Alice and I took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel when we were in LA last week. Our driver was a fascinating gentleman who loved to talk. He told us a lot about the LA/Anaheim area and about the local night life. He also knew a lot about the traffic laws and was good at predicting the times and distances to different milestones along our journey.

Like many Californians, he wasn’t originally from the LA area. He grew up in Chicago and has a lot of family in Pennsylvania. He was trying to make ends meet while he finished up his doctorate in music. He told us he only has to take one more class and finish a symphony before he is done and can start teaching.

While we were driving, he described how he and his friends are always on the look-out for celebrities and movie sets. He told us someone famous had been seen in downtown Disney after their golf game the day before. He also mentioned that he sometimes frequented a bar owned by Johnny Depp and would see him there. The driver and his friends like to visit a local second-hand clothing store that specializes in designer apparel that has been worn once by actors for a film shoot and discarded. He casually mentioned that there were some recent arrivals from a science fiction movie set after a quick phone call to a friend. He has a shirt that was worn once by Tom Cruise. They are about the same size he says.

Our driver and his friends lived expectantly. They expected to see, experience, and maybe even own a small part of the celebrity mystic. This reminds me of the description of Joseph from The Message translation of Mark 15. It describes Joseph as “one who lived expectantly, on the lookout for the kingdom of God.”

Should we live our lives the same way, always expecting the kingdom of God to be revealed and experienced? What do you think?