I just got home from Prayer Around the Cross at Faith - a quiet contemplative setting featuring candlelight, long stretches of silence, and beautiful simple music. A rite of healing was included in tonight’s liturgy. After a week of vacation bible school with energy that multiplied upon itself as the days passed, I knew I needed some stillness. As Beth and Jim led us in singing Healer of Our Every Ill, I could feel my shoulders relax, my jaw unclench, and my hands lay loosely in my lap. The voices of Emma and Ellie, teens from the youth group, had the perfect soothing quality as they led the prayers. I was blessed and anointed by our intern Nate. There is something about the heaviness of someone else’s hands pressing on your head in blessing that is like no other
feeling.

And yet…..the stillness I craved was not yet achieved.

As I was leaving the building I decided to stop by the darkened sanctuary. (Prayer Around the Cross is held in a smaller more intimate space than our large sanctuary.) I walked up to the front pew and sat down. I looked at the floor to ceiling window in the Chancel. It was dark except for the twilight rays coming through the stained glass. And that’s when I felt it. Stillness.

I know I am blessed to work in a setting that is filled with beautiful sacred spaces. I frequently walk from my office to the sanctuary to just sit with God. I know God is always with me, but so are the distractions. Late afternoon with the setting sun hitting the stained glass at just the right angle, I re-member with God why I am called to work in his church. Through the images in the window, my thoughts center back on the gift of Christ and the grace of God. It fills me. It readies me. It stills me.

I was quietly delighted this week when I saw a dad from our congregation do the same thing after he dropped his two children off at vbs. I was walking through the sanctuary and at the last moment I saw him sitting there in the first pew, taking a moment to sit with God. I felt glad my secret was out! Someone else was drawing upon the stillness of God as strength for the day.

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) This simple verse is my prayer many days. It reminds me I can find healing in letting go and being still and letting God be God.

“My job is to awaken possibility in other people.”

I love that line! It comes from a TED Talk by Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic. I have watched his 20 minute presentation many times. Every time I get goose bumps. As I watch I think to myself that is the kind of teacher/leader I want to be. This is one of the things he says about leadership:

     “It's one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he’s leading to realize whatever he’s dreaming. “

I have had teachers like that. I have been led professionally by people who have lived this. Honestly, I have had glimpses of myself and my students with “shining eyes” (as Zander puts it) so I know the possibility exists within
myself. I think it is born of passion. Passion for what you teach. Passion for passing on knowledge that you just know will bring life to the person who takes it in. 

That is how I feel about sharing the stories of Jesus and the great love God has for all creation. When children and adults not only hear but absorb that message of love, they cannot help but be changed. And that change sends them out into the world to inspire more possibility in others. The transformation doesn’t come from me but can come through me. I am used to awaken the possibility in other people. What an awe inspiring job description!

 ~ Pam

A Footnote:
And because the universe is so intricately connected I realized that this same Benjamin Zander is the author of a book one of my colleagues keeps relentlessly suggesting I read and that I finally took off my Amazon wish list and ordered a few days ago: The Art of Possibility. I'll keep you posted!

This is a special prayer of thanks that goes out to all fathers who pay attention.

Thank you to the dads who notice the uniqueness of their child and encourage it.  
~ The dads who know all the Disney princesses and know the current countdown to the release of the Disney/Pixar movie Brave on June 22. 
~ The dads who are Chicago Cub fans but whose sons grow up to be White Sox fans and even cheer along with them (and cry) at the last out of the 2005 World Series.
 ~ The dad (mine) who encouraged his son to have his own franchise and be his own boss and supported  his
daughter’s decision to attend  seminary.

There are so many more of you: who coach soccer, a sport you never played yourself; volunteer at the all-day speech team event; learn about organic farming and roasting your own coffee beans because that is your child's passion; or sit in church with your family on a Sunday morning because you get that is sacred time in so many ways.

Happy Father’s Day to all of you. Your love, acceptance and encouragement are a gift and an investment for your children.

I am a list maker. They help me plan my day, think through what I need to do and stay organized. I also take great pleasure as my pencil strikes through the things I have accomplished. For most tasks, at work and at home, list making helps me feel a sense of control over what needs to be done. That works for most things….not vacation bible school!

Right now I am waist deep in VBS prep and the details are overwhelming. Still.

Vacation bible school stands alone in the year’s worth of programming I am responsible for at Faith. It runs only for one week of mornings but the amount of details that go into planning is enormous. In fact it is so
enormous that in the beginning of the process which started weeks ago, list making is impossible. I just start wading through what needs to get done: the first round of volunteer phone calls, creating spreadsheets of participants, and preparing each area of curriculum so the leaders feel comfortable and excited about their
responsibilities.

Right now it is the week before and I finally feel like I can start making my lists! I am glad because this is the week I get excited for vacation bible school. As each of the details are accounted for I start to imagine the relationships that occur over the week of VBS. 
 
~ The storytellers that help the kids make connections with God’s story to their own story.
~ The crew leaders that learn the names of the children in their group and share in important conversations. 
~ The middle school volunteers getting their first taste of leadership and growing in self-confidence. 
~ Retired folks volunteering “just to help me out” and then realizing that their faith is growing along with the kids.

Next week when everyone is here and the building is buzzing with energy, the details and the lists take a back seat to the Spirit’s work of relationships. That week of concentrated energy and learning is what makes
vacation bible school a unique and powerful experience. My heart is full when I see the kids and the adults excited to be at church learning together about God’s great love for them. 

But that is next week. Right now I have a list to make!

 ~ Pam