Something is Happening Here

It was probably in the fall of 1979 that Pat Gration turned to me and suggested that I take acting classes. Pat was a professional actor and the spouse of Eric, the rector of the church in which I grew up. She and I were in a radio show that the church had set up. We were in one room on a mic while parishioners were in another listening on an old time radio. I think I played “boy.” Her interest in me and the reflection back to me of what she thought led to years of involvement in the theater. 

I think of her as we move into Lent and as I get to know the youth of our parish. The Youth Group, which I am facilitating, has been meeting since September. We have discussed how they want to participate in the ways we worship, how we do good works in the world, and how we gather together. I want to create a space where they feel safe to explore their relationships with God by focusing on connection, curiosity, and fellowship. 

We, as a denomination, have work to do. We often lose people in their mid teen years and don’t get them back (if we’re lucky) until they’re in their thirties and having kids. There’s this huge swath of growing up where we have so much to offer and so few to offer it to. Perhaps we lose out to other activities, other responsibilities, or to the pressured pathway of achievement. But isn’t it in the hardest transitions that we need God the most? I have thought a lot about what we need to do, what we could do, what we need to build. But what is emerging here, in our midst, reminds me that, rather than or perhaps in addition to building structures to impose, we need structures that help us to see each other and to listen more deeply. 

We have been trying to meet monthly, once in house and once out in the world somewhere. Our in house meetings start with checking in, often followed by discussion. How do we care for those in our community who are unable to come to church? What does a priest do? What things about school are difficult, or exciting? As an example, in January, twelve people showed up for Youth Group. I asked them to imagine that God was sitting in the room with us and then to write down a question for God. We went to the kitchen, made pizza together, and talked about these questions and I was wowed by what they asked God and how they responded. Why do bad things happen in the world? Why does my body hurt as I grow? What is your real name? How do I get closer to you? They didn’t hold back. And after the pizza was done, we sat down at the cafe tables in the Parish Hall – only then we didn’t. Two of the youth who were there independently came up to me and said that the library was empty and if we went there we could all sit around the same table, which then, of course, we did. We talked about eating together, about saying grace, about their family traditions around meals, about lunch at school and favorite snacks. 

Something is happening here. Things are happening with us, with them. God is speaking. Where might this lead us? Pat Gration saw something in me that she wanted to help me to see too. This reflecting is an essential part of human development, of child rearing, of growing up. How do we get to know ourselves in a world that wants to define who we are for us? What can happen when we clear away the extra and open ourselves up to hear and to look for what is essential? Maybe all it takes is to make space, to listen, and to reflect back to each other who we see and who we are. Perhaps it is in that space that we can find our way forward. Maybe it is in that space that we can best hear the voice of God. Perhaps this Lent might be a time for us all to find such grace.

Blessings,

Dr. Brian Litzenberger, Ph.D.

Interim Minister for Youth and Families