Confession

Confession time for me.

I love Doctor Who. Initially it was just something a group of the girls in the youth group loved so I felt I should have a clue what they were talking about each week. Now I am as much a Whovian as they are. I even spent most of my free day on Saturday making a Tardis cake for a going away party.

There are countless reasons why I love the show. Here's two:

Nobody important? In 900 years of time and space, and I've never met anyone who wasn't important before.

Now how many shows support that view? How many shows put the value of each individual on a level playing field - beauty, intelligence, money, power - these don't factor into the Doctor's valuation of anyone. Everyone is important. And he would know, all of time and space are his playground.

And then there is this one:

Of all the people to survive, he's not the one you would have chosen is he? But if you could choose, Doctor, if you could decide who lives and who dies... that would make you a monster.

With words that speak to me from the script, the excellent acting, and the fun of the show, I am an avid fan now. I must also admit I am glad my youth group is developing a love of the show too. There is just so much that we can discuss; there is a depth not found in many shows out there today.

Head's up - the Christmas special is echoing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe apparently! Last year's was a wonderful special that could make a great youth group viewing that takes the basic idea of A Christmas Carol and brings it to a whole new level.

We Broke the Cell System

This past weekend was a little shin-dig in Indy called the National Catholic Youth Conference. Never heard of it? Well, honey! Let me share a few of the highlights:

• 23,000 teens swampped a city...and there were no riots. The wonderful police force who helped keep our kids safe were greeted with kind words, offered the trinkets (and hats, and moustaches) that the kids brought to trade.
• It wasn't a rock concert that brought in all those stage lights, sound systems and filled the stadium - no, it was a wonderful group of faith-filled adults sharing humor, music, and faith with the young Church.
• Those kids flooding between the Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Conference Center weren't looking for trouble - they were looking to get the good seats at one of the fantastic workshops!
• Then there was Mass. On a Saturday night, 23,000 teens rocked LOS with entrance hymns (I think 4 or 5). Praised and worshiped God in the Word, Eucharist, and community. And spent hours happily Mass.
• Let's not forget when, under the specific instructions of Bishop Coyne, we all pulled out our phones, tablet computers, and so forth. We then happily Tweeted, emailed, texted, or Facebooked "Called to Glory!" And promptly flooded the towers in downtown Indianapolis. Oopps - what a way to go though!

But that's not the whole story.

• At an event where they had to fundraise or pay several hundred dollars to participate, I saw teens buying bagels by the dozen. Not to eat, but to give out in packages of six to the homeless people they had passed by.
• I watched teens offer seats to those with crutches, even if it meant they had to go and stand in the back of the room.
• I listened to the stories kids told after workshops of how they felt they encountered God.
• As someone in a long time military family, it warmed my heart to see kids making greeting cards to send to troops that are abroad when the teens could otherwise be playing in the games area.
• Teens shared trading items, snacks, bottles of water juice or soda.
• Teens lifted each others' spirits when exhaustion took hold.

There are times these days when things look dire and we may fall to the temptation of despair. However, these teens that descended upon Indianapolis reminded me of the great hope for our future. And the great hope of the now. For they are not the future Church. They are not the future of our nation or our world. They are the Church now. They are hope for us now.

Friday Thoughts

Since I nearly broke my wrist off a few moments ago attempting to twist the cap off my favorite beverage (Sparkling Ice Black Raspberry flavor), I have temporarily misplaced my concentration so here's a blog post instead on a few rambling thoughts.

It is pedal to the metal for final NCYC prep. I've got the kids and parents coming to a final meeting Sunday before out evening Mass. Handing out all sorts of final information including the packing list. The packing list really helps to make sure that those kids that tend to forget things bring the crucial items and those that overpack have the written limits.

I also highlight the idea of tips. The kids are good about this at restaurants (they pull out the tip calculators on their phones). Few though think of tipping the housekeeping staff and bus driver. It is customary to do this. The general idea is about $1-2 per person per day for housekeeping. So if you have several kids in a room, it will be a nice tip. Especially as kids tend to leave a natural disaster behind them each day and in the boys' rooms there will be that peculiar and yet to be identified...odor... The other tip is for the bus driver. There also the idea is about $1 per person, per day. I'm going to nab an idea from another area CYM and print envelopes for the kids with the date in one corner and the simple address "housekeeping" in the address field.

While I bring a couple of basic prepackaged snacks that the kids can take with them during the day like fruit snacks, granola bars, I encourage each family to pack another snack their teen can share with the others. This adds variety. Since we're in a hotel with microwaves in the room, I am also giving the kids microwave popcorn for at night to add to their stash of food.

On the personal side, I'm thinking of what I'm going to pack. As a vegetarian, I know that a problem for me at many of the restaurants and concessions stands will be finding vegetarian sources of protein (salads, vegetarian sandwiches are common). So I always make sure to have some bars with me that are high in protein. I also take chocolate covered espresso beans. Sad, but helpful. Two or three of those guys and I've got a second wind. My water bottle will also be crucial. I always have my pouch of first aid items, feminine hygiene products, and basic OTC medicines in my backpack. Between blisters and paper cuts a few band-aids are used just about every day.

I also would strongly recommend you plan on having Monday as a day to recover! NCYC is a fantastic experience, but with the chaos for over 12 hours with 25,000 teens and an average of 4-5 hours of sleep each night I usually come back exhausted. My dog loves the naps I inadvertently take while we're curled up on the sofa watching NCIS or L&O:SVU reruns after events like this!

Vocabulary Words

I hate catch words. I use the word hate here in the fullest sense of the word. There are always the latest words that come down the line of business and church books. Synergy is one I regard with particular loathing.

Why does this bother me? Probably it does so on two levels. First, many of these words are made up. There are so many beautiful, descriptive, and unusual words in the English language. You really couldn't find one that worked for you? Unless you're the 21st century Shakespeare, please stick with one of the many, many words you can find in the dictionary.

Second, so much time is spent tossing around these teasing terms. We read them, write them, speak them, debate them in committees, and nod agreement at meetings. If we're going to get so caught up in the term du jour (sorry to drop some French), then can we at least focus on some that have real meaning, drive, and perhaps are not so much term of the day but ancient and meaningful terms?

So please, should you see me rolling my eyes at a committee meeting or conference call where synergy, fusion, or what ever hot word o' the day is tossed around, forgive me. Perhaps I will claim one odd word for myself, snarky.

I promise to be more of my usual cheery self in my next post. Just had a frustrating morning of emails and committees (that will easily dampen the most shining spirit). Enjoying the soundtrack to The Way and I relax before my next committee call.

Watch for a post with my thoughts on the incredible film, The Way.

A Lesson from the Cable Company

My cable company is pretty far down on my list of favorite businesses to call. In fact, it is probably at the bottom of the list.

However, during a conversation with a sales representative last night, I had a surprising lesson.

I was calling simply to reduce my cable channels - getting a big packet of channels just to watch Doctor Who for a few weeks of the year was silly. I never watched the vast majority of those 200 channels.

Anyways, I digress. The gentleman who answered my call, we'll call him Joe. In my ever on-going effort to get better at remembering names, I say, "Hi Joe, I'm Jennifer and I would like to change my service." We go about the business. He does the usual little sales pitch about whatever special they have going on at the end of the call. Then he says, "Thank you and have a nice day." I in turn say, "I hope you have a nice day too, Joe." I could hear the shock in his voice at what I assume was my using his name and doing so in a positive manner.

I found that a profoundly sad commentary on the state of the world. I've been the disgruntled customer, but I try my hardest to never take it out on the representative on the phone. It isn't their fault, they just are the messenger. I also try to be personable, it just seems right.

And therein lies the rub. I think what I learned in this call is how we are losing touch with recognizing the humanity, the person-hood of those we interact with on the phone, web, and other non-face-to-face ways.

Why am I writing about this on a ministry website, well, because isn't that what we're all about - incarnation? If we believe that each person is a holy creation of God, shouldn't we treat them as such? Shouldn't we at least recognize a person's individuality and honor that?

As those in ministry, should we not be doing this ourselves? Should we not be modeling this?

Plans

"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley."

~Robert Burns, "To a Mouse"

That, in a short and oh so Scottish way, sums up my week. All those little things and routines have fallen apart at the seams.

Without going into overwhelming detail about my less than relaxing day off on Monday, we'll just say it set things up well for what was waiting for me here in the office yesterday.

For the past few years I have taken a small group of teens down to New Orleans during winter break. We work with Catholic Charities - Helping Hands. I was notified via a voicemail yesterday that the organization would be shutting down, so our trip was canceled.

Thus I have spent all the spare moments of my day tracking down alternatives for lodgings and work sites. I have encountered many kind individuals, but unfortunately none have been able to help me out with this problem.

So like many moments in ministry, we soldier on looking for how to "Make it work!" as Tim Gunn says.

On the bright side, later tonight I get to go to a screening of The Way where Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez are to be present for a question & answer session following.

Quote of the Day

It is a busy day here. So I simply leave you with what I love, a quote that makes you think...

God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

~Regina Brett