Silence and Conversion

So, you may know I'm in seminary, and that means I'm doing a lot of late-night thinking and writing. I just finished a short response paper to an amazing book I had read about a year ago and reread for this class. The book is called "To know as We Are Known" by Parker Palmer. Here are some excerpts from what I said in the six pager.

Religion seeks to answer the deepest questions of human existence such as "What is the purpose of life?" and "What is the meaning of life?" and the like. When one teaches in that religious setting, it brings a certain amount of weight with it. Such a weighty setting requires a larger purpose than being merely informative. My teaching in that setting seeks to reflect that in its purpose; I focus on life change and spiritual formation, what Palmer refers to as conversion.

Our youth group is a part of our society. One of the most unfortunate developments in the church (especially the evangelical church) over the past several decades has been its separation from the "secular" world. We have our own colleges, books, bookstores, music, "art," and even theme parks. That being said, the piece of the human experience that has been pulled into our youth group as its main focus is spirituality. Students have gotten the message our culture (the church included) has been feeding them and have separated these questions and their application from the rest of their world for the most part. This enables them to give correct answers and seem spiritual without having to work through the cognitive dissonance (internal conflict) that true interaction with spirituality creates. Unfortunately, for true conversion to happen, those walls must come down.

Palmer says that teaching is providing a space where obedience to truth is practiced. This space needs to be open where truth can be encountered (71), hospitable to diversity of thought (74), but have boundaries that protect the process (72). He uses techniques like silence (80), introducing multiple viewpoints (78), asking questions instead of giving answers (83), listening in a way that can correct all (including the teacher) (83), and being aware of the feelings of the students (83-86).

I personally resonated with Palmer's use of silence. He explains beautifully how we fill silence with words so that we do not have to reflect and deal with who we are in relation to what is being explored. On top of that, adolescents are still developing mentally, and many times need the space that silence provides to process ideas and metaphors to fully understand them. I try to incorporate these times sporadically into our large group gatherings especially after a time of introduction (message) where students can allow their minds to process what was heard so that they can have a basis from which to respond and discuss.. Additionally, I instruct my volunteers to wait once they have asked a question. Not to fill the silence with gibberish until students answer or the volunteer can't bear it and gives the answer himself, but rather give the students space to think.

Silence is an integral part of our ministry as we seek to give voice to God's presence in our midst, and ss I seek conversion as a response to teaching, I must remember that it is through no power of my own that that will happen, but through a relationship with the person of whom I teach and with whom I live.

Not sure, but I think this is *becca's favorite* practice.

btw... I still post a good bit on Youthministrygeek.com

Music and Poetry

This morning I was dancing around with my son to some of my favorite songs, and I was overwhelmed by the depth of meaning in many of them. There are some things that are not best expressed in treatise or logical argument. For me, even proper sentence structure breaks down at times. I find over and over again the deepest truths are often expressed in poetry or song (which is many times just poetry set to music). I feel that the best songs are those that touch on some universal human experience, and draw out emotion and conclusion without stating them directly.

In honor of great song writing, here is a song that talks about being a follower of Christ rather than a Christian. It's by Mutemath:

Come on, can’t I dream for one day
There’s nothing that can’t be done
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone

‘Cause I know there’s got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I’m feeling like it’s now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical

I’ve lived through my share of misfortune
And I’ve worked in the blazing sun
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone

Cause I know there’s got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I’m feeling like it’s now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical, the typical, the typical, uh huh

I'm the typical
I'm the typical
Can I break the spell of the typical

Because it’s dragging me down
I’d like to know about when
When does it all turn around

I'm just the typical
I'm just the typical

Yeah I know there’s got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I’m feeling like it’s now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical
The typical, the typical, uh huh

Of the typical
Break the spell (of the typical)
Break the spell (of the typical)
Can I break the spell of the typical, of the typical
I'm just the typical

In the words of Cake: I want a girl with the right eye locations (I'm glad Laura meets this one)