that plays into and comes out of those experiences, but today I’d like to write about a person, not just a place. I’d like to write about a person who recently took the ultimate trip and crossed dimensions into unchartered territory. Matt Richmann.
I met Matt about 15 or 16 years ago. (I’m bad with dates because I’m a “be here now” girl.) I had moved to Minneapolis and found myself attending Living Word Christian Center where I started to check out some of the singles activities. The very first event that I went to was at someone’s home. To be honest, I don’t remember whose house? is it? Likely because I was so new to the community and I only knew a couple of people. It was a fairly large group of highly social people and it was festive, food, music…you know, a party! And in the center of the living room stood Matt. I wouldn’t say he “commanded” the room, but I would say that everyone had an eye on him because he was so quick, funny and spontaneous that you wondered what he might do or say next. And let me just say, he didn’t disappoint. I can’t remember exactly what precipitated his “next move” but at one point, he broke out into the electric slide, on carpet I might add, and got the entire party dancing. It was at that moment that I thought, “I have to know that guy”.
We met that evening and our first conversation was about his favorite movie at the time, Gladiator. We got into a discussion about the nature of masculinity and how, from his point of view, that movie captured the essence of the heart of men. He said, “a cause to die for, comrades to fight with, strength through injustice, honor through actions and a woman to love.” After our conversation, while watching the movie, I felt like a bit of a voyeur into the psyche of the male, but I was riveted. And to this day…it remains one of her favorite movies as well, because what Matt may or may not have saw, it too captures the heart of the fe-male. She plays a strategic part in this epic that frames the climactic victory. “She” is stealthy, and “He” is brute force.
From that night, my circle of “peeps” formed. Think “Friends” with a spiritual component and none of the drama. And right in the center of this Friends group, stood Matt. Just like the night I met him. The guy with the ideas, the guy making introductions, the guy making connections and of course, the guy doing the electric slide. If memory serves, bowling alleys are a great place for that move! Right Jake? 🙂
Photos: Matt, Craig, Tonya, Leila, Brandon, Mandy…where is Jan? Warming up the cars? Mandy, Leila, Kimberly and Tonya.
We, and by “we” I mean this group, had fun together, we prayed together, we learned from each other, we gave each other style advice, we gave each other dating advice, and we were, safe with each other. I now see that we were preparing each other for the future. For marriage, for career and for ministry…it was a very special time. But time does what it does, and the future moves you on, and some relationships that fade in frequency. Not that you want that to be so, it’s just life.
So as I sit here, on a business trip in Europe, exchanging IMs with “the girls” from my Friends group planning how we get to Matt’s celebration, I’m struck by the fact that Matt is still “in the center” pulling us all back together and sparking us forward in “the Cause”…and no doubt, doing the electric slide.
And so my friend, Maxiumus Matthewus I say to you… What we do in life, echos in eternity. Strength and Honor!
And to the beautiful and stealthy Melissa, Matt’s woman to love…there is a field…where reunion awaits you!
And to the broader church, I struggle with the “why” and “I don’t understand” just like everyone else but what I do know being, we live in a spiritual war zone and while our promises are true and our God is good, there will be casualties. So, in the spirit of Gladiator, I paraphrase the closing remarks of “She”, “Is the Kingdom worth one good man’s life? We believed it once, let us believe it again!”
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