Give a little bit of your love...

A string of pearls.  Theme dinner at a friend's house.  A kitten.  An Ipod.  Four things that seem to have absolutely nothing in common, right?  The thing that ties these items together is that each one brought a young person closer to strengthening his or her spiritual life.  How, you might ask/  These are all examples of things that have been up for grabs at the annual youth auction over the past several years.

I was fortunate to be a part of the first J2A pilgrimage at Trinity.  For those who don't know, part of the Journey to Adulthood curriculum is a pilgrimage to grow in spirituality and step outside one's comfort zone.  For many young people, it's their first trip out of the country or without their families.  For me it was both.

Our class traveled to Taize, France and Liverpool, England on our journey.  We were a small but brave bunch, none more so than our fearless leaders Mark and Kathy Shackelford and our relatively new rector, Fr. McKee.  The eight of us boarded a plane from Tulsa to Chicago and then we were off to France.  Honestly, I was terrified.  I had been away from my family before. But, I had never flown across the ocean or without my parents.  Even though I had known six of the eight people for a majority of my life, this was uncharted territory.

When we arrived in Taize, a monastic community in the French countryside which hosts thousands of young people every year, it was hot.  And we were jet lagged.  And hungry.  Your typical whiny American teenagers.  Or I'm sure that's what everyone thought.  But soon we got into the groove of things.  Emma and I joined a small group with other young people from across the globe, where we spent our time talking about our beliefs and why we believe them.  Stephanie, Matt and Gareth, being over the age of 16, were assigned "jobs" as service to the community.  We attended church several times a day and had time to reflect.

If you've never been to a Taize service at Trinity, go.  That is the closest you can get to being there without hopping on a plane.  Except there's air conditioning.  And seats.  Overall, what I took away most from my time in Taize was a stronger conviction in my beliefs.  The realization that I believed what I did because I really believed- not because my parents did or my church told me to- was the greatest gift I received from Taize.

The trip to Liverpool brought us closer to our roots.  We visited cathedrals and castles and stayed with the friendly and generous parishioners of McKee family friend Ray.  They taught us about our heritage in way you can't learn by reading it in a book.  We also had a lot of fun.  We toured more than one soccer stadium, toured the Beatles museum and engaged in a laughter filled scavenger hunt.  The memories I made on my J2A are ones I will cherish for a lifetime.  And I know that every young person who has gone on the four pilgrimages since mine would tell you the same thing.  While there are plenty of silly stories that we all could share, the lasting effects are to our spiritual health.  Our pilgrimages have made us spiritually stronger.

None of the last five pilgrimages could have taken place without the support of parishioners.  The support of Trinity allows a expensive trip to be a little less of a burden for families.  This summer's pilgrimage will take our 9th and 10th graders on a journey to Italy, where they will discover some of our Christian faith's oldest communities.  They are going to travel to Rome, Assisi and Florence to learn from the earliest Christians and learn about themselves along the way.

So how can you help?  Buy some awesome stuff at the youth auction on March 6th.  If you want a sneak peek at the goods, they will have an auction preview at the annual Mardi Gras party on March 5th.  There are always great items and some fabulous dinners and events to purchase.  And you can feel good about your new Vera Bradley bag or your weekend at the lake with the knowledge that by treating yourself, you are helping shape a young person's faith experience.  Pretty sweet deal, yeah?  And think of it this way, if you have children, some day they will be in J2A and planning a pilgrimage.  So pay it forward.

                                                  Ready or not, Europe, here we come!

                                               Spending time with new friends at Taize.

Inch by inch

Ordinary. That is what we commonly call the season of the church calendar we are currently in. We have celebrated the beautiful and mysterious season of Christ's birth and we are awaiting the holy and reverent season of Lent. So, ordinary-- nothing special, right? There's no, pageantry or stories of mystical guys appearing in a flash of blinding light.

But consider this, in the roughly three months between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, we will cover 33 years of Jesus' life. Imagine condensing 33 years of your life into 12 weeks. It may not seem like a difficult task but let's take sometime to think about what Christ accomplished in 33 years. The first 30 or so years of Jesus' life are a mystery aside from his trip to the temple at the age of 12. So that's easy. But then there was the wedding at Cana-- Jesus first miracle. It didn't make big waves at the time. The next step is to John the Baptist, a formidable force in his time, baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River and God descending as a dove to proclaim Jesus as his beloved son. People start to talk about this new prophet. Was he who he said? Or would he be like all the others? Quickly, Jesus gains followers, performs miracles, preaches God's word. Soon he'll be labeled as a rebel by those in authority. Dangerous. A heretic. They begin to call him teacher, as do his followers, but not out of respect. Rather, they mock him.

Jesus starts to reveal more to his closest followers. That he is more than a prophet, he is the lamb of God and will be the ultimate sacrifice. That his time on Earth is limited. That they need to learn all they can and grow with him so they can carry on once he has left his mortal self behind. They need to GROW. Like a mustard seed. Have the faith of a child, whose faith is limitless.

When my mom taught Sunday school several years ago, we also referred to growing time. Green, the color used during this season, is a symbol for growth. It's a time for all of us to remind ourselves what the foundation of our faith is. The big events are essential to our faith but the teachings of Jesus are what make us who we truly are. We can look to those lessons in times of struggle and joy. They give us reassurance and comfort. When we have questions, these are stories are far from ordinary. They are extraordinary.

Seems a shame to cram it all in to to three months doesn't it? But instead of rushing through it, let's take this time to grow in our faith. Sit down with your families and read the words of Jesus. The words that he lived. It make make things seem a little less ordinary.