Vacation Bible School

This past Sunday the worship service was combined into one, the traditionalists and the modern-day casualists. The latter is quite the family affair! Many kids – large and small – with parents and grandparents. This particular day marked the close of the annual vacation bible school, a week of half-daily sessions. This year 46 children were enrolled with 11 adult teachers and 12 high school students assisting. The church was full each day and the students had lots of fun. It would be difficult to determine who learned the most, the students, adults or teen helpers! As in most educational settings everyone learns from each other.

The worship service this Sunday was a capstone to the end of classes. I've witnessed this sort of thing before but never did it strike me as it did this year. People we are close to lit up like a thousand candles as they watched the youngsters celebrate what they learned and the friendships they began this past week. Joy. That’s one word that describes the wonder in the eyes and faces – of the elder members of the congregation! They celebrated young life as it was nurtured in age old customs and beliefs. One generation imparting to another a tradition of living life together in hope and faith.

Some will say this is a theological issue. Others will counter with the observation that this is nurture in happy pathways. What these kids come to understand twenty years from now may be totally different than what they touched this past week. We can only hope that they caught the essence of faith in themselves, in each other and in a higher power that is beyond them but with them still. Each day. Each hour. If they want it and seek it.

As decades pass the mumbo jumbo of organized religion fades while the core ideas sharpen. We need each other. Some will never get that point. Others will find other things to love. Maybe themselves. Maybe someone else. Maybe its humankind that is loved and committed to.

It’s funny isn't it? What matters most is loving something or someone outside of yourself. Letting that happen is the key to being loved and knowing you are worth it. Now that is of central importance. Being worth enough to be loved. How many people never get that point?

Through all the ages every religion has taught us to love one another as ourselves. Sounds corny. So many people have ignored this dictum. In the final analysis, though, it is what matters the most.  The Golden Rule is Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You. To do that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. Hard to do but it works if we really try to make it happen. Once learned it sticks with us forever.

That’s what I mean by faith and hope. It starts with me. It moves to you. Together it builds.

On the internet the other day this quote was found:

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

                                                ~Author Unknown

Isn't it about time we emerged from the dark of childhood and made faith together for the sake of community? Whether neighborhood or global we all need the same nurture and faith in each other.

May be each find it now!

August 14, 2013