There is Power in the (YRUU) Spirit

I recently had the good fortune to join some of your Youth at a weekend-long workshop on spirituality and worship. It was great to be able to spend all that time with them away from all my other responsibilities. I was there for one reason only – to be with them.
But if any part of me started the weekend by thinking of it as something I would do for them – I quickly discovered how much they have to teach me, and how much we could do together.

It was a “working Con”, which means just what it sounds like – we spent most of our time working. We talked a lot about spirituality, religion and worship, of course, but we also spent a lot of time doing worship. Our group was divided into smaller groups of six or seven youth who took turns designing and leading all kinds of different worship services.

Every single time I was struck by the sincerity, creativity and affirming quality of their services. Much of what they did was ritual-centered, and the rituals were invariably brave and powerful. We adults, for all of our good qualities, often shy away from the use of ritual. Maybe we are afraid: all good ritual entails risk, opening up deeply and honestly. Or maybe it is too hard for us to call a time-out on our relentless analyzing and just be.

At any rate, working with the Youth that weekend reminded me for the gazillionth time how important it is to create opportunities for people of all ages to share their gifts in our communities. Working with those Youth reminded me how much richer my life and ministry are because they are part of my community.

One ritual we designed took advantage of a lovely pool of water in front of the church we were staying at (Cheyenne, WY). After beginning the service in a darkened room, the worship team led us out into the bright Wyoming sunshine in a slow, serpentine line, accompanied by deep, steady drum-beats. We were very conscious of our breathing and of all the sensations and feelings we were experiencing.

When we got to the pool, we formed two parallel lines about shoulder-width apart. The two rows linked hands above the “aisle”, making a kind of human arch. The people on the end then walked to the pool through the arch. They washed their faces, or sprinkled water or gave a little splash as they invited the healing, loving and nurturing abundance of water into their lives.

It was great.Later, we turned the gym (yes, a church with a full sized gym!!) into an indoor soccer pitch and had an excellent and nearly endless match featuring ever-shifting players and teams and LOTS of near-hysterical laughter.

I didn’t sleep a whole lot at night (the floor agrees with me less than it used to), but I nonetheless returned to Denver and my ministry feeling refreshed and renewed and full of new ideas.

Thanks.