A Kayak, Table Talk and a Song

Allow me to paint some images of the November Lutheran Youth Fellowship assembly.

God was on the loose!

I can only tell you where I saw God. But, I’m sure if you asked the sixty-five of those who were there, each could tell you a different story where God was on the loose….

In the back of the church was an unusual sight. There were sixty-five youth and adults sitting around a kayak which served as a baptismal font. A Bible was passed from person to person, each taking a turn reading from the last chapter of John. After the scripture was read, youth self-selected groups in order to retell the story in a new way. Some opted to do a dramatic presentation of the story. Others decided to rewrite the story. Another group put the story to music.

You should have seen the energy and enthusiasm in these groups! Strangers coming together and working on new ways to share God’s story – it was powerful! We laughed. We clapped. We sang.

God was on the loose in the creativity and in the retelling of God’s story.

A couple of days later I would learn from one of the participants that she was autistic. She told her pastor she wanted to attend this event because maybe she would be able to hear God’s story in a way she could understand. It was hard for her to hear it in her own church. Her eyes beamed when she told me, “When we took turns reading scripture by the kayak, I could really understand it so much easier than when I hear it in my own church!” She later shared with me that this was a life changing event for her.

God was on the loose in the hearing of the Word for this young woman.

Our LYF president decided to mix it up a bit with our meal times together. So many times when groups gather – no matter what age – we tend to find our friends and sit and talk with them whether it’s in the school cafeteria or at a game or in the church pew. Kelly decided to mix up the groups for a couple of our meal times. She provided conversation starters on slips of paper for each table. Some questions were funny (“What would you name your pet lobster?”) and others were more serious.

I’ve seen other groups do this exercise with varying results. What amazed me this time was then when each table was finished with the questions, they didn’t stop. Some tables started to make up their own questions. A couple of tables exchanged questions with other tables. They talked with each other as if they had been long-lost friends!

At other meals, Rachel (the LYF historian), passed a FLiP camera among participants. Whoever was holding the camera at a particular time would ask a question of someone close by. Any question. And people responded. Some of the questions were fun and others more serious. Again, this was an opportunity to share reflections and stories. Rachel and another LYF participant, Brandon, are in the process of turning these interviews into a DVD for participants….a great way to remember the events of the weekend!

God was on the loose in the conversations and the building up of relationships.

We began our closing worship on Sunday morning inside the white chapel. But, the baptismal font in the form of a kayak was no longer in the back of the room. After we communed one another, Lori, the chaplain, instructed us to move outside and make a circle around the kayak which she had moved into the front yard. The day sparkled and the air was atypically warm for that time of year. Lori told the group to use the water from the kayak to remind others with the sign of the cross on their forehead that they are baptized children of God.

The water flew! We were all marked by the baptismal waters on our foreheads, our heads, our shoulders, our backs….and smiles and laughter and tears mixed in with it all. One scene that is particularly etched in my brain is of a young man drenching a young woman with water and then grabbing her by the shoulders and gazing intently into her eyes to tell her that she was God’s child.

Most baptisms happen within the walls of a church – but God’s action in our baptism moves us out into the world where you never know where the baptismal waters will take you! And this is where we stood during our final service – around a kayak font outside the church walls – with water flying in all directions.

God was on the loose in the in the laughter, in the blessings, in the sending.

One last story.

Following the worship service the young men invited everyone back into the chapel. For some unsuspecting young women, this was a curious thing.  But, for those “in the know,” this invitation was a long-standing tradition.  Once everyone was indoors, the guys moved to the front of the church. The musician, Kyle, prepared to accompany these young male singers. Then, arm in arm, they all serenaded the young women with “Stand By Me.”  Half way through the song, they moved forward to find someone to dance with – moving from one young woman to another and singing all the while.

And God was on the loose there – in the joy of being together, in the tradition, in relationships forged for a lifetime!

These are the stories I witnessed. These are the stories I can tell. But, if you know a young person who attended this event, I encourage you to ask him or her, “Where did you see God on the loose at this year’s LYF Assembly?”

No matter what age you are, take time to ask yourself – or someone else, “Where have you seen God on the loose today?”

You may be surprised!