Hammer, Nails, and a Hole

I don't typically write about work on this blog, I have another one for my rantings...haha. Here is a short bit on my renewed love for middle school youth.

Long story short - I have had some frustrations at work this year, and with them, have lost a bit of passion for my work. It's been more of a "job" than a "ministry" lately. Through a series of random events, particularly one on Saturday, I've been a little refreshed and refocused.

Tonight we had an "issue night", where we focus more on a real-life issue than a particular church doctrine. The kids always get a lot of out of these nights. This issue night was on bullying. It's become a huge problem in the local schools and it started to bleed into the church middle school youth group. Being as pro-active as I could, I scheduled a guest speaker on the topic for tonight. The speaker is a former middle school teacher, current high school VP, and a PSR teacher. PERFECT CHOICE!

Guest speaker did an incredible job of delivering an analogy: bullies are like hammers (can be hard, soft, big, small, violent, or seemingly helpful), bullies actions are like nails (big, small, thick, screw-like), and the victim is like a piece of wood (no matter the size of the hammer or scale of the nail, it always leaves a hole). He spoke about Jesus on the cross and how he was a victim of bullying. And for those who were a victim of bullying, they could unite their sufferings with Jesus'.

After hearing all this - I connected the dots, but didn't think the kids had. So after guest speaker finished, I laid it on thick: comparing the hammer & nails of our bullying to the hammer & nails that put a HOLE in Jesus on the cross. And bam. they got it. they got all of it. The last session we had on Lent, the session we had on Heaven, the session we had on The Good News, and the session we had on Evangelization. They got it!

To make this God-incidence even better, I had already planned their first prayer experience around a wooden cross...having NO IDEA that guest speaker was going to use the analogy that he did.

After small group time, the kids gathered back in for a closing prayer around a homemade (from trees in the backyard) cross. I dimmed all the light, except for a few spot lights and candles. There was a basket at the foot of the cross. In their small groups the kids wrote (guided) prayers about their actions hurting others (being a hammer), what those hurtful actions were (the nails) and reflecting on how it feels to be the one with a hurt (the hole).

During a meditation/prayer that I led, the kids were invited to lay their prayers in the basket at the foot of the cross. I have never seen them be so sincere and intimate. It was just incredible.

I realized tonight just how much I have underestimated them. Yes they needs lots of formal catechesis still, and yes they bounce off the walls like a dime-store ball, but I think that nights like these that really connect the dots are the most important for them to build their personal relationships with Jesus. In the end, that's what matters, right?

I preach a big game of "experiential hands on religious education". Very few times have I pulled it off well. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of dedication, prayer, passion, and the Holy Spirit to have all the dots connect, and connect well. I've lacked ALL of that this year. I feel renewed to have it back, even for just one night!

I hope the kids learned as much tonight as I did :)