Sleep:
I chatted with Joe Myers (author of the Search to Belong) about some ideas I've been bouncing around for youth stuff. During our talk we talked about the role of grace in programs, and how often programs force people to belong in spaces they don't feel like belonging. he said that programs need to have more space for people to choose whether or not they will participate in a certain activity (small groups, prayer group...).
then I brought up how many quality interactions for me are spontaneous. There really isn't a form for what happens, it just happens. And I wonder how we can intentionally create those interactions, those spontanaieties (SP?).
He described intentional spontanaeity (SP?) like sleeping. You can intend to sleep, but sometimes you just won't. You can set up your room to sleep, but you aren't guaranteed to sleep. The same goes in planning places for people to interact...
Tears:
During the night service we were lead through the creation and fall and redemption...it's hard to describe what was done, but it was moving. There was a point where the lady acting out God mimed that she was weeping, and she drew water and put it on her eyes and ran it down her face. While she did that a person was reading from the Psalms where the psalmist feasts on his tears day and night. And then we were invited to put tears on our face, to share in the sorrow of God, or to allow God to share in our sorrow. There were basins of water around the building, and you could walk up and pull the water onto your face. it stung the eyes, leaving them with a burning feeling for the rest of the night, and it tasted of salt on the lips. All thru the talk I could taste it and feel it.
And later in the service, God offered the world her living water, and we were invited to go to the same places where we had feasted on tears and we drew water to drink.
2 comments:
Wow! It sounds like you all had a great time. I really love the tears thing. Very cool and very tempting to not recieve the gift in it, but to run out and do it myself in my setting.
You mentioned before about making everything a prayer... I love that Celtic idea and have some thoughts on that as well. I'm not sure I could post the prayers everywhere, because I guess at some point I could turn it into legalism of some kind, but I do think there is just something really cool about inviting God into everything we do - "Talk about them (God's commandments) when you sit at hoem and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Duet. 6:7) - and doing it with others. Let's talk more about this soon!
Actually, yes, i would like to do some of these things. We will probably do the tears thing during a series on pain in the fall.
This weekend on retreat, I told the story of the empty worship in Rwanda. It went well.
I look forward to seeing you guys this week. Hoorah!
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