A personal experiment.

For the next two weeks, I'm willingly participating in a unique cultural and social experiment. I can't divulge too many details yet because it involves a slight altering of my appearance. I have family and friends coming to town this Thursday, and I don't want to risk them seeing the change before arriving at my house. After they've been here I'll post more details and images.

The experiment wasn't my original motive for the appearance change. Tonight was our fourth annual Christmas banquet for Route 1 Student Ministries, and I decided to do something that would add an extra touch of "memorable" to the event. I'm quite sure that none of the students who attended will forget their reaction when they first saw my change. I got some great responses from students -- and parents!

My senior pastor was quite positive. But I'm not sure how positive he'll be to discover that this change is becoming less temporary than I had planned. You see, for the next two weeks, I will be observing how I am observed. I will watch to see how people interact with me. I will look for stares and glances and giggles and such. I'm quite sure such thing will happen, even though I've only undergone a change in my outward appearance. I'm still the same person, yet my interactions will be different with some people.

And I'm sure I'll find some interesting spiritual applications and illustration. You gotta understand: I'm the guy who got pickpocketed in Prague in May 2005, and managed to create a three-part sermon series out of it.