Aj Schwanz

Oh, my Bono: me likey.

Dan Kimball wrote some excellent books that helped me gain a clearer picture on The Emerging Church and Emerging Worship: helpful insight into the emerging conversation, as well as useful in incorporating in my own traditional worship experience. He put together a great post on stages on the reality of church: helpful to be able to name the feelings and steps I’m currently going through. Plus, there’s pictures for the visual learner in all of us.

You know, teens are really with it. I know adults think that the older generations create the trends, that they know all thatís out there, and if they donít know whatís going on, itís because ìchooseî not to be on top of social issues since they have ìmore importantî things to do: whatever. Teens care: they research: they are with it.

When I worked in the young adult section of the library in Boise, I noticed that teen magazines came out with the newest trends before the adult magazines did. Seventeen had advertisements for new makeup, new clothes, new movies before In Style did. They had articles on Iming, texting, and being tech-savvy when Cosmo was rerunning yet another edition of ìthe one thing that will drive him wild.î

My teen days have long since faded into the past, but I try to maintain ties with youth in a variety of ways: checking out websites, reading blogs (Ypulse is fantastic!), and yesterday, I checked out some young adult books. Theyíre fast, easy, entertaining reads which is really nice: I mean, do I need to read Faulkner every day?

Yesterdayís pick was titled Godless. I was drawn to it because a) of its title, 2) because of the shiny gold sticker on the cover declaring it a ìNational Book Award Winnerî, and iii) my son actually knocked if off the shelf, and I was too lazy to put it back in alphabetical order.

The storyís about an agnostic teen whoís tired of his over-religious parents and decides to create his own god - the townís water tower. He and his friends create their own religious cult called ìChutengodianismî full of history, traditions, and rituals centered around the ìten-legged oneî - and of course, they create all sorts of trouble.

Some of the quotes were great:

The purported idea of [Teen Power Outreach - a youth group his father makes him attend] is to give kids a chance to talk openly and honestly about God, religion, and Catholicism. But there is also a secret agenda to turn us all into monks and nuns, at least in terms of our relations with the opposite sex.

Father Haynes, a thousand years old at least, is standing in the pulpit delivering one of his famous sermons on selflessness. His voice rises and falls like the sound of a crop duster passing back and forth over a field, spraying us with words. Iíve endured this sermon before. It goes on for nearly half an hour, but the message is simple: Give more money to the church.

I envy my father, too. I envy his unshakable belief in the Catholic Church ñ his faith gives him power and contentment. I envy everyone who has a religion they can believe in . . . Me? I have Chutengodianism ñ a religion with no church, no money, and only one member. I have a religion, but I have no faith. Maybe one day Iíll find a deity I can believe in. Until then, my god is made of steel and rust.

Mama pajama - some of that stuff nails it pretty well, eh?

A friend recently told me of his experience with seekers: they want answers to their hard questions, and they want something they can invest in and give back to. What does the church offer? Fluffy answers, and an open hand with which to take money. So where do people turn? To gods they can “create and manage” - consumerism, technology, perfectionism, achievements, water towers. They have a religion (cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion), but they have no faith (the theological virtue defined as secure belief in G/god and a trusting acceptance of G/god’s will).

I donít think we need to have all the answers, but I think we should have a spirit willing to journey with the seekers through their questioning with no strings attached. People are aching for a deity that they can believe in, invest in, be intimately familiar with: I know of such a deity - am I sharing that knowledge and experience and relationship with others? I think itís a lot more simple that I often make it out to be.

Itís been a week since Yearly Meeting concluded - a week and a half since the workshop on The Missing Generation concluded. Iíve heard a bit of response: folks asking how it all went, people throwing out a few ideas here and there of where to go from here.

But Iím restless: my spirit is unsettled to the point that Iím not sleeping well at night (and sleeping is one activity I excel at). I sense an excitement and a need for further discussion - conversation - creating space to listen: and then action - individuals, groups, concerned people going out in their daily lives and then coming together to strengthen and equip each other for further ìadventuresî.

I *hear* a lot of people say the same thing; I donít *see* it happening.

A friend commented on his experiences: ìYoung adults who have attended church have an attitude of entitlement; young adults who have not attended church have questions (sometimes tough) that they want answered, and they want a place where they can invest - give back - give their selves.î

Has this been your experience?

I ache to be intentional about pursuing relationships with young adults. I desire that our yearly meeting not only recognizes the lack of young adults in our population, but that they listen for Christís direction - and then actually do it!

Would you be interested in gathering? Not just folks from NWYM, but anyone with a concern for being intentional in building relationships with young adults. I know so many folks my age who are aching, restless, hopeless because the world is yelling empty solutions in their face and the church passively stands in the corner and whispers words that donít have a chance of being heard.

Call me: email me: leave a comment: even if you are in a different local, I believe God will honor our desire to be in contact. Your experiences - thoughts - concerns - anger - frustration - joy - support - love.

Do you have the ache?

[Not quite as catchy as Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had A Million Dollars", but it will have to do.]

If you had $20,000 to use for young adult evangelistic purposes, what would you do with it?

and an answer given. And what an appropriate and helpful description it is - just the situation that I’m being drawn into.

Do you resonate with any of the characters in this story? What does that look like for you?

Being a new mom and a research junkie, Iíve found the internet to be a blessing and a curse in its abundance of parenting articles and advice - a blessing in being able to diagnose how high my sonís temperature should go before needing to take him into the doctor, but a curse in its multitude of advice about parenting styles . . . and of course, every article thinks that itís the highest authority in advice to be given.

Breast feed for one year? Two years? Till they crawl up your shirt and ask for lunch? Or formula-feed all the way?

Have a schedule for the day? A schedule created by the parents forcing the child to conform? Or a schedule created by the child forcing the parents to try to interpret each little whimper and moan?

Cloth diaper? Disposable diaper? No diaper? (I just read a story about non-diapering parents: they believed it was cruel to let their child ìmarinateî in their own excrement - tasty).

My father would say ìseparate the wheat from the chaff - take what works for you, and disregard the rest,î but my poor little brain feels like itís harvest season, and not all of the threshers are working quite right (theyíre a little sleep deprived). Every once in a while I come across an article that makes me stop and think, usually because it relates to the parenting world, but also the world beyond.

If you let them, your children will show you the parent they need.

Ah, those preconceived notions ñ theyíll take you down the Wrong Road every time. When your eyes are clouded with all you wish, want and will something to be, you are bound to end up missing all the great information and truths offered to you along the way. - Rosemary Danielis

By interacting with my son, I begin to know him more fully and respond to his needs a little bit better; if I force him to accept my ideals and expectations, we both become rather crabby. When I was a toddler, I remembered having quiet mornings around my house - time to wake up, eat in my pajamas, watch the morning edition of Sesame Street: time to prepare adequately to engage the world. I didnít always leave the house - some days were spent wandering around in our pasture and playing hide & seek with my brother.

So when I first had my son, I tried to honor ìhisî needs by having quiet mornings. Except they werenít quiet: he was fussy - *really* fussy. Feeding, diapering, playing - nothing seemed to subside this constant whine. . . . until Iíd go to the store. As an infant, heíd finally be quiet [enter me singing the ìHallelujah Chorusî], taking in all of the scenery. Now, he flashes giant grins at all the people passing by, as well as flirting something awful with checkers. See, Iíve given birth to an extrovert, so my well-meaning intentions of slowly easing into the day mean nothing to him: he wants to go out and party! Once I started listening to his needs rather that projecting my own desires, our household was a much happier place.

I began to wonder if the church ever does this. Is the church being the church *it* desires to be, or the church that the broken and weary need? Does the church look for cues and spend time intentionally listening/studying/engaging, or does it keep focusing on its own needs?

I could spout off some broad general statements like ìpeople in need are those in poverty or homeless or in gangs or are addicts, so we should help them . . . somehow.î But I donít live in generalities: my community is full of specifics, individuals, people.

• What cues is my church perhaps missing in our community?
• Where are there people crying for help, guidance, support in my locality?
• In what ways am I trying to minister that are simply a projection of my desires and ìpreconceived notionsî?
• Have any of you had experiences of responding to the needs of specific individuals in your community?

I would answer, but thereís a Little Extrovert pulling on my jeans, probably as a means of requesting a trip to the library. So Iíll ponder for a while, asking the Lord to open my ears and eyes: what am I missing? What am I not hearing? Where should I be looking? And how can I bear your Light to those who ache for your wholeness?