Experiences of Grace

First, Read this article by Dr. Nancy Going at First Third: First Third Conversations: Experiencing Grace.

Second, listen to my reflections.

This is where I am at, and I serve with people who also understand this. But the reality is not everyone understands what we mean. We educate. We teach. We create the space for our students to experience grace, but phew, it's hard to bring others on board. We use things like Sunday School, Youth Group and Confirmation to sneak in these experiences of grace. I admit it, sometimes we realize we really do need to be sneaky when it comes to all of this. We even go crazy and refer to all of this as Faith Formation. Have people bought what we are trying to do? Hum, probably not yet. Will they? If they allow the space in their own lives for expericing grace.

Part of the reality, like Going mentions, is that a lot of people think students are getting these experiences of grace in things like Sunday School, Confirmation and other programming we throw at them. I hate to be the barrier of bad news, actually I don't mind, but I don't think that is the case. Gulp.

Have we solved this issue at the three congregations I serve at? No. Maybe? If anything, we are challenging people to think differently about this all. And one of the greatest gifts is having people realize that this is a real-life issue. But of course, to some, I'm still crazy.

This year, at one of my communities, we are trying something new. We have not been radical enough to throw away Sunday School nor have we sold parents on getting rid of Confirmation just yet, but we are doing something crazy, unique and that cannot be bought in just one curriculum. Are you ready for this? Are you sure? We are spending the next year looking at the Biblical Narrative. Gasp! I know, bizarre.

And why are we doing this? Because parents and people who work with our young people said so. No, really. It came to our attention, from our own parents and Sunday School teachers, even though we were well aware, that young people do not know the story of God's Salvation. What? I know. These young people don't know about the unfolding of God's forgiveness throughout  God's story; our story. But let's be honest, and I need to say this in a whisper, I don't think many adults do either. Yikes. I have to admit, I am no expert.

So what are we doing? We are spending the next year creating the space for all people to experience grace. This is nothing new, and is already happening, but we are being so intentional about this. And yes, we are using programming to create the space, but we will not allow programming to limit the work of the Spirit.

Will we see the life our community instantly transformed? Of course, okay, maybe not. But I am excited to challenge one other to share on our own story, hear the stories of our ancestors, find our place within this mess and have the opportunity to experience grace in our everyday life. And then we are going to do it again and again and again. Why? Because we are not allowing space to experience grace -- and we need to.

The Great Minnesota Gettogether!

I did it. I know. This should have happened many years ago. I have avoided it for four years, but this year, I did it. I went to the Great Minnesota Get-Together: The Minnesota State Fair.

The most ridiculous part of this is that I go to school and live about two miles from the fair grounds, yet I have avoided the State Fair since I first moved to Minnesota. I am not sure why, but most likely because I was intimated by the second largest state fair in the United States. I also do not get excited about food on a stick, farm animals and mass amounts of people in heat (unless it is Disney World).

I decided the way to survive the fair was to embrace the experience. That meant wearing my chicken hat, grabbing some give aways and convincing my friends to be part of The Alphabet Forest, which was quickly the best part of the Fair.

It also became clear that I need to one day win another ribbon at the Fair. My first was a Blue Ribbon for completing the alphabet challenge in the Alphabet Forest. Please do not argue the legitimacy of this ribbon. Jerod and I have contemplated canning. I also believe that I am a far better scrapbooker than some of the entries I saw, even though I gave up scrapbooking a while back.

So will I go to the Fair again? Not this year, but I will not completely avoid the Fair in years to come. I will continue to avoid food on a stick at all costs.

A Break-up and a Move

I broke-up with tumblr the other night. It was hard to leave things behind, like the pages, picture layouts and the many comments over the past year or so. But it was time. I know it was, even though it is difficult to see what the future holds.

A break-up also means I move. And well, here I am. I getting more use to the new space. It will be okay. I know it will be. And I'm excited for this space, but like all moves, it will take time to love my new space.

This Summer is Different than the Rest

As I walked in to my apartment following a trip with Our Saviour’s to Holden Village in Washington, I got a weird feeling. Something was not right. I put my bags down right in front of my door, and I stood still.  

Again, I thought something seems so strange. I tried to identify what this strangeness was, but I still felt lost; therefore, I went on with my day, and I took a nap.

Eventually I woke up. But the rest still did not cure this feeling.

I wandered around my small, aging apartment. Everything was in the exact place I left it. This strangeness could not be blamed on a unpleasant smell, since I remembered to take out the trash before leaving, although this was not the case for every trip I took this summer. I found myself getting frustrated as I was finding it more and more difficult to identify what was bothering me.

Again, I walked around my apartment. I pulled open both the shades and curtains on the large floor to ceiling window in the main living space. I looked in the fridge. Opened the closet that is home to the furnance that I find rumbling throughout the night. I even dramatically pulled open my shower curtain to find nothing suspicious.

At this point I wondered if I had gone mad.

It was then that I opened the door to my apartment that has you instantly meeting the outside. It was as the door slammed behind me that I was struck with an ah-ha moment.

This thing that was different, strange and rather uncomfortable was the silence that had been surrounding me since arriving home. I no longer heard the giggle of three-and-a-half year old Ruby on the train or as she was being chased around the Village. And I no longer turned around to five-year-old Anders as he warned me of his next action by proclaiming, ‘poke.’ The conversations on the nature path, the slamming of the doors in our lodge and the sounds of play had disappeared. 

I wanted the noise back. You see, my summer has been filled with noise.

This is not the bad noise like learning your college roommate has a deviated septum or your alarm going off three-hours before you want to get out of bed. It is the good noise — the laughter of elementary age children on the unremitting train ride to Holden Village or hearing the thumping of forty-some students run up the stairs to fill their famished bodies during Day Camp. The noise is the sound of jazz music as we walk back to our hotel in the rain during the ELCA Youth Gathering or the conversation following Shane Claiborne’s presentation one evening in the Superdome. This noise is turning around during worship to catch Lydia whispering camp songs after joining the community at the table for the Great Feast.

These are good sounds.

These are great sounds.

These are the sounds of the Spirit being active and present in the Children, Youth and Family Ministry Collaborative that I serve. I have been challenged many times with the question of what would it look like to leave room for the Spirit to work in the lives of our children, communities and even ourselves. It is easy to create programs, blame statistics, and let our pride get in the way of being vulnerable. But here, this summer, we left room for the Spirit to work.

And for me, I experienced the work of the Spirit through the sounds. The sounds of the Spirit were meant to be heard this summer, even experienced and sometimes left unexplained.

I am ready for fall. And quite possibly more than anything, I am anxious and ready to be surrounded by noise; those noises that have done their part to define my summer.

For All the Children

This is the wonderful message of welcome and embrace I woke up to this morning.

“Catholics and friends gathered to sing their hearts out in support of LGBTQ young people. Lay Catholic Christians are standing up and singing out to spread the good news of Christ’s love.”