Encounter with "Greatness"...

So on the first day of the Festival, I was crossing the street to rejoin my NWC cohorts when a man stopped me.

"You don't happen to know your way around this place, do you?"

"Nope. Sorry." I glanced down at his name badge and read "Scott Cairns."

Ever since Judy introduced me to his work, Scott Cairns has been one of my favorite poets -- I used four of his poems in our large group prayer times at this year's Good Friday retreat.

"Mr. Cairns!" I gushed, "What a pleasure to meet you!" He looked down at my nametag.

"Jeff!" he said in what seemed to be an equally appreciative tone, "Nice to meet you, too!" I must have looked confused, because he said "You have a website or something, don't you?" I managed to stammer, "yes, a blog..." I must confess, I have no idea what he said after that point, beyond that it was somehow complimentary.

Scott Cairns has read my blog!

I immediately rushed to rejoin my mates and tell the story. Manders said, "well, that would make my year." Thus began what H. Jane started referring to as my "nonsexual crush" on Scott Cairns.

In all fairness, I wasn't the only one. By the end of the weekend, Susan was referring to him as her "new boyfriend."

The sessions and readings of his I went to only confirmed my impression of the man as a remarkably intelligent, witty, and thoughtfully Christ-centered artist. Mr. Cairns, if you happen to read this, thank you again for your generosity in words, time, and artistry. Hopefully, we'll meet again in the future.

For those of you whose curiousity has been peaked (in line with my intentions for this post), check out this interview with Mars Hill.