Wondering Holy Youth

Merry Christmas to All!

2008-12-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

Guess what people! It’s nearly Christmas! We know you’re excited.
You have that turkey to look forward to, a break from school, maybe
some sledding or perhaps a nice game of scrabble in your future.
However, before you get to all that, why don’t you take a little break
from all your Christmas baking, grab a cookie, and settle down with
our newsletter. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed!

We have some fabulous things for you inside this cover. Nico tells us
all about what Christmas means to him, Allan Buckingham tells us all
about his trip to the holy land, and Jeff Poynter tell us about his trip to
Nicaragua (We are full of travel this issue). As well, we have fabulous
photos from all sorts of people– no Google searching for us this issue!

In fact, we had so many things that we wanted to put into this issue,
that we had to make two issues!! So after your done reading this one,
be sure to take a look at our special “Things to Check Out” issue as
well! We’ve got some interesting information about things happening
within the United Church in the coming year!

Anyways, we hope you all have a magical Christmas, and a fantastic
New Year. We plan too. Watch out for issue number 11 in Spring
2009! Merry Christmas!
-Charley and Kathleen

Christmas Spirit

2008-12-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

When I think of Christmas, the first thought that
pops into my mind is of a snow-filled street. Snow is
lightly falling , and the glitter of colourful Christmas
lights is bouncing gleefully off of the snow, as if they
aren’t plugged into electricity at all, but rather some-
thing else—something magical, something not quite of
this world, but still somehow a mystical part.
Ace Collins once wrote, “The "First Christmas" was a
simple time of beauty and wonder. The birth of Christ
was less about celebration than it was about family.
Though many today may grow tired of the commerciali-
zation of Christmas, in reality it has opened the door for
Christ to once again become the focal point of the season,
and for family, especially children, to be at the heart of
the celebration.” This might be true, at least in part. I
mean…I hadn’t thought of it like this before. I had been
one of the ones who had been growing ‘tired of the
commercialization of Christmas’. When I think of it this
way, though, it makes sense to me. Sure, we buy a
bunch of presents, some of which will most likely be
thrown in the farthest corner of our closets. But who
cares? Whether the presents are used or not isn’t what
is important. The importance is what the presents do:
they bring our families together.
When Jesus was born, he had only his mother Mary,
his mother’s husband Joseph, whom he would grow to
know as his earthly father and mother. There were
bunch of farm animals too, including my favorite, the
cow. They were there as a family, to celebrate life to-
gether. Now, maybe you don’t think we should buy pre-
sents for Christmas, but for some people, it’s their only
excuse to see their family. I know I don’t see my
brother and sister-in-law and their children nearly as
much as I like. In fact, I don’t really see them much at
all any more. But Christmas and the presents we have
exchanged have always been a reason for us to get to-
gether and spend time together. Regardless, didn’t Je-
sus get presents for his birth? The Three Wise Men ar-
rived some two years after with gifts of frankincense,
myrrh, and gold.
There is also another side of Christmas: the side of
Christmas that a lot of people prefer to focus on these
days. “Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time
we love, every time we give, it's Christmas”, said Dale
Evans. What I believe he is speaking of is not always
giving of physical things, commercial items, but giving
of yourself. Showing someone that you love and care
about them is a gift no words can describe— a true
Christmas present.
We tend to limit Christmas to one time a year. No,
Christmas extends beyond Demember. Christmas is
every minute of every hour of everyday. Christmas is
kindness in action, love in community and the spirit of
giving. Christmas is in the beauty of the spirit drawn to
another in harmony when there seems to be nothing
but strife. “Christmas is love in action,” Dale Evans
says. Love in action! It isn’t just saying to someone, “Oh
yeah, I love you. Where’s the turkey? Where are my
presents?” It’s so much more. It’s a feeling, an emotion,
not quite tangible, but ever present.
Christmas brings people together in a spirit of
love. When you sit down to whatever food you typically
dine on at Christmas with family or friends sitting
across from you, when you’ve made the conscious ef-
fort to be with people you care about and love, that is
the love of Christmas in action. That is what the birth of
Christ is all about.
The spirit of Christmas is not all about the presents,
and it’s not about the food— these are just catalysts
that help bring together. This is what the truest spirit
of Christmas, what that very first Christmas was all
about—being together with those who matter most to
you.To me, I would say that the ones who matter most
to me are my mother, brother, sister-in-law, nephew
and niece. But are they the only ones meaningful to
me? They do mean the world to me, of course. But
there are friends out there that mean the world to me
as well. And I’d love to be with them all the time too.
Including Christmas.
There are times when I long to be with those that I
care about. I just wish that those times of gathering like
Christmas and Easter and other such holidays weren’t
the only times that I got to see them. I always find it to
be a gift just to be able to see them. I love to see them.
But maybe that’s why Dale Evans said that Christmas
was love in action. The truest form of Christmas doesn’t
happen on December 25th but whenever we are with
those we love and care for. Whenever I am with a
friend that I love that I haven’t seen in a long time, that
is a gift, the Christmas spirit in it’s truest form. A hug
from a nephew, such a sweet little gift, is the spirit of
Christmas. And it could happen in the middle of sum-
mer, on the hottest day of the year.
“Remember,” Cindy Lew-Hoo says, “the greatest gift
is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the
hearts of true friends.” So, the next time you worry
about which present you’re going to get for your birth-
day or under the tree at Christmas, remember those
presents don’t matter. Money and presents can bring
you together with those that you care about, but most
important is that you are with someone you deeply
care about. This Christmas season, I ask you to look for
a family member, look for a friend. Find someone you
can connect to. That is the greatest gift of all. That is
where you will find the spirit of Christmas. And do
yourself a favour, don’t just look for them at Christmas.
There is an acapella music group from British Columbia
who sing a song, “Tell Them Before It’s too Late”. Heed
to these words. If there is someone you love and care
about, tell them.
The Hutterites have a saying, “Live as if you’ll live
forever, but live today as if it is your last.” The spirit of
Christmas has given us a gift. Use it wisely. In those
gifted moments with those you care for, spend them as
if they’ll last forever. Live as though they won’t be there
forever, treasure them, and tell them how much they
mean to you.
With that I leave you these words by Leo Buscaglia:
“A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my
world.” May your world be one long Christmas and may
love sprinkle down like snow upon it every single day.
-Nico Anderson

Sharing the Improbable

2008-12-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

The following is a blog post written this summer
during a Liberation Theology conference in the Holy
Land put on by Sabeel, a Palestinian Liberation Theology
organization based in Jerusalem. Allan is a United
Church member living in Banff and also a member of the
General Council Executive.

How do you share the improbable (I’d say im-
possible, but I’ve seen it, so it’s real)? So much of the
world I’ve been exposed to is completely foreign to my
reality that I’m not sure I can even comprehend it,
never mind share it. But, I’ll try.
The Holy Land is an incredibly beautiful place.
The landscape around Jerusalem is a testament to
God’s creative magic. More than that, there is some-
thing special about this place that defies my under-
standing. I don’t know that I can describe it in words,
but there is a feeling deep inside me, one that I get in
Jerusalem, one that I get few other places. I share this
because it is the backdrop where the stories of the Holy
Land take place, both those of the past and those of the
future.
While the backdrop is unbelievably beautiful,
the stories themselves are plainly unbelievable. I could
share stories of things I’ve heard, and things I have
seen, that even I have trouble believing myself. But,
seeing as I’m not sure I believe them, I will keep them
to myself for now.
What I can share, because I can’t deny its real-
ity, no matter how much I may want to, is the extreme
prejudice that is blatantly obvious everywhere we go.
This morning, on our way out of Bethlehem, we saw the
piles of taxies on each side of the checkpoint waiting to
take people to their destinations; not because the peo-
ple here are incapable of driving themselves, but be-
cause Palestinians in Bethlehem are not allowed to
drive to Jerusalem. Instead, they have to walk through
a Giant Checkpoint. We were told that people start lin-
ing up at 3:30 in the morning in order to get to work on
time even though the checkpoint doesn’t open until 6
am.
For me as middle class Canadian, it is so incredi-
bly foreign that because of completely uncontrollable
circumstances (ethnic origin) a single person, never
mind thousands of people, would not be allowed to
drive themselves 10 minutes to work. It is completely
ridiculous. I can think of no other words to describe it.
And this from a country that claims to be a part of the
‘western world’ and shares ‘western’ values!
Being in the land where Christ was made
known, I can’t help but wonder how his message has
been so tragically lost. It’s not as if the stories aren’t
remembered. Millions of people visit the Holy Land
each year to see where Christ walked, to listen to the
story of his life. But I wonder if they are perhaps listen-
ing to the words without hearing the story.
-Allan Buckingham

Who am I?

2008-12-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

It seems like an easy question. I'm so and so, I
like to do this and that, and I don't like such and forth.
But before you get to locked into this answer,
really really look at it. Is this who you are, or is this
what you are? It's what you are isn't it?
So now ask yourself again. WHO are you?
I'm taking some weird classes this semester.
Classes such as “Interpersonal Communication” and
“Leadership/Self-Awareness” and so I am supposed to
be learning all sorts of things about myself. Picture a
United Church event (maybe youth rally, youth forum,
or Kairos) only you get graded on it. So if you learn
nothing about yourself you fail the class. So if you don't
learn what the teacher wants you to learn about your-
self, you fail the class. And you’re not looking at your-
self through a spiritual perspective. I'm used to doing
these types of things which where God fits in, with
where Church fits in. But there is no God in these
classes. It’s all very weird. But I digress.
So in my leadership class I was told I had to
learn who I was by the end of the semester, or I would
never be a good leader, and I would not do well in the
class. It came at a weird time, because I had just de-
cided (at a United Church event the week before) that I
was going to stop searching for who I was, that I was
just going to be me. Well, so much for that plan. So now
I am once again on yet another journey to discover my-
self.
So who am I? I'm Kathleen. That's as far as I
manage to get. Maybe being “Kathleen” is what I am but
not who I am, but I have identified myself with that im-
age for so long I am somewhat unable to not be Kath-
leen. And so I am not Kathleen in a “Kathleen is a name”
but I am what being Kathleen embodies for me, Kath-
leen IS who I am. I am what you think of when you
think of me. When someone says “Hey, do you know
Kathleen” or “Hey, have you heard what Kathleen's
been up too?” its all the images that you get in your
head. This is who I am. I am Kathleen.
So then, this probably isn't going to help me
pass my class. So who is Kathleen?
We've established that who am is not an ex-
farm kid, or a dancer, or that girl who does WHY or a
student or any of the other easy labels I like to put on
myself. So instead maybe I am what I believe in. Maybe
who I am is a person who believes in doubt, in life, in
God, in fluke, in miracles, in myself.
But, as it turns out, I am not supposed to associ-
ate myself with my beliefs. It creates close-mindedness.
Questioning our beliefs is so hard because we associate
ourselves with our beliefs, because questioning our
beliefs becomes questioning who we are as a person. If
we refuse too connect our identity with our beliefs,
then we become more “intellectually courageous” and
more open minded.
So I have learned what I am not, and what I
should not be. I am not what I am. I am not what I be-
lieve in. What I have not learned is who I actually am.
Or how to discover who I am. And so I shall continue on
this journey. I will continue to learn who I am not. And
maybe under all the am nots I will find the am.
Because what I think is that I will never know
who I am. What I think is that no one will ever know
exactly who they are. I think this inability to now who
we are makes us better people as it allows us to grow
and change, and not become stuck with who we are. It
allows us to become someone new. So while I will con-
tinue to search for who I am, with some protest I might
add, I will also hope that in finding it (if I find it) that I
won't get stuck in it. I hope that I always have the abil-
ity to change.
And so I will end with a favourite quote of mine.
Don't let getting older make you stupider.
-Kathleen Kerr

What I did with my Summer Vacation

2008-12-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with
those who weep. Live in harmony with one another;
live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:15-16)
My best friend Amy Collins and I spent two
months volunteering in Nicaragua this summer - it was
a trip primarily focused on service and learning. We
volunteered every day during the week and attended
Spanish school, and on the weekends we would take a
break and go on excursions around the country. We
had plans for three volunteer placements; however, we
soon learned that in Latin America, it can be very diffi-
cult to make plans months in advance and then see
them realized. Due to civil strife and natural disasters,
all these plans were cancelled once we were in the
country, and we ended up working with other (though
no less valid) organizations.
In the first city where we stayed (Managua), we
taught music to children who couldn’t afford music les-
sons (at “Musica en los Barrios”). We also volunteered
at a community centre called Generando Vida
(“Generating Life”), which is located in a poor area of
the city and has a few classrooms, feeding programs,
and microcredit for women of the community. Here, we
again learned the value of flexibility, as we never knew
quite what we would be doing, if we would even make
it there on a given day because of the nation-wide pub-
lic transit strike, and because of our lack of Spanish
skills. After three weeks in Managua, we travelled to
Estelí, a city in the northern mountains of the country.
The first place we worked was Proyecto Padre Fab-
retto, an after-school program for children who were
struggling with their studies. We worked as teachers'
assistants, helping the children with their English, arts,
and music. After a week at this school, we spent two
weeks at the Escuela Especial – a school for children
with disabilities. We did the same kind of work here,
helping the teachers and helping the students.
It was here in Estelí that we learned one of our
valuable lessons about volunteering in Central Amer-
ica. Living in Nicaragua is simpler, slower, and friend-
lier, and this came across in work and work ethic as
well. We came from a North American mentality that
dictates the essentiality of efficiency and productivity.
However, Nicaragua does not seem to share this view.
Amy and I often became frustrated because we felt we
weren’t being productive or helpful, but when we fi-
nally realized that we needed to be slower and more
relaxed, everything seemed to shift into focus and we
felt much more useful. We often dealt with indifference
from others and a lack of “productivity”, but once we
learned to just accept whatever happened as long as we
were trying hard, everything went more smoothly.
After three weeks in Estelí, we went back to Managua
to reconnect with Gonzalo Duarte, the organizer of our
trip and three other Canadians. With this expanded
group, we worked for a week at Pajarito Azul, an or-
phanage for children with disabilities. I helped in a
room of people with cerebral palsy, which was an eye-
opening experience. Because of their disability, they
were unable to perform even the basic necessities – we
needed to spoon-feed them, take them outside for fresh
air, and just provide the simple companionship that
they usually lacked. It was difficult to see people living
in this situation, and I tried my best to empathize and
do the best I could to help.
We had many other crazy and amazing adven-
tures as well, from climbing a 1,700 meter high active
volcano (on an island in a lake with the only freshwater
sharks in the world) that took 11 hours in 40-degree
weather with a guide who could speak 12 languages
and was able to smell when there was a boa constrictor
nearby, to surfing in the Pacific, to meeting some of the
most amazing people in the world, to camping over-
night on top of another active volcano and climbing up
at night to peer into the crater and watch the lava, to
frustrations with ourselves and each other, to heart-
wrenching views of poverty (Nicaragua is the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere), to a massive
political rally calling for the downfall of the cor-
rupt government, to sitting at the foot of a cross all
morning on top of the highest mountain in a misty
coffee-growing town… the stories go on and on.
Despite repeated changes of plans and fre-
quent failures of preconceived notions, the trip
was a definite success. It is something that I will
remember for the rest of my life, and something
that will also forever affect me. I’m still figuring
out how to incorporate this incredible life experi-
ence into my everyday life – into my faith, my mu-
sic, my perspectives, my choices, my opinions… I
can only pray that my God will guide me in these
ways.
-Jeff Poynter

End Notes

2008-12-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

EMAILS THAT MADE OUR DAY:

I wanted to offer my congratulations on the Observer Article. Very well deserved. I think the church needs to hear about all
you've done with WHY, and what it means to those of us who read it. Thank you, both of you, for all you do. - Charlie Peters

Great job, WHY team! It was great to see you featured on the front page of the Observer, too. I really enjoyed Cory Bentley’s
article (but I’m a bit biased… I’m his aunt). :) -Jen

Just read your WHY newsletter for the first time. Some excellent stuff there. I will continue reading, hoping for ideas we can
use here in Northern Ontario. Keep up the good work, and all the best in your studies. -Bob Weight

Kathleen and Charley, you both are wonderful and lovely, and I wish I could give you both giant hugs. The W.H.Y in my inbox
every season is one of the only reasons I check it. I will definitely submit something sometime soon. -Emma Prestwich

Congratulations on your second anniversary!!! I am particularly grateful for this issue for its breadth and depth: the articles
are deeply personal, inspiringly honest, and incredibly humorous. I enjoyed it immensely! Thank you for providing this
wonderful forum for youth and young adults in our church to connect and reflect with one another: YOU ROCK!!!! -Shawna
Gibbons

PARTING WORDS:

Well, that’s all folks. You have reached the end. Or, soon will. If this paragraph would just end…
but it doesn’t. We’d like to send out a great big thank-you-amungo to our guest writers– Nico
Anderson, Allan Buckingham, and Jeff Poynter, as well as to our fabulous photographers, Carmen
Lansdowne, Bruce Edwards and Gord Spence (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rev_aviator/). We
couldn’t do this without you guys.

As for everyone else, now that school is done, and you have finished reading this fabulous news-
letter, perhaps you might have some time to write an article for our next issue? We would defi-
nitely recommend it. Also, maybe you get a new camera for Christmas, and have taken some
wonderful photographs— why not take a few extra seconds to send them to us, or even a link to
you Facebook (where we know you’re probably already putting your photo’s) and let us steal
them off of there! Once you’re done, send them to us at wonderingholyyouth@gmail.com

Well, that’s all folks. For real this time! Have a merry merry Christmas!!!

The GO Project

2008-12-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

YOUTH: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to serve a community outside of your own experience?

YOUTH LEADERS: Have you ever been frustrated at the lack of mission and outreach possibilities geared towards the teachings and theology of your ministry?

PARENTS: Have you craved for your young person to have a deeper sense of service that is grown in the radical roots and fertile soil of Jesus’ ministry?

CONGREGATIONS: Have you longed to discover how you might discern the needs of your own community?

THE GO PROJECT is a Youth Mission Program organized for the wider church by Islington United Church. It is a response to years of discernment from various young peoples experiences of mission and outreach programs. While there are fantastic programs available, there are few that respond to the unique ministry of the United Church of Canada and their partners.

YOUTH GRADE 9 TO AGE 19 and their leaders will have an opportunity to serve the communities of Islington, in the west end of Toronto and downtown Halifax in the summer of 2009, while practicing the gifts of discernment, youth listen to the needs of their own community while serving in another.

BE IMMERSED in these active and growing communities for 10 days, from July 6-16 (Toronto) or July 20-30 (Halifax)

COME be a part of this change:
- Participate in a community-focused children’s program
- Reach out to youth through community programming, shelters and street cafes
- Support seniors and newcomers through community clean up and home projects
- Practice pastoral skills through visiting
- Serve the basic needs of community members through the food bank and clothing share programs
- Learn about and care for the environment through community action and awareness programs

CONTACT: Michael Shewburg at 416.239.1131x31
Email: thegoproject@islingtonunited.org
www.islingtonunited.org/goproject

LISTEN: WHAT PAST PARTICIPANTS AND LEADERS HAVE SAID

FROM PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS
Mission has no borders, nor limitations or barriers. I learned that it starts with one, someone like me. I learned that the pull that I thought I felt to come here was God pulling me to mission. Yes, I have faith that God is leading me to a life of mission, through this experience, I am almost sure of it! I learned to Listen for to God's voice in my life words and re-discovered how to serve my community. I was encouraged to Pause from my everyday life to take a deeper look into the world and community around me; I really saw how I can make a difference. I Prayed by serving god in my own way and found the courage to use the gifts that I have received from God. I am ready to pass on the new love that has been given to me. I am ready to Repeat this experience by passing on what I have discovered in my community, and within my every day life.

FROM ADULT LEADERS:
I was privileged to attend GO as a leader/support to youth in Saskatchewan. I think this program is really valuable to the ministry that I do with others throughout the year, and know that the experience for the youth who I attended with can be integrated more meaningfully and intentionally into our local experiences, now that we have returned home. I encourage leaders to attend the GO Project with youth from their regions.

HOW THE GO PROJECT CONTINUES TO TRANSFORM LIVES:
It's been one year since I participated in the GO project mission experience. It was a phenomenal opportunity to learn about serving, volunteering, and leadership while building friendships and memories, which I still hold to a year later. On the GO project, I discovered mission isn't just about traveling abroad (to Toronto or oversees), but in a broader sense, it is about being present in the lives of others. My experience with the GO Project led me to a trip I took this past summer to work in a Ukrainian orphanage. With the creative ideas I came home with from Toronto, as well as confidence in myself, I have been able to truly understand the value of changing my mindset from "me" to "we."

Youth Forum 2009

2008-12-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
Add your voice and make a difference: Youth Forum is a meeting of United Church youth from across Canada. It takes place during General Council, which is a gathering of representatives who make decisions and set policies for the United Church of Canada.
Spin your faith: Youth Forum is an inclusive and diverse place where you will explore your faith and learn more about yourself in the United Church of Canada.
Spin your church: As a participant of Youth Forum, you have the opportunity to join in this work. You won’t be able to vote on the issues, but you will lend your voice and your opinion to the church’s decision-making process.

INTERESTED IN YOUTH FORUM?
Youth forum is for people:
15-20 years of age by August 6. 09
A member or adherent of the United Church of Canada
Excited to explore issues of faith and church with peers across the country!

Each presbytery/district can select one delegate to sent to Youth Forum–apply to them to attend.

Grab an application form and submit it to your presbytery/district by the deadline:
February 1. 09

You will find out if you have been selected by: May 15. 09

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
There is no fee to attend this event. Your flight, food, and accommodation will be covered by the national church. You may want to bring some spending money for souvenirs or special snacks, but this is optional.

CALLING ALL LEADERS!
The Youth Forum Design Team is seeking folks 19 years and beyond who are enthusiastic about youth ministry to help animate our Youth Forum program! If you’re interested in knowing more about this incredible volunteer experience, visit our website for more information and application forms. References and a clear Criminal Record Check will be required for all folks on the Youth Forum Leadership Team.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www. united-church.ca/allages/youth
 Or Contact: Karen Bridges and Adam Hanley
 Design Team Co-Chairs 
youthforum2009@yahoo.ca
780.975.4368

A Few Holiday Reading Suggestions

2008-12-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

PLAY ~ BELONG ~ TRANSFORM

Back in 2007, W.H.Y. brought you an article about the GO project. For Chris Giffen and Jessie Negropontes, this project involved a six-month trip from Victoria to Toronto. Along the way, they engaged congregations and communities through workshops, intergenerational worship services and conference and youth programs. Part of their goal was to re-imagine mission across the country for the United Church of Canada. This was (and is) no easy feat.
“Some of the most important things we learnt became clear early on in the journey:
We need to challenge the habit in our church of segregating youth to the basement. Often, con-
gregations would assume that, because we have training in youth ministry, theGOproject was
something only for youth, and that we would not have relevance to the rest of the community.
Thus, we had to make it clear that we did not want theGOproject to be a “basement tour.”
It’s a false assumption that all elders are resistant to change, and that all young people want to
abandon tradition. Worship shouldn’t be a piecemeal attempt to please various age groups. We
committed ourselves to choosing content that was appropriate for our purpose. We had our own
gifts to offer, and our own personal wisdom and stories to share.”
Play Belong Transform is a compilation of their GO project experiences, but more importantly it is a rich resource full of games, music, stories, and worship ideas. Highlights include a weekend youth retreat program, creative tools for engaging with scripture, experiments in Faith, Justice, and Creativity with young adults, and holistic youth ministry practices. While the book is full of amazing ideas, it also is full of inspiration to kick start your own creativity!
Best of all, this resource is FREE until August 2009! Visit www.playbelongtransform.ca to download your copy now.

A LITTLE PLUG FOR DAVID GIULIANO'S NEW BOOK!

David Giuliano, moderator of the United Church and possibly our biggest hero ever, has written a new book which we highly recommend you add to your ‘Christmas reading’ pile. Postcards from the Valley: Encounters with Fear, Faith, and God, includes previously published articles and some of Giuliano’s regular blog postings from wondercafe.ca.
“As a community we are learning about the ‘valley of shadows’ after a history spent primarily on top of the world. We are experiencing tremendous change and loss as a community. The church we have known and loved is dying,” writes Giuliano. “Death is always part of transformation. We don’t know where it will lead, but we do know that we no longer claim special authority and place in our culture. For a long time we rode a great white charger. Now we are learning to ride the donkey. There is confusion, denial, and pain, as well as hope, in our body. I think we are closer to Jesus.”
Check out www.chapters.com to order your copy!

(**Editor’s Note: We haven’t actually read this book yet and would certainly welcome a full review for our next issue!)

Happy Birthday To Us (Again)

2008-10-14T11:59:00.003-07:00

Well guys (and by guys I mean both boys and girls) it is fall. You may have gotten that already, by the fact you are back in school, or the fact you find yourself wearing your coat when going outside, or by the fact everyone seems just a little bit less happy. Or maybe you, like me, are in denial. Well peoples (a much less gender specific word than "guys") it is in fact fall. In caps, and bold, just so that we make sure everyone catches it: IT IS FALL! Sorry to burst your summer bubble. Now, lower yourself back to the ground carefully—for fall is certainly not worth hurting yourself over-- and let’s get on with it.
The good news is that we have the cure for those fall blues—it's a little something that we like to call the Second Anniversary Issue of a little newsletter called Wondering Holy Youth... which you are in fact now reading, and so it should be nice and handy for you.
We would like to point out three very exciting words in the previous paragraph in case you missed them—Second Anniversary Issue— that's right folks (again, non gender specific) we are turning two years old this issue! Wow! Who would have guessed that we would make it this far? We want to say a great big thanks to all the people who have been reading W.H.Y. Your support, encouragement and feedback has helped us reach this point. Which is pretty sweet.
Speaking of pretty sweet, we were featured in the September issue of the Observer, so you should definitely check us out if you haven't already. We were interviewed and had to go to a photo shoot and everything—it’s probably the closest we’ll ever be to fame!
We would now like to share a funny story with you, which has little to do with anything. On the weekend of the photo shoot, we decided that we should hang out for a bit, as we had not seen each other in nearly a year. We went out for supper at a restaurant, and on the menu was a rather interesting item— Alligator Kabobs. Which of course we had to try. Turns out alligator is surprisingly delicious, tasting much like sausage or chicken or a number of other things we were unable to agree on. Which then lead to many alligator themed jokes, as well as the possibility of an alligator themed issue of WHY (which was quickly shot down by Charley, though still lives in Kathleen's dreams).
Anyways, I think this shall end the longest W.H.Y. intro in history. Have a great fall and enjoy this issue. Be sure to check out guest writers Nico Anderson and Cory Bentley and our guest photographers Richelle and Rick. We'll be back in December!
-Charley and Kathleen

Living With My Brokenness

2008-10-14T11:59:00.001-07:00

There are times when I feel like I have an emptiness inside me, a gap I just can’t seem to fill with anything. I feel lonely and empty. I can surround my self with a multitude of activities to keep myself occupied. None of them help though. Have you ever felt that way? I’m sure lots of people do. Whenever I feel like this, and nothing else seems to be working, I try praying. I must admit, it can be a great help.
Prayer helps to open you up to something that can help you even more. God’s everlasting and constant love. I don’t know about you, but I often find that I forget to pray. I just let the void, the loneliness, grow and grow until it seems to be so big that it hurts. It seems like it shall never again go away. It’s like it has made a nest inside of me, like it has made a home inside of me—constantly reminding me that it is there and that it has no intention to leave.
An unknown, yet still wise, person once said “God understands our prayers even when we can't find the words to say them.” Perhaps in these times, when we can’t find the words to pray, or forget to pray to God, maybe we don’t need to say anything. Maybe, just maybe, all we need to do is reach out to the Heavenly Father, the Heavenly Mother, and God will take us in His loving arms in a huge hug and sooth our troubled spirits.
What if that doesn’t seem to work, though? What if we can’t seem to feel that loving, tender touch? Do you often go searching for God, to ask Him to help you? Of course, some people claim to have found God in these instances. Another anonymous person once said, “Some people talk about finding God—as if He could get lost.” No, God doesn’t get lost. But we feel lost. Or at least I know that I do. As I’ve written before, I often feel like a puzzle, broken and scattered about and I just can’t seem to put myself back together again.
Amethyst Snow-Rivers remarked, “When we can't piece together the puzzle of our own lives, remember the best view of a puzzle is from above. Let Him help put you together.” Perhaps if we cannot ‘find God’, we should let God find us. We can give God a call, a cry out with our soul to God. I think that when he receives this calling cry, He’ll come to us with a box in hand. With a soft, kind and caring smile He’ll kneel next to us and say in a gentle and loving voice say, “My child, my dear child, I have heard you calling to me. And look! Do you see what I have? I have those missing puzzle pieces. I can help you to become whole once more. Do not worry…I am here and I love you so very much.”
I have just finished a week at Kairos 2008, which is an event for young adults in the United Church of Canada from across the country to get together and live in a week of worship, discernment, and community. It is a profound experience. With this group of wonderful and amazing people I have found the true meaning of what it is for God to put a single piece of the puzzle back. Even if we can’t see it right away, He answers our prayers. I’ve learned that this week. Before and on my way to Kairos, I found myself feeling very empty and much like a broken spirit.
I can never claim that I’m not still a broken spirit, I think I always will be. On my way to this event, I prayed to God and asked Him to help me feel whole and understand why I am living. And through this event, one or two things that I have suffered in my life have come to surface, as I am sure God intended. For instance, I’ve dealt with having practically no presence of my father during most of my life. I’ve never lived with him, but I have met him. He cut off all communications with me when I was at the age of about, I’ll say, six. With all these amazing people, though, I’ve discovered something. I’ve discovered that I don’t need my father. I don’t know if ever need him. Someday I may have closure, but until then, I’m happy with the extended family that I have grown into through this event and events like this.
I have felt love and acceptance here…enough to fill that void and to know I am loved, that I am good enough, no matter how inadequate I have felt because of my father’s absence; no matter how imperfect or unworthy I have felt because of it. I now know what it means to have your prayers answered. I know what it means to feel loved and accepted for who I am in all of my brokenness. All that I can do now is give the Lord thankful praise as tears stream down my face. It is the happiest I have been in the longest time.
Thank you Heavenly Father…Heavenly Mother. I may not be perfect, but with Your grace I can be perfectly happy.
Amen.
-Nico Anderson

Tonight I Pray

2008-10-14T11:58:00.002-07:00

Dear God, who has created and is creating, tonight I have to pray for me. While I know I should pray for all the others, tonight I can’t. I have to pray for my own salvation. I ask that You take some of the fears from my heart. I ask that You remove some of the impossibilities from my future, the challenges of my present, and the pain from my past, and hold them with You. I ask for some of the answers I am looking for. I ask that You heal some of the pain in my heart
You are the Lord of my parents, my grandparents, and of myself. The God who has created this amazing place. You are the God who tonight I must believe in . The God who I ask to save me.
-Kathleen Kerr

A friend of mine once asked her minister how to pray. The answer? To talk as though someone was listening.
Which is immensely interesting to me. The idea that to pray is to simply talk as though there is someone out there listening. Not to worry about all the niceties, the Amen’s or the Hallelujah's. Rather, to just talk like maybe you’re speaking to a friend or maybe a stranger, but just to say all the things you need someone to hear. You can share your brokenness and pain, along with your joys and gladness as well. You would never have to be lonely.
So just speak, and see where it takes you.
-Kathleen Kerr

Things that I Have Learned

2008-10-14T11:58:00.001-07:00

Summer is over. I am currently on a plane somewhere over Saskatchewan . I have only had an hour’s sleep in the past thirty seven hours. So I may be slightly nuts. But somewhere in me I know that as soon as this plane hits the ground, my summer will be officially over. My roommate has moved in this week while I have been in Ontario (at Kairos with Nico). I only have this weekend before school starts. And I only have this airplane ride before real life starts again. Putting my life into perspective, these are some of the things I have learned this summer:
I have learned that you can only change so much. At a certain point you have to learn to be happy with you who are and stop trying to change into the person you want to be. I have always been a firm believer that people can change, and that there is no limit on the change that a person could enact within themselves. I am realizing that this isn’t true. There is a part of me saying I am simply giving up on this ideal because I can’t do it, I can’t become who I wanted to be. But the rest of me is saying that this is a maturing into myself, into learning to like who I am now rather than who I could be.
I have learned to choose my friends wisely. I have learned that I can do better than following someone around. I have learned that I deserve someone who likes me all the time rather than when it suits them. This summer I have found the best friends in those whom I least expected too. I have made many good friends this summer. And I made a couple of bad decisions in who to hang out with. But ultimately I learned that a really good friend is the best thing you can find.
I have learned to make mistakes and to find the wisdom in them. I have learned everyone makes mistakes, everyone makes bad choices, but we need to move from them. I have learned to find the wisdom and the holy in the mistakes that I have made.
Now I must find where to go from here. I must learn to let go of my summer without forgetting these things I know now. I have to find a way to move on with my life after my plane lands. Because all I want to do is put my life on hold for a day or a week or a month, but I know I can’t do this. Life always moves forward. And I have no idea how to do this. But I have half and hour before we hit the ground and so maybe (just maybe) by then I will figure it out. -Kathleen Kerr

Consider the Following

2008-10-14T11:57:00.002-07:00

My topic today: what builds a church? Wood, rocks, and stain-glass windows? When we hear the word “church,” most of us think of a big shiny building featuring copious amounts of each of these and other expensive materials. Tall and grand, the wide church doors are generally expected to welcome their masses onto red carpets and into long, uncomfortable wooden pews, to be seated before a majestic organ system adorned with stain-glass windows and a cross big enough to have crucified Goliath.
Okay, let’s be realistic. Most United Churches aren’t this spiffy. So why do we still love them? What is it about a church that truly designates it as a sacred space? Going a little further, if we had to completely demolish every church and reconstruct them on a tight budget, what would we resurrect first? A question similar to this one was asked at Kairos 2008 this August, with around 80 people were lucky enough to get the week off work to attend. The results from this crowd were paradigm-shifting. Here are some of the key conclusions:
Almost nobody mentioned the building as being important.
Little or no priority was given to obtaining money.
The size of the mass was not a large concern.
In fact, the preference was on small, intimate, individual masses as opposed to one large mass. The biggest concerns were related to people: importance was placed on inclusiveness, community outreach, and open doors (or lack thereof, if you’re going with no building). Tearing down walls is better than putting them up, but what about rain and snow? While there was a lot of excitement around the idea of having outdoor services, weather issues were staved with the concept of holding services in the homes of church members. Not necessarily Bob’s place, but Sue’s one week and Wendy’s the next. The idea of having worship over a meal was introduced and hardly contested. Even the music department was opened to some new ideas—not every United churchgoer has a pipe organ in their basement. And hey, who said we had to stick with Sunday mornings? It certainly does sound like a radically different church, but could it really support a mass? Let’s consider the pros and cons.
The pros: it’s new, it’s different, it’s thinking outside the box. This revolutionary out-of-doors church is sure to raise some eyebrows, perhaps enough to attract newcomers who are afraid of enclosed shrines and large crowds. After all, squeezing between two old ladies to join a sea of unfamiliar faces in singing “retro” tunes on a Sunday morning may be a bit much for a green-horned youth looking to wet his or her spiritual feet. The secure, toned-down nature of a small group talking about God over drumsticks and Saint-Saëns symphonies (on an iPod, not an orchestra) would likely be more conducive to attracting new and more youthful members. Of course, it’s also much less expensive, and as the United Church is starting to learn: you can’t have your church and heat it, too.
The cons: it’s new, it’s different, it’s outside the box! Quite a few of us have been in the church our entire lives, and have come to truly appreciate the spiritual shelter it offers—as it is. To take that away from our veteran members now sounds awfully mean. It means the church is going to shrink very quickly over the next couple decades, but hardship is part of the cycle of the church, right? Will our perseverance in keeping the church the way it always has been traditionally not pay off in the end? The United Church has done great things as a United body, and to separate that body doesn’t sound very conducive to survival. Generally, one doesn’t separate their limbs in hopes of living longer. Unless one of those limbs has cancer...okay, so it isn’t a perfect analogy, but you get where I’m going. United we stand, divided we are conquered; conquered by sin, conquered by conflict, conquered by “I’ll just sleep in today and go next Sunday with twice the spunk.”
So there you have it. A vision of the future? A pipe dream? A generally bad idea? It’s up to you to decide.
-Cory Bentley
A Note from Cory.
Cory here. Nice to meet ya. This is my first time writing an article for WHY, but if all goes well I plan to throw in my contribution more often. So I just want to specify one thing: I’m not writing opinion pieces, my only intention is to bring up interesting or controversial subjects. You know, just to get you thinking (though I’m sure you do plenty of that already). I’ll be writing in a fashion as non-biased as possible, and in an effort to equally present both sides of any issue. The objective: you (yes you, in front of the computer) get to think it out, make an opinion, and debate it with other WHY readers or fellow church-going theologians. Sound good? I hope so, ‘cause if it doesn’t then you won’t like my articles very much. :P

My Gift

2008-10-14T11:57:00.001-07:00

My name is Nico Anderson. I have a gift. Although it is one that people appreciate in others, it is also one that meets criticism, in both direct and indirect ways. That gift is listening. Listening with both heart and mind.
This gift means, for me anyway, that I am more silent than others. Often times I spend more time listening to people rather than actually participating in conversations myself.
People often tell me that I should speak up more; they ask me to tell them what I think about various topics. I don’t always have an answer for them. Don’t get me wrong, I do talk, just not a lot. I’m doing what I do best. Listening. And not only do I listen with my mind but also with my heart. Listening with my heart, I believe, is the most important kind of listening that I can do, even in the midst of criticism.
People just don’t seem to feel comfortable with someone who is quiet. Either that or they don’t understand why I am quiet, and sometimes I feel as if people can’t understand why.
Despite being misunderstood at times, I have honoured and nurtured my gift of listening and I have learned more in listening than I would ever have done in speaking. I have heard people’s stories. I have shared in people’s lives by listening. I have learned more about the cruel realities and the wonderfully joyous celebrations that take place in everyday life.
Because of my listening I understand that, in the words of the song “Come a Long Way”, by Tons Of Fun University, “Everything beautiful about this world is right now”.
I look for the beauty in everything that I listen to. And in that beauty, I see and hear love – love that isn’t always perfect, and is often broken. And in that brokenness comes something greater…that I believe is the truest kind of love – the love of God.
Through our toughest times, our least perfect and most broken times, God shows us love, and embraces us with it. God whispers to us of how we are perfect in our brokenness, of how, no matter what, God will always love and embrace… us.
My gift is listening and I hold to the spiritual truth that God gave me this gift and with it I shall continue to listen to the beauties of life. I will continue to learn about others and experience the cruel and joyous realities of life. In listening I will share in people’s lives and meet God in those people. I shall do this despite any criticism, and I shall try my best to use this gift to its fullest.
I am Nico Anderson, and I thank you for listening – to me.
-Nico Anderson

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (Perfect Moments)

2008-10-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

It’s the moments
When the sun finally shines
It’s those moments
As the darkness brightens
That make everything OK

So today I’ll get up again
Face this darkness that just won’t fade
Find a way to get through this
And know tomorrow I’ll do the same.

So because this is how I live
Because sometimes this is all I know
I wait for that perfect moment,
And I make it through this day.

So now I lay me down to sleep
I’ll pray to God with all I am
That tomorrow the sun will shine,
And I pray to God my soul to keep.

So if I die before I wake
Or if I wake up in the dark
Those perfect moments have to come
Tomorrow can’t be worse.

I’m living for that moment
When the sun must finally shine
I’m waiting for that perfect moment
When the darkness must finally fade.
And I’m hoping it makes everything OK.

-Kathleen Kerr

Happy Summer to You

2008-10-14T11:54:00.001-07:00

Its summer peoples! I know that you are all excited for a summer full of relaxing summer days. I know that I am. Summer is my favorite season. No school, no snow, no worries. My favorite part is the no worries. Summer is a time that almost seems as a pause to the hustle and bustle real life. A chance to simply relax and enjoy life. To take long holidays, or short trips just to get away. Basically, it’s a chance to live simply for the day.
This issue isn’t about anything. It doesn’t have a theme, no underlying thread. Its just a bunch of people writing what is on their heart’s. Because that’s what summer is about. No themes, no big pictures, no anything. Summer is our one chance to forget all the everythings in our lives and to renew our spirits to start fighting our battles again in the fall.
So we hope that you enjoy this issue. We enjoy making it, and it is double fun when people like reading it. It makes it triple (or maybe more) fun when people email us with feedback about our newsletter, so send us an email (our email address is wonderingholyyouth@gmail.com). As you’re amazing comments arrive, we’ll be having a party here on the other end. We want to point out our two superfantabulous guest writers, Jesse Root and Magdalena Jennings, and give them a monster thank you for doing this, and we want you all to give them a little thanks too.
Have a great summer, and we’ll be back with our 2nd anniversary issue in September 2008!

Vison Quest at Future Quest

2008-10-14T11:53:00.003-07:00

We clutch our journals, our water bottles, and our pens: fifteen youth sent to find a place in the woods to sit and ponder. I find a small rock under a tree in the middle of a clearing from which I can see the lake and hear the loons.
    This is the first part of our Vision Quest, on the Future Quest 2007 camping trip. I am supposed to write about what makes me happy, to help me try to find my passion. As I begin my list I notice more and more how often nature is mentioned. Later those who are comfortable unofficially compare lists and on everyone’s nature appears as the thing that makes us happiest. Even those of us who live in cities can become close to nature out here and together we acknowledge an almost primeval love for the earth. At my feet a cricket begins to chirp. He falls silent when I move and so I keep still, and write a poem about him. I ponder the difference in size of our worlds, which are essentially the same one, and I wonder, as I sit here, knowing so much more, if the cricket's world is the better one. And I wonder how much more there is to my world which I don't know.
    At night the members of my campsite sing camp songs and roast marshmallows. We tell stories or discuss the latest computer games and have tooth-brushing parties, spitting into a little hole in the ground. Mornings are spent just talking, perhaps about the previous night's sleep or about animal sightings. We make a fire and soon clutch cups of tea in our hands, shivering a bit in the crisp forest air. One morning we make up spiritual names for each other, matching animals or plants and specific traits to people's characters. This is done with laughter and much joking but the memory stays with me. My name is still special and meaningful to me.
    Later on, we wander up to the next lake to Vision Quest once more. It is a smaller group this time, and we nestle into the grass on the steep bank of this lake to study individual objects around us. I etch every branch and curve in the tree above my head into my memory. I shut my eyes and use my other senses to try to heighten awareness. Suddenly I can feel the activity beneath me in the ground. The sap runs through the roots of the trees, and I can feel a steady rhythm in the burrowing of the worms and the beat of the warm sun and the shivering of the tree. This new attentiveness comes quickly, and with joy I open my eyes to record this moment in my journal. I look around and watch my friends with their eyes closed and suddenly I realize how much of life is not about only us. Yet an utter peace rests on us and calm emanates from us as well. When our leader begins a prayer I can fully and truly appreciate wonder and awe in God, in nature, in the people around me, and in myself.
    Future Quest is an experience I will never forget. It has engraved itself in my memory, like the tree and like the cricket. It has caused me to look within myself to accept the world around me. It has brought me closer to my dreams and to an acceptance, if not an understanding, of how God works in little miracles around us every day.
    A collective gasp emerges from my group in the middle of our prayer. There, floating not twenty metres off shore, is a beautiful and majestic loon. Thank you, God.
-Magdalena Jennings

God Is Good?

2008-10-14T11:53:00.001-07:00

I often wonder why we believe in a God. We live in this world where people want proof of everything. If someone is convicted of a crime, definite proof, reason beyond doubt is required to convict. Society values science and technology, and our lives revolve around these two entities. Everything in our society is based on absolute fact. But yet, here we are, believing in a God of whom we have no proof of actually existing. I mean, according to the legends of our religion, he talked to a bunch of guys thousands of years ago, and in the intervening time between then and now people have whole heartedly believed in this idea, and fought wars and lived lives all based on something of which there is no proof.
So why do we believe in God?
We worship this God, this indefinable, impossible, indescribable being. A phenomenon who has been the cause of more deaths and more wars and more terrors then any other being. A God who makes even the most horrible humans look genuinely nice. We are part of a religion that claims to value humility and kindness and goodness, with a God who wiped out entire civilizations, who demanded we worship him and no one or nothing else, a God who is not always good. But yet we believe in him, in our idealized pictures of flowers and rainbows, a grandfather with a white beard, the one who can forgive all sins. And no one dares to say that God may have sinned too.
And so not only do I wonder why we believe in our God, but I wonder why we worship him.
Maybe it is this underlying darkness, our subconscious knowledge that we worship an imperfect God, that allows us to believe in something so impossible. I know that I am not perfect, and it is good to know that something somewhat imperfect is supposed to be in charge. This way incidents like genocide and hunger and earthquakes can be accepted. While everyone all says that God is in fact perfect and that He Has A Plan, maybe its that little itty bitty tiny bit of me that refuses to worship anything that could have purposefully done these things. And that itty little bit is able to be placated by the thought it was a mistake.
Maybe I worship my God because I want to boost His self confidence, so that maybe in the future he won’t screw up again.
Which may answer why I worship God. But not why I believe he exists in the first place.
Maybe it is a need to blame the world’s problems on someone besides myself. Its God’s fault people are starving, and so God can go ahead and fix Her own problems. Maybe I believe in God because it gives meaning to our lives, because I have to believe that there is something more to life than what is obvious. Maybe it is a need for God to fix our brokenness, maybe we need to know that something is out there to help us through our brokenness.
Which also means that God must be good. Because if he is going to fix my brokenness, he had better be good.
Of course, I truly believe that God is in fact good. I believe in a God who is closer to perfect than any of us ever have hopes to be. I believe in the God of my Grandparents and my Great Grandparents. A God who is loving and caring and wonderful.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t wonder why I believe in him. Why I choose to worship him despite all the things I have seen through human history. Why I worship him with every breath and every song and every step.
Because I believe that God is good.
-Kathleen Kerr

Lean on Me: Lessons in Vulnerability

2008-10-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

Vulnerability. when you hear this word what comes to mind? Is it weakness, struggling, strength, success? I would venture to say that along with myself before I really experienced vulnerability, most of you thought of the negative connotations this word carries. Vulnerability as weakness, vulnerability as something that is a marker of an unsuccessful or very negative experience. I am currently on a 10 month long journey in France, in which I am an aupair, living about ten minutes by train from Paris. This essentially means that I experience the French culture, while working for a French family who pays room and board and a small salary.
Since I have been here, my eyes have been opened to the concept of vulnerability and forced me question what it is. I have seen vulnerability in many forms; in my own life, in the homeless, busking population of Paris, and in society in general. The song “Lean on Me” immediately came to mind when I was thinking about how I would present these thoughts. I think that this very secular song has a great deal of information for us as Christians. It preaches a message that vulnerability is not a problem, but more importantly that we all have moments of vulnerability in our lives, no matter how blessed we are.
As Christians, our role model to lead a Christian lifestyle, Jesus Christ provides (among other things) a specifically powerful lesson when it comes to vulnerability. Jesus voluntarily entered into life. Ultimately he died because he knew nothing else but to be passionately vulnerable to the plan that God had for him. In terms of relating this to my experience I will start with how I have been vulnerable. I have moved away from family, friends, a girlfriend and everything that I knew and loved, because I felt called. Truthfully, there are thousands of reasons why I would have stayed at home, but I went. I am still vulnerable but I have learned many important life lessons along the way. I will be moving out of the family’s home in the next couple of weeks, and into my own apartment, (hard enough in a country that I am familiar with), and for the first time in my life I will be living alone. My relationship with God is what I have to rely on, and I need to be vulnerable to the lessons I am learning in order to succeed in this new, and sometimes scary environment.
Secondly, I have learned so much more to respect the homeless, and busking population that I have really never been confronted with before. I come from a small village of 1000 people, where everyone knows everyone and I have lived there my entire life. All of a sudden I am in a city of three million where my mother tongue is not the language spoken. I have to rely on public transportation, and I experience first hand the big city life, including homelessness, busking, and other big city characteristics. Homeless people and people who display their musical gifts, or dress up in funny costumes, show me an unbelievable level of vulnerability.

They have given up whatever pride they may have had and rely on others often to just survive. The Parisian people, in general are very unresponsive to this incredible sacrifice, and walk by without a second glance.
If we really reflect on the words of the chorus of “Lean on Me” I think that we can learn a lot and implement it into how we live our lives as Christians. First of all I think it is admitting that yes, we do all have times in our lives where we have pain, and sorrow, and it is okay to not be “strong” all the time. Secondly, it is having that person in your life, or people, or God, or all of the above, to help you in your need. And finally, in return, being there for those people when they need you most of all. This way people get along, and response to the question of vulnerability is not: “I can't believe that, that busker is so stupid to give up all his pride to make a couple dollars on the metro,” but becomes “Wow! He/she is completely submitting to the hand that they have been dealt in life, and have the courage to do everything that they can do to live life to the fullest.” This is the mentality that we are called to have as Christians, and it is the mentality that will change the world for the better. Hindrance? Blessing? You tell me.
-Jesse Root

Questions from Eden

2008-10-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about Eden, and what exactly the repercussions of Eden have been on humans since that time. While I have come up with no answers, many questions have arisen. Ponder this...

If God is all knowing why did he have do ask “Where are you?” of Adam and Eve?

Was God just being polite? Did She ask this (Where are You?) because She knew what was coming?

Was God so angry after the Eden incident that it caused Him to become the vengeful God of the old Testament? And if this is true, why do we continue loving God?

What made Eden so special? What made it perfect? Was it the closeness to God or the pretty trees or something all together different?

Does all of our human knowledge of God come from the events of Eden?

After Eden, did God become so separate from us that finding Him again becomes difficult?

Would I have eaten the apple?

Did Eve’s biting the apple separate humanity from God so much that he is not all knowing of us?

Maybe it is the memory of Eden that has created a need for religion. Or maybe we just want to believe that there is something better if we were only better, and thus created the story of Eden.

The basis of all human kind in the Christian traditions said to be coming from what happened in Eden. And maybe this is why humans can never be perfect.

-Kathleen Kerr

A Very Merry Christmas to You!

2007-12-22T12:17:00.003-08:00

If you have looked out your window lately you may have seen snow, lights on string, and some weird decorated trees. In case you didn’t know, this means that it is almost Christmas. Which means all sorts of good things– a break from school, fabulous food, some great presents, and all the happiness and joy that goes along with these things. We think that Christmas is a great thing.

However, along with all these things, is the craziness of the season, the stress of gift buying, the Christmas pageants, the cookies to make, the perfect tree to find… Christmas may be great, but its also full of stress. So this Christmas we want to remind you of the joys and happiness of Christmas. After all, it is basically a birthday party.

I wonder sometimes why no one ever sings Happy Birthday on Christmas. You hear “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” or “Silent Night” but despite the fact that Christmas is supposed to be all about Jesus’ birthday, no one ever sings him happy birthday.

But anyways, I’m digressing. In the hustle and bustle of Christmas, we hope you get a chance to relax and read our newsletter. We have had fantastic submissions from some great readers, so be sure to watch out for their articles. We are still madly in love with our contributors, and really, so should you. Without them their would be no WHY, and really, that would suck. So wherever you are, we want you to say a great big thank you to them (and we don’t care that they can’t hear you)!

Anyways, we hope you have a great Christmas, and a fantastic New Year! Enjoy the newsletter!
- Kathleen (and Charley)

Once Upon a Time… and Happily Ever After

2007-12-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

You may be wondering how this newsletter came to be. Perhaps found its way into your inbox, or at your church, or maybe some which has left you are wondering… what exactly is WHY?
WHY is a newsletter made for youth and by youth of the United Church of Canada. It was started by Charley Switzer and Kathleen Kerr in the summer of 2006– the first issue coming out that September. We strive to make people wonder, question, and ask. We are all about you, your friends, that guy you barely know. We’re about church and God and religion and faith.
If you would like to receive any back issues, or would like to be put on the mailing list for future issues, email us at wonderingholyyouth@gmail.com, and we’ll be sure to put you on the mailing list! Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to provide hard copies by mail.

God and Love

2007-12-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

When you hear mention of God, what do you think of? For myself, I think of a parent. Of a great mother, a great father who is always there; who is ever present. And when I, then, think of my relationship with God, I think of myself as a little child, who scraps his knee and goes running back to God, that great mother, for healing; for a gentle kiss on the place that hurts, that kiss that’ll make everything better.
It’s not always easy, though, to get back to God. Sometimes I find myself wandering more and more away from God and less and less into Her love. There are times when I feel lonely and scared, like a little child, and just wanting to find my way home to the home where She is, where She can kiss it all better. But sometimes to get back home, there is a big hill to walk back up, or a giant mountain to climb. Or some other difficult obstacle.
I sometimes ask myself how I ever got to this place, how I could’ve gotten myself to get to this point. More times than not I find myself clueless, without an answer. And sometimes it can seem that the road back up can be so hard. For a while, while I try to make my way back up to God, I feel as if I am almost there. I can almost feel the warmth of God’s radiant love shining on me, like I’m right at the edge of being home again. Then I slip back again, back into the cold and harsh world that we call life, reality.
It’s in these times when I feel most like that small child, most afraid. I feel like crying. A lot of times, in fact, I do. Most of the time it doesn’t make me feel any better though. Actually, I often feel worse. I feel alone, even if I am not. I feel as if I have been abandoned. And when I see so many people around me who are overflowing with love and happiness and with an overall plain joy, I often wish I could be like them and know what that is like once again.
There is a saying that goes “You can’t buy love”. Well, that seems like a very true statement. “Love” that has been bought is not really love at all. It’s just a cheap imitation, a little plastic toy that you take off the shelf in a 10-cent store. It ends up useless and void, because it is not real. Not true love. Real love is something that holds dear in your heart. It is something that holds strong in your soul. It clasps on to your very being, seeping down into you and filling a dark void to make you closer to a whole, rather than a crumbled up bunch of pieces; a jigsaw puzzle that seems almost impossible to figure out and complete.
Sometimes I feel afraid to even attempt to try to put the puzzle together. I’m afraid of what I might find if, in the very end, I do put it all together. I don’t know if I do want to know. Sometimes it seems that I would prefer the struggle and the hurt more than I would the complete puzzle. I’m afraid that in the completion of the puzzle I’ll find something in myself that I did not want to see, imperfection. A broken spirit. A soul in the form of a small, scared child. That’s the truth of it. And through it all, there is still a part of me, somewhere inside, that wants to be loved and embraced by God. I still want to know that there is love out there that will keep me and hold me and let me know that everything will be alright in the end.
So maybe, one day, I will finish the jigsaw puzzle. And who knows what I’ll find there. Maybe I’ll find that love that I’ve been searching for. Maybe I’ll find God in all Her glory, standing there with arms wide open and smiling. And as I walk the distance between her and I, She’ll say, “Welcome home my child. Welcome home my dearest son. I am glad that you have returned.”
When I feel lonely, lost, and hurting, maybe, just maybe, I’ll remember this. And in the deepest, most desolate, and most dark part of me, a little light will shine. And I’ll smile because I’ll know, with all my heart, that no matter where I am, I am home when I am with God. Thanks be to God.
- by Nico Anderson

Me to We: Turning Self-Help on its Head

2007-12-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

Millions turn to self-help in pursuit of happiness and success. But perhaps the idea of helping ourselves- self-help- is completely backwards. Maybe, fulfillment, success, and happiness can be found when we turn from ‘me’ (focusing on ourselves) to ‘we’ (reaching out to help others).

It’s been awhile since I have read a book that has left me feeling sure of what I want to do with myself, with a firm sense of direction. And that’s saying a lot considering I’m at that point where university applications, scholarships, and that 100%-tried-true-and-tested clichéd conversation “so what do you want to do (with your life) after high school?” is perpetually popping up.

Written by Craig and Marc Kielburger, “Me to We: Turning Self-Help on its Head” is a book that challenges every individual to think outside themselves and reach out to help others, create community, and change the world. As hard as we might try, life will never be completely meaningful if we base our success on materialistic gains and isolate ourselves in the race to be the ‘best.’ Moving from ‘me’ to ‘we’ can be as simple as offering a smile or holding open a door; it’s about volunteering and caring for you neighbours; it’s about taking small steps toward changing the world.

When you stop to think about global issues plaguing our world today, it’s overwhelming. Poverty. War. Racism. Starvation. Terrorism. Climate change- the list goes on and on. “I’m only one person- how the heck can I make a difference?” But the truth is, you can. (Surprisingly) nobody has one direct answer. (“According to Mr. E-Z-Solve, world hunger can be eliminated if we follow these 1352 simple steps…” yeah right.)

However, each of us can make a ripple- albeit a small one- which might affect someone else, which might reach someone else, and perhaps someone else. The challenge is in recognizing that each of us can be part of that wave by reaching out and working together. You don’t have to do something worthy of the six-o’clock news for your actions to be ‘worthwhile.’ Simply caring for one another, sharing gifts of time and talents, being generous and selfless all count. And in taking that step to help someone else, we are left feeling pleased with ourselves, content with our lives, and happy. Simple.

“Me to We” outlines the ‘steps’ to happiness but not in terms of ridiculous schemes or crazy money-spending ploys. Instead its pages of stories, inspiration, and down-to-earth ideas encourage, motivate and empower. I was left feeling incredibly optimistic about our world and my life- and I would most definitely recommend this book.
- by Charley Switzer

Just a Little Something

2007-12-22T12:10:00.000-08:00

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yeah," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them." The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are." Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have. Appreciate every single thing you have!

- The other day, my dad shared this email with me and it really puts life into perspective… something we need to keep with us, especially during the holiday season. Amongst all the hype about wish lists and wants and gifts and expenses, it can be easy to lose track of what really counts in life. Take a second during all the craziness that Christmas usually entails to appreciate what you do have.

What’s the Big Idea?

2007-12-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

Do you have a big idea for youth ministry in the church? What would you suggest if the national church asked you.
This was the challenge that a dozen youth and I faced this October in Toronto. We were participating in a Youth Think Tank Meeting with Rick Garland and Amy Crawford, the national youth and young adult reps at General Council.
The day was full of animated discussions, careful listening, and creative ideas. Each person had their own ‘big’ idea. For Jamie Wood, the idea that stood out the most was the “invention of a website for the youth in the United Church; a resource to keep youth updated on what’s going on and what it means to be a United Church Youth today!” This way, youth could be connected to other congregations and events. Just think, wouldn’t it be great if you were out of ideas for ‘what to do,’ you log onto the site and there are ideas from other youth across the country to share! It certainly holds promise!
Along with all our dreaming, we also provided our feedback on several major youth proposals that have been submitted to the GC Office. There was a sense that the national youth ministry from GC “should have a broad focus on many youth, not specific youth in specific programs,” explained Charlie Peters.
Aside from all the meeting ‘stuff’, we also had an opportunity to check out life in the big TO, feasting in Chinatown and strolling down trendy Queen Street!
So I pose a challenge, if YOU have any big ideas please send them to W.H.Y. and we’ll be sure to publish them in our next issue!! (There’s no judges, but we’ll be sure to feature them in big, bright letters for all to see!!!)
- by Charley Switzer

Check it Out!!

2007-12-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Here are some great upcoming events to check out:

Kairos 2008

If you are between the ages of 18 and 30, we want to invite you to join us for Kairos 2008. Kairos is a national event of the United Church of Canada that is specifically intended for young adults. It is hosted every three years by a different Conference and London Conference is proud and excited to be hosting in the coming year. From August 24th-29th, 2008, young adults from all across Canada will gather at Five Oaks United Church Education and Retreat Centre (near Paris, ON) and live in community together for one week. There will be opportunities for fun and games, learning and discussion, music and art, worship and prayer. We will eat, sing, talk, laugh and celebrate Sabbath together.

Our theme for Kairos 2008 is “It Matters.” We will be wrestling with the questions of what matters for us as young adults, what matters for the church and what matters for the world we live in. The five theme streams that will take place during the week will focus on the topics of the environment, political activism, arts and creativity, technology and leadership. We will celebrate Sabbath together, worship together, and engage in discussions together, while also striving to create time for people to be alone with God in nature.

Head to the website (www.kairos2008.ca) to check out the video and stay tuned for registration packages and more information. Everything will be posted online as soon as it becomes available.

We look forward to seeing everybody next summer!
- by Kerri Graham

A Wondering Holy Youth Christmas

2007-12-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

What I wanted was a clever title for this section. Perhaps “have a WHY-te Christmas” or “We Wish you a Why-re Christmas” however I realized how silly this sounded, and went with the title you see now.
Perhaps just as you are finishing your Christmas shopping, you’re haunted by a feeling that you still have one more gift to get, but you just can’t think of what it is. Do not fear, we know who you have forgotten. You’ve forgotten us– WHY needs some Christmas presents too.
“What on earth could a newsletter need for Christmas?” you ask yourself, or perhaps “Is a piece of paper really asking me for a Christmas present?” Well, let me answer these questions for you, in a handy shopping list of sorts.
1. Articles– Write! Write! Write! We know you all have Christmas break coming up soon (Yes, we are psychic) and therefore we know you will have all sorts of spare time to write us an uber-fantastic article. So pick up that pencil (or pen or typewriter or keyboard), and write away! (then don’t forget to send your works to us)
2. Pictures– perhaps you will get a camera from Christmas. And then by chance you take about a billion pictures with it. And just maybe some of them will be good. And then, you send them to WHY so that we can include fantastic pictures amongst our pages. Alternatively, take some pictures with your old camera, or your parents camera, or that camera you found on the sidewalk, and send us those fantastic inspirational pictures!
3. Your email address– no, we are not going to stalk you or send you all sorts of junk, we just want to send you future issues, so that you don’t miss out!
4. Feedback– did you like the articles in this issue? Was there something that resonated especially for you? Do you just find WHY to be special in general? Do you have idea’s for what you would like to see in future issues? Tell us all about it. We love our feedback, (all of it). We’d love to know all of these things. We’d love to know anything about you actually, where you first heard of WHY, or maybe about something amazing that has happened in your life that you just have to share. Well then, EMAIL us!

Happy Birthday to Us!

2007-10-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

We’ve made it! One year, and we are still going strong. If you had asked us a year ago where we would be at this point, or even if we would exist any more, only in our wildest dreams would we have guessed to have made it this far. Working on W.H.Y has been such a fantastic experience for us, and we want to say a huge thank you to everyone has helped us reach this point- from our readers, our guest writers, and those around us who helped us to get started- we owe you so much.
WHY is about inspiring and questioning. It’s about confusion and straightening everything out again. It’s for youth, by youth, about what’s important to us, and about what isn’t. It’s about life, and where God fits in.
In this issue we have some fantastic articles from superb guest writers– Jamie Wood wrote about his struggles in faith, Jake Autio sent us his personal mission statement, and Jessica Baird shared her birthday story. Hopefully you enjoy these articles, and the others inside! Happy Birthday to us!
-Charley and Kathleen

My Testimony

2007-10-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

When I was in public school I wasn’t exactly the same as I am now. was more of a shy child; I kept to myself, was quiet and somewhat of a loner. I had some friends, yes, but not really any close ones. I never really felt I had anyone. I always felt alone. Often, I was teased about my weight, about how I dressed, about what type of music I listened to. I was called stupid. I was called a freak. I was picked on, laughed at, and ignored. I rode the bus to school each morning dreading reaching the classroom because I knew that I would never be able to lift my head. I would never be able to face those who tormented me.

I began to fall into a serious depression. I fell deeper and deeper into a sad, dark place that I didn’t think I would ever return from. I began to doubt the truth of God. I began to question how there could ever be a higher divine power if I was feeling such pain. How could he let me go through this? Why won’t he stop these people saying these mean things? God, are you there? Can you hear me? Why won’t they stop? Why do they call me a fat ass? Why do they hurt me at lunch time? I don’t understand. I don’t know why they won’t stop. And I started to turn away from my faith. I thought that it all must be a lie. God? What God? If there was a God, why am I like this? Why are they treating me like this? There is NO God!
When this happened, my life took a turn for the worse. I didn’t feel any better without my beliefs. I felt worse. I felt scared. I felt anguish. It never went away and I would cry myself to sleep, night after night. I then feared going to school. It was so horrible for me that I would pretend to be sick so that my mom would allow me to stay home. Then when I reached grade seven my depression came to a point. I began doing rebellious things that would grasp people’s attention so I could feel like someone loved me. I would steal things from my parents so that they would notice me. I would act out in class and purposely fail tests so that the teacher would have to talk to me. I even challenged a popular boy to a fight because he wouldn’t leave me alone. I tried anything just so that I could feel some purpose to the meaningless life I thought I was living. It was pointless and senseless and I could not find any light. I was in a world of darkness.

In this world of darkness I found a knife; a jagged-edged, steak knife that I grabbed from a kitchen drawer at 12 a.m. I walked down my hallway to the very last room, my room, and opened the door. I laid in my bed and cried. I laid there and watched the knife under the red light of my alarm clock. Moments later I took this steak knife and I began to cut myself. I took the very tip and dug into my skin. The cut was only a few centimetres long but it hurt. I lifted the knife and lost control, crying fiercely. How had I reached this point? Where did my life go wrong? Why did this happen to me? I laid there with these and many other questions racing through my mind. And as I cried I fell asleep with the knife in my hand.

Throughout the next two years of my life, I went on being a shadow. I never again attempted to hurt myself but I didn’t feel the same. I felt sorrow that today I can not imagine feeling ever again. I went on mindlessly, going from day to day.

And then I reached grade nine. In February of 2003, my minister Eric Skillings suggested that I attend London Conference Youth Forum. I, still having major doubts in my faith, didn’t want anything to do with this “lame-o” faith event. My mom pressured me that I should attend, so I made it seem that I was greatly anticipating this event. Driving to Pearce Williams (a UCC camp) for the first time I sat impatiently, wishing the whole weekend was just over already. I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to go back home and just sleep.

I stepped outside and went to the opening games. We were playing ‘Odd Man Out.’ One of the very first people I met was Becky Carlyle; a girl full of faith, hope and generally fantastic optimism. I was wondering why she was so happy? I just wanted to hop back in the van and here she was, all bubbly and crazy. But she had an affect on me. I realized there must be something to this event that could be worthwhile if this crazy girl was bouncing off the walls about it. I continued through the evening and kept an open mind.

That night I met Pat Morrison and Alex Connon for the first time. Pat was my home group leader and Alex my planner. These two in combination placed me in awe. That night I let God back into my life. We discussed how we were feeling about the weekend, how we were connecting, and several other topics. They opened my heart. The immediate welcome and openness I felt was overwhelming. I felt so touched and so loved that I rushed at the chance to have God a part of my life again. I felt a hole slowly fill in that home group meeting and I am never going to forget that night.

Throughout the remainder of the weekend I met others who were also catalysts within my faith. People like Geoffrey Brooks, Zan Gonyou, Tori Laird and Marilyn Arthur. These people brought me through that weekend and changed my life. They had helped me out of that dark place. Reaching out their hands, together they pulled me up. Up into a place that I will NEVER ever leave! Youth Forum and its’ people saved my life. After that first year I became a completely new person. I evolved into someone completely different. I became the new-and-improved Jamie Wood. The loving, crazy, spontaneous, completely random, funny, compassionate young man I am before you now.

I just want to thank every single person I have met at the five youth forums I have attended since that original miracle (including General Council Youth Forum). You have all made such a major impact in my life, more than you could ever know. You are the people I love, you are the people I cherish, you are the people that I live for! You are the reason I am alive. You are all so special in your own way and I love you, thank you for being who you are and for being a large part of my life. I shall never forget youth forum, the memories that were made there, and the outstanding people I have connected with over these four blessed years. Thank you God for Youth Forum!
-Jamie Wood

Mission Statements

2007-10-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Jake sent us his personal mission statement this summer. If you are in need of direction, or for no reason at all, we would encourage you to write your own. It’s a fun way to discern God’s purpose for us and to discover yourself. Reading Jake’s statement got Kathleen thinking; below is her mission statement.

Jake’s Mission Statement

I will live my life to its fullest in balance and harmony
I will live healthily both mentally and physically
I will teach and inspire students of all stages of life
I will commit my self to life long learning

I will fulfill the purpose God set for me
I will provide the world with music, spreading passion and love
I will love another human being and love my children
I will work hard to reach all my goals
I will take time to relax and enjoy what has been given to me

I will explore the world for its wonders and excitements
I will travel and see the diverse cultures of the world
I will expose myself to challenges
I will try new things
I will cherish my life and love the earth

I will live my life to its fullest in balance and harmony.
-Jake Autio

Kathleen’s Mission Statement

I believe in doubt, and I believe in doubt as a means of faith. Somewhere I’ve heard, that to doubt is to care. By wondering and questioning and just not knowing, somehow it proves we care enough to think it through. That we are not just going along with something to be part of the latest trend, but we actually are putting thoughts into our beliefs and actions. That we care enough to try to find the truths we are searching for.
So I believe in doubt.

I believe in dreams, and in following them. There are always opportunities that can be followed. New dreams can be dreamt when the old ones vanish. What is the point of continuing if you have nothing to look forward to, if you have nothing to follow?
So I believe in dreams.

I believe in choices. I believe that every action is a choice, and that every choice matters. The choices that you make define your life, define who you are. The choices that you make ,more than anything else, show what you truly believe in .
So I believe in choices.

I believe in life. I believe that while bad thing happen, they’re necessary, and make you appreciate the good things. Life is bigger than death, light is easier to find than shadow, not to mention more fun. Life is what we’re all here for, so we might as all live it!
So I believe in life.

I believe in God, who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the word make flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others to by spirit, I trust in God*. God’s the one who knows all my problems, all my pains and joys, all my hearts desires, the one I talk to every day. My doubts, my dreams, my choices, and my life, all lead me back to my belief in God.
So I believe in God.

Experience in Mission

2007-10-08T13:46:00.001-07:00

It’s not something we contemplate often, but what comes to mind when you think of mission? Helping others usually pops up- whether they live overseas, in poverty, or lack basic needs. Usually it involves traveling somewhere new. This is true, but I have come to see mission as a broader term; it’s about being present in the lives of others, encompassing everything from volunteering physical labor to sitting and reading to someone old or ill, whether it be afar or in your own community. Mission involves moving outside yourself to share your time and talents, but it also includes giving and receiving love.
I spent 12 days this summer on the GO Project in Toronto. It was an experience of living and serving in a community totally different from my own back home in rural Alberta. Islington, where we stayed, is no stranger to change. Once a small village, it was swallowed up by Toronto. Now it is home to a myriad of different people. To one side of Islington United Church live upper-middle-class people with beautiful houses, beamers, and escalades. Right next door stand a series of apartments where people from all corners of the world call home. This juxtaposition between culture, wealth, history, and class create a unique challenge.
Part of our experience involved running a children’s day camp. This was free for any of the kids in the neighborhood, and for many, a highlight of their summer. They were amazing kids and I know they captured the hearts of all of us on the GO Project. One youngster, Qwabie, was a bundle of three-year-old adorableness. Even when he was causing ‘trouble’ you couldn’t help but love him, his smile and bright eyes. Twice he fell asleep, and he was so cute!! Adla was another young girl whose story stands out in my memories. She arrived in Canada in May. Her English was excellent considering that, but she was quite nervous to talk at first. While there may have been a few things lost in translation, she shared something very special with me. One afternoon we were creating ‘wanted’ posters . I had envisioned the kids drawing evil bad guys, but many of them instead drew things that they truly did want. Jessica wanted her dog back; Bethany wanted her friend from Serbia to return to Canada; Adla wanted to see her friends and a teacher who still live in Bosnia. It almost broke my heart to realize these kids, far younger than myself, have faced such real struggles in their lives already.
Along with the Children’s Program, we also visited three mission sites throughout Toronto. On one such morning, we found ourselves at the Maybelle Food Program, just a couple blocks from Islington United Church. Every Wednesday, a group of volunteers set up the food in a local gym. It arrives from Daily Bread, which is like a massive warehouse for all the food banks in Toronto. It is then arranged on a loop of tables, transforming the gym into more of a community grocery store. Each of the volunteers was paired up with a client to walk through the food. While there were limits set on the food as to how much each person could take, they had some choice- Lucky Charms or Cocoa Puffs? This created an element of community between clients and volunteers alike because everyone was working together; it wasn’t a here’s-your-bag-of-food type atmosphere.
Like the kids at the day program, each of the clients at the food program taught me so much. Many of them were immigrants who knew very little to no English. As I took one older Ukrainian lady through, we ran into some confusion with translation. Yes, she wanted soup but no, she didn’t want beans in sauce, and what on earth is Brisk Green Tea Apple Juice??? As we waited in front of the pasta ‘selection,’ she reached around and gave me a small hug. Love is truly universal. It seemed to say, ‘don’t worry, everything will be alright.’
These stories are only glimpses into the depth of what I experienced on my mission trip in Toronto. I was most certainly challenged, especially when I tried to think of how I would bring home what I had learned and find opportunities for mission in my little, rural community. Oyen, as you may have guessed, holds completely different challenges from Toronto. Which is why I had to think of mission as ‘being present in the lives of others.’ Otherwise, I couldn’t think of one thing my community needed. But mission doesn’t have be working in a soup kitchen, or going to Africa, or on a trip to Mexico (although that is still important). Mission isn’t necessarily ‘doing,’ but ‘being.’ It’s about being in the community, in your community; being present in the lives of others.
So stop reading for a moment and think. Where does your community need you? Could you be needed playing with kids, or reading at a senior’s home, or helping your neighbor paint their fence? Encourage others to join you. Mission is about working together, loving, and caring for one another. I had to travel across four provinces to learn this valuable lesson; now I’m being a positive influence in my very own community- and it’s still mission.
-Charley Switzer

Experience in Mission

2007-10-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

My New Eyes

2007-10-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

I recently got a “free spiritual reading.” You may have seen these at a fair, or a trade show, or some other major event. I had never been sure what exactly a spiritual reading was, but I assumed it was a bit like having your fortune told. Someone would look into my eyes, perhaps look at my hands, ask me some basic questions, and then tell me that in the future I will find a tall, dark, handsome man, I’ll go on vacation in Venice, and that much happiness is in store for me. Then every time I’d meet a tall, dark handsome man, I’d assume he was my soul mate, I’d dream of Venice every night, and the power of positive thinking would bring the happiness she was talking about.
Yeah… that is not at all what a spiritual reading is.
My friend and I sat down at a little table, so short our knees kept hitting it, and a kindly older lady sat across from us, much like the ones you might see at church (who every week pinch your cheeks and tell you how much you’ve grown). She began by asking if we had accepted Jesus as our personal saviour. Not quite what we expected but OK... After a bit of a spiel about how Jesus died for us, followed by a hugely awkward repeat after my prayer thanking Jesus, she began. However, rather than explaining to us how our futures looked, she instead told us about the state of our relationship with God. She told my friend that God “just wants to be friends” with her, and clarified to me that God feels like I’m drifting away from him.
After she told us this, we were getting ready to leave. Anxious to get away, we started into a conversation about how I had lost my glasses just previously that day. She asked if we would like to pray about it. Being that I am ridiculously blind without my glasses, by this point anything that may have helped me to find them was welcome. So, expecting a quick prayer asking God to help me find my glasses, or something along those lines, I closed my eyes. “Heavenly Father,” she said, “Please give Kathleen new eyes.” That’s right, new eyes. Not help her find her glasses, not help her get new glasses, not even help her eyes get better, but rather, give her brand-spanking-new eyes. She goes on, mentioning how yes, God can do that because hey, he is God.
I’m not going to lie. At first I thought that she was totally nuts. New eyes? Really, let’s make Kathleen the first person ever to randomly receive new eyes. Can you imagine the practicalities behind getting new eyes- what would happen to my old ones? What colour would they be? Would these new eyes actually be able to see any better, or would my eyesight be even worse? Not to mention the idea that rather than solving world hunger or stopping wars, or fighting criminals, God’s going to spend time in giving me eyes. Right.
However, after the original hilarity of the situation passed, after I had found my way home, and was reflecting back on the day, I realized something. This woman had actually believed that God could give me new eyes. Her faith was so strong that she believed God would reach out and give me those new eyes. She wasn’t caught up in the practicalities, but truly believed that God would just deal with my problem, and that if he so wanted, he could give me those new eyes. Her faith was unwavering, and she really believed that this could happen. Though I’m sure she has come across people who were perhaps less discrete than us in the differences of belief, she was ready to just out and say it- that she believed God could give me knew eyes, and still solve world hunger.
So maybe God did give me new eyes that day. I mean, I still can’t read a sign that is more than a foot in front of my face without my glasses on, but maybe he changed the way I see people. Because whereas previously I would have passed this well meaning, perfectly nice lady off as nuts, off-her-rocker, and maybe just a little bit crazy, now I don’t. I see her as a person who has such a strong faith that she truly believes God can and will do anything, if we just ask. While I still don’t necessarily believe the same things about God as she does, and while I’m sure she meant to give me new eyes in a more physical sense, my sight did change. I’ve become more open to different beliefs, and the strength that people have to proclaim them all in front of others. It has perhaps made me a bit more willing to share my views, despite them being different than the person’s who I’m sharing them with. My new figurative eyes see the world in a different way.
Mind you, I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to new eyes with 20/20 vision, in a nice shade of green.
-Kathleen Kerr

Trust

2007-10-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

Birthdays are something special, especially in the Christian faith. When we celebrate Jesus’ birth, through stories and traditions, we also explore and challenge our faith.
Recently, I celebrated my 19th birthday. In the weeks leading up to it, I took the time to prepare something that would be enjoyable for my friends and me. Preparation is important- it makes the moment more special when it arrives. Noah prepared for the great flood by building the ark. Mary and Joseph prepared as best they could for the coming of their son Jesus Christ, in the stable. I took the time to create what should have been a wonderful party.
However on the night of my birthday, one of my friend’s wallets was stolen. It was frightening and left me feeling very upset and broken inside. A huge part of my faith is, as God tells us, “thou shall not steal.” My values had been betrayed and I felt I could never trust anyone or have them trust me.
The bible speaks about how Jesus’ friend Judas betrayed him before Jesus was crucified. At Jesus’ last supper, Judas left, as did some of the girls at my party. Both of these events were suppose to be something special and memorable. Even though Jesus’ experience of betrayal was huge compared to mine, I felt like I could relate to it. I too was left behind, betrayed, and shattered by people who I thought were my friends. Jesus experienced much of the same feelings; however, he forgave and still forgives others for what they do. I know I do too, but it’s really hard to rebuild trust with someone who steals and betrays.
Of course I won’t forget my party, but when I think about my birthday, it hurts inside. Betrayal leaves damage behind that takes time to heal. Time to figure out how to “Forgive and forget” (as sung in the Dixie Chicks song, “I’m Not Ready to Make Nice).
My special night did still have some sparkling moments of fun, excitement, and love. Perhaps what I needed to begin healing came in the form of the gifts. One present I received reminded me of the birth of our holy one- a yellow shawl that sparkled with silver. Wearing the shawl, I felt comforted by its peace and warmth. Just like wrapping babies at birth has them feeling welcomed into a life of love, my shawl comforts me.
Following my birthday ordeal with the stolen wallet, there was little I could do but put my worries and pain into the hands of God. I had to trust God. Even as a young woman with a strong faith in God, I was scared to trust the Lord. It was a test of my faith. Perhaps, though, with all of our deepest struggles, all we can do is trust God.
- Jessica Baird
(I would like to give great thanks for my wonderful friends…especially Mandy. God loves you, as do I)

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

2007-06-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

So its time to write another introduction. Where did the last three months go? We really have no idea. What we do know is that somewhere in the craziness of it all, we managed to get a newsletter done– though just barely. We suddenly realized in mid-May that we had no articles, and that we hadn’t even started. So a mad flurry of writing began, we begged for a few articles from friends, and even got one emailed to us at the last second without us having to beg. So it all came together, and now it’s in your hands.
WHY is all about wondering. You may have gotten that from the name. Because no one has all the answers, we’re all stuck wondering about the could be’s and the maybe’s. And while we don’t have the answers either, we want to try to ask some of the questions. We want to inspire you to ask your own questions. What we really want though, is to create a newsletter than you can have a bunch of fun reading, while being inspired.
Make sure you check out our articles by super spectacular guest writers, “The Great I Am,” “The Trouble with Consumerism,” and “At the Edge,” along with all of our other articles, pictures, and content.
We hope you have a fantastic summer, whatever your plans may be. Be sure to watch for us again in early September 2007!

THE TROUBLE WITH CONSUMERISM

2007-06-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

As human beings, we are fundamentally shaped by our environments. It’s just the way we are, it is our nature as social animals to adapt our lives to varying social conditions. And as anyone who’s ever taken an anthropology class will attest, the social and cultural environment we find ourselves in affects not only what we do, but how we think. How we conceive of the world around us, the way that we see our lives, the concept of the human person is all moulded and shaped by the situations in which we find ourselves within society. And the environment that we share as Canadians in this 21st century is one that encourages mass consumption of goods.
We live in a consumerist environment, it’s true. If you live in an urban setting, just stepping out onto the street places you in the midst of a barrage of advertising, from billboards to bus stops. Even in if you dwell in the country, the simple act of flicking on the television, opening the newspaper or connecting to the internet exposes you to advertisement after advertisement, letting you know what stuff you should want and why. Every waking moment is seen as an opportunity to insinuate products into our lives. Mega department stores are everywhere, 24 hour shopping centres are the norm. Teenagers actually enjoy spending time at the mall- that epitome of the consumerist mindset, where seeing, wanting and buying fuse into one beautiful activity- shopping. See it. Want it. Buy it. See it. Want it. Buy it. And we do it all the time.
Now, there are many, many things wrong with this societal pressure to consume (and I’d love to go into them all, but that would make this an incredibly lengthy piece indeed). But I think the most harmful of its effects is the way in which a consumerist mindset encourages us to see ourselves.
First of all, everything that we buy is material. It is inanimate. It has no soul. We feel free to judge it, scrutinise it, compare it to the leading competitor. Everything is seen by its qualities, how it is useful to us, what makes it special, why we should buy it. We have become very savvy, us consumers, we know what is a good buy and what is a rip-off because we have been conditioned since the time of conscious thought that to do well in a consumerist environment, we need to be good choice-makers. This type of thought would be okay if it just applied to consumer products; the things that are 100% produced by and made for human beings. But that’s not the way it works. When you’ve been conditioned to number one: be a consumer and number two: be a smart consumer, and you mix that with an environment in which every activity from taking the bus to opening an email to communicating with friends involves some aspect of the consumer cycle, the culture of scrutiny is going to make the leap, and it has.
Within this type of environment, people become things. Persons are judged to be worthy or unworthy by specific qualities, by how useful they are to us, by what makes them special. Tragically, I saw this in High School all the time. I saw it in students liking teachers who gave them easy grades because good grades meant a good transcript, which was good for the student. I saw it at career fairs, where students were given tips on how to make themselves seem ‘marketable’, how to best ‘sell themselves’, like a product on a shelf. I saw it whenever a friend got a bad mark on a test, their sense of inadequacy reaching far beyond what was indicated by the test itself. The mark did not just indicate how much of the course material they had learned, it came to symbolise how worthy they were as human beings. It’s everywhere, people feeling like failures because they don’t measure up to some arbitrary standard: they don’t make enough money, aren’t muscular enough, don’t look like the women on the commercials, aren’t a perfect super-parent. Yes, indeed, the culture of scrutiny and comparison has made the leap.
As people of God, we know that this is not right. We are not products that
can be rated against each other. We do not gain or lose worthiness by how attractive we are, how high our GPA is, how fast we can run or how much money we make. Each individual is fashioned by God, made with tenderness and loved with a fiery passion that cannot be extinguished. We are not loved because of what we can do or cannot do, by what actions we have taken or failed to take, we are loved because we are. The worthiness of a living creature cannot be gauged by some standard set of measures; we cannot be told who is better and worse by how well they fit specific criteria. No, we are all loved simply for being, for being the wonderful, glorious, beautiful children of a benevolent God.
And so, I do not like malls. I don’t read advertisements. I don’t want another pair of jeans or an ipod or a gaming system, no matter how many new features it may have. I don’t allow my possessions to define me, and I do not want any more possessions. As a child of God I feel called to take pleasure in the life around me, to find fulfilment in the warm sunshine, the call of birds in the evening, the wonder of the human creatures around me. For these are the manifestations of God, the wonderful gifts that are valuable beyond measure, more beautiful than anything that can be bought or sold. Thanks be to God!
- Hannah Mang-Wooley

BELIEF IS SOMETHING SPECIAL

2007-06-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

There are moments in my life when I just don’t know. I don’t know if what I’m doing with my life is the right thing to do, I don’t know what to put in my lunch, and I don’t know if I believe in God. And in these moments it occurs to me that everything I’ve been living for could be a myth, and that there really might not be anything more to life than what is blatantly obvious.
It’s in these moments that I really just want someone to tell me what’s going on. Someone who can tell me with absolute certainty that everything is going to be Ok, so that I too can be absolutely certain. There is this part in me yearning for everything I’m doing and everything I believe in to be right, while another part tells me its all wrong.
In these moments I get scared that I’ll never just know, ever again, and that I’ll forever be stuck in this wondering, questioning phase. In these moments I just want someone who can just tell me “this is how it is, this is how/what you should believe.” The thing is though, that realistically even if someone tried to do this for me, I wouldn’t listen. I’d probably think they were crazy. It’s unlikely that I’d agree with everything they said, and so I couldn’t simply blindly accept everything they said as truth. I’d only get my back up and in the end be left with even more confusion.
And if I was absolutely certain, then it wouldn’t be a belief any more, it would be knowledge. Some how God and Jesus would all end up in the same category as math and the guy down the street; just the way it is. And really these things are not in the same category, and never should be. God and Jesus are supposed to be thought of as more than a random celebrity or historical figures somehow they are supposed to be above these things. Somehow I think that if you knew with absolute certainty that these beings were out there, the lack of wonder and mystery would make it difficult to separate them from the people you learn about in your history textbooks or on MTV.
So maybe I like this phase after all. The whole wonder/confusion thing. Or maybe I just wish I could have certainty that I was on the right track without having to lose the wonder of it all. For now though I think that maybe belief is all about not knowing, that’s what makes it different from knowledge. Really, it’s unlikely that we’re ever going to know. So I’ll deal with the moments of disbelieve, and hang on to the moments of certainly. I’ll remember that I choose to believe, and that belief is something special and knowledge is every day. And I’ll know that I believe.
-Kathleen Kerr

THE GREAT I AM

2007-06-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

In the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14 to be exact), God’s name is given as YHWH which has been linked to the Hebrew verb “to be” (“hayah” 1). Often, this is translated into English as “I am Who I am” (Exodus 3:14 NRSV). God’s name is said to be “I Am” (Exodus 3:14 NRSV).
Let’s think about that for a moment. The Holy One’s name is “I AM.” The English verb to be is conjugated as follows: I am, you are, she/he/it is, we are, they are. I look at God’s name in this way: God does not have; rather, God is.
We often think of God as an elderly, wise man who sits on a throne in the clouds and gives orders. In short, we imagine God as Zeus from Disney’s Hercules. So, we often think of God as having things: wisdom, power, a plan for our lives.
I propose that we think in this way: God does not have, but rather is. Therefore, God does not have infinite wisdom, but is infinite wisdom; that is to say, God is indistinguishable from wisdom. In the same way, God does not have power, but God is power. Likewise, God does not have a plan for our lives, but God is a plan for our lives. Take a moment to ponder this.
I have a very visual imagination so I personify this concept in the following way. I imagine zooming out into space, past planets and suns, but able, now, to see something that I never have before, the presence of God. I see Our Parent woven into the very fabric of the universe. God is not within the universe, nor does God control (or ‘have’) the universe, but God is the universe.
This visualization is meant to allow us to look at God in a new way. To redefine the Holy. For, if God is all and all is God, what is beyond God? Even though you walk “through the darkest valley” (Psalm 23) there is no need to fear, for God is that valley, and, though terrible things may befall, God’s eternal love is as present in that valley as in the comfort of our home or church.
This new vision forces us to see others in a new way as well. God is all, including all people. So, each person, no matter how vain, arrogant, or violent is part of God. Each person is to be given the respect that we owe to God herself. Jesus said “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who were members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). So, in all relationship, we know that God is present. Even if it is hard to see, even if that person shows no signs, all are of God. Nobody is so evil as to not be a part of God. Though they may not reflect God in their lives, they are still a part of God, they are still loved by the Holy One.
This vision of the great I AM calls us to a new direction. A new focus. All space is Holy: the prairie fields, the mountains, the rock-strewn hills, the classroom desks. God is all encompassing. Likewise, we are part of God. We do not leave God at the door of the church. No, we are always with God. So, in that spirit, let us be ambassadors for God, showing the love that Jesus embodied to all of Creation. Let us remember God in our days, and celebrate, quietly or loudly, in movement or in stillness, the wonder of creation and the Holiness of all that is.
-Charley Peters

AT THE EDGE

2007-06-17T19:19:00.001-07:00

Here I am at the edge,
unwelcome to my own life.
All the other faces, kind or indifferent, are turned away
so they don’t
have to see me, don’t have to feel
their own difference.
Most of the time, I stay in the cave,
this house I have made for myself in my heart.
I keep my passion here,
and my scars.
I don’t let anyone into the cave; ever.
If you come to the door, I will greet you with a smile
that fools even myself. I will bring you pretty things,
offer you tea and cookies.
Anything to make sure you are comfortable
here, in the doorway.
Deep in the ground, something is stirring;
did I use my own hands to cover them with
earth, or were they hidden for me?
Was it to keep myself safe, or for their protection from my own mad rage?
Stories are calling me,
Calling us,
Out of the cave…
To live, to step from the edge into the swirling fear,
To trust (is there any doubt?)
that the story will hold us.

ANWC Sr. High Rally. 2006
-Jessie Negropontes

MIRACLES OF EVERYDAY LIFE

2007-06-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

When you’re little, summer means no school, warmth, and endless carefree vacations. You grow up a bit and you fall in love with summer camp, or perhaps learn to hate it. You grow up a bit more, and get a part time summer job, and then work your hours so you can do the things you really want to, camps and friends and those summer romances. You grow more, and summer becomes a desperate attempt to earn enough money to pay for your rent, tuition, books, and food, and to still have time to enjoy the fact you’re not in school.
However, no matter how old you are, summer is one of those times that you always figure should be ridiculously fantastic. You have all these great plans, camps you are going to go to, holidays that can be planned down to the bathroom breaks, or those holidays where you just go until you stop. You might plan to hang out with your friends more, or perhaps spend more time at home. The thing is, no matter what your plans are, you always plan for it to be awesome, full of adventure, romance, or just a plain old good time.
So summer is this magical time. For me though, there has always been a mad and desperate undertone to make things perfect, because I know that soon as September hits, I can’t go back. So I’d fill up my summers with camps, church things, and showing cows. I’d avoid being home as much as possible, just because I knew this was my only chance to experience all these miraculous summer events. The longer I’d spend at home the more desperate I’d get to move on to the next summer phenomenon. By the end of August when I’d begin to realise that I only had a week or a day or a couple of hours until summer was over, and I’d have all these images of all these things I’d done over the summer floating around in my head, bumping against each other, until I’d be reduced to an unfortunate mass that didn’t ever want to leave its room. There were times when I would have given just about anything to be able to turn back the clock.
I want to believe that summer doesn’t have to be like that. That summer can just be lived for the here and now, that maybe summer, and even life, can be lived just for the heck of it. That it is possible for a person to not have to be desperate for a miracle, that it is possible for a person to live for the miracle that is the present. One of my favourite sayings is “Tomorrow’s the future, yesterday’s the past, today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.” Today is a gift. It’s like Christmas all over, every day, a whole new day to do what you will with it, a clean slate every 24 hours. Yesterdays over, and tomorrow hasn’t come yet, and all that junk, so technically we should all just be able to live for right now in this moment.
But that’s the thing isn’t it. As humans, as people, we just can’t do it. We always have regrets; we always look back on our lives. We live today fully aware of how our actions today will affect tomorrow. And so we can’t just live for the moment. But the past used to be the present, and the future soon will be. So maybe not living only for the moment is ok.
So this summer, I’m going to try to live for the moment anyways. Sure, I know I won’t succeed. Maybe a better way of putting it is that I’m not going to live for everything but the moment. I’ll keep the past and the future in perspective, but I’m going to live for the today’s, for the right now’s, for the little miracles of every day life.
-Kathleen Kerr

IN YOUR WORDS…

2007-06-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

There has to be a "young" person inside each one of us, that is as we grow out of the younger years and enter the twilight of the "older" generation. At least it is that way for me. From the first reading of your WHY to this issue of Spring, you have given me something to live by and to believe in. For this I thank you both for being the inspiration for this worthwhile project.
I was at General Council this past year and so thoroughly enjoyed having the youth present. As a youth leader in my home church and one who has always has very close connection with teaching Sunday School and Youth Groups, it was a delight to see the enthusiasm and energy that was generated by such a wonderful contingent of young people. I came home with many great stories to tell to the congregation and for our Youth Group.
There is an article written by Kathleen that really touched my heart. Over three years ago (2003), Ed, my husband passed away while we were on a 3 1/2 month trip across Canada. I entered into that realm where I felt that God had abandoned me, even though I knew that through prayers there should have been a connection. It was not there and this went on for so very long. Being lonely became a part of my life and it came to a time when I just accepted it. The outgoing and self-assured person was replaced with a withdrawn and lost soul. The years went by and slowly I realized that God had been there all the time, with so many signs of which I had missed. Not all, but some. Today there are times that I still feel the loneliness and the aloneness, however, in there is also the faint whisper of, "Be still and know that I am God." Yes, we do come through our most deepest hours of hurt and press forward so that we can be of benefit to ourselves, to others and to God. I do draw on the fact that from an very early age I accepted Jesus into my life. Then again, we are human which make us what we were meant to be. God's child who has been given the gift of peace, even though there are times that peace is shattered. Ed had a saying, "Look back only to see if you left a footstep, then surge forward as though you have little time left to finish the race." He left a footstep and lived his life to the fullest until the day come when he had finished his race. All for Jesus.
Thank you– Carole Butler

Thanks for making such a true-to-the-United-Church youth magazine. I just finished reading my first issue, Spring 2007, and I really enjoyed a lot of the stuff you included (especially God's Plan, Random Connections & Kathleen's Life Isn't Perfect)! Lately I've been trying to find myself as a 16-year-old girl in a small Albertan town (Athabasca), with many anti-(or politically correct/neutrally) Christian influences to boot. What are my goals? What's the difference between being nice and too-nice? Where should my morals be? Obviously I'm not perfect, so what am I good at? If I can go day to day thinking about philosophies and religious topics (global responsibilities, etc.) without necessarily tying them to religion, am I a Christian? This leads to questioning whether being totally religious results any differently than "weekly church going but not daily Church thinking"...
These are some of the many questions to ask, that I continue asking myself, but it's always the cynic in me to respond first and shoot them down. W.H.Y. definitely addressed a lot of these questions. Just like you said about Peter Short's writing, this newsletter published a lot of things that were "exactly what I wanted to hear" with "the words to write what I sometimes feel but can't express". Thanks for your time, and for your Fantastic (!) newsletter. I can't wait to ponder the next one! In the meantime, I'll definitely be reading and re-reading this one.
-Judi

Awakening a Sleeping Giant

2007-03-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Our 'Super Special' Feature

How often do you get to turn a parking lot into a sacred space? How often do you get a chance to influence the course that the United church is taking? How often do you get to be involved in something so new and different that it can change the way that youth and young adults influence not only the church, but the entire world? I had the opportunity to do all three in the space of a single night this past summer at General Council.
It was late Wednesday afternoon and most of us were returning from local outings in the Thunder Bay area. As I returned to the dorms where we were staying, I was pulled into a room with the words “Matt we need your opinions and advice.” I joined three other people, Adam, Jesse, and Thom, who pulled me in front of a computer and showed me a proposal they had written for a national youth and young adult leader.
I was stunned. I’d never even thought that something like this could happen. I mean, I’d wanted it to happen, but I never thought it would. I grew up in the United Church, and I love it dearly, but it breaks my heart to see how many people simply disappear from the United Church after the age of 14 or 15 because we’re not meeting the need for passions that they know God should be about. I was one of those people. I left the United Church and saw what it was like elsewhere, but God called me back to minister to my friends in the United Church.
Over the next few hours we slowly tested the waters out, seeing what people thought about the proposal. At the time, the position was labelled a “Youth Moderator,” But in the scope was more of a spiritual leader. Eventually, we had filled in most of the rest of the group, and after supper, a group of 20 of us sat down in a room to talk about the proposal and what we liked and didn’t like. Little did we knew, that conversation would last until about 2am the next morning.
With the capable help of some Conference staff from London and Bay of Quinte conferences, we all got our ideas out. We went around the room and heard from each of the people there. One of the really cool things about listening, is that you don't feel the need to talk much. Each of us spoke, and each of us really listened to one another.
We heard what it was like to be the only person under 50 in a pastoral charge, or in a 50km radius for that matter. We heard what it was like to be at a University and not know that there was a United Church campus ministry there. We heard what it was like to be part of a vibrant and lively conference where the number of events you could go to was only limited by the distance you wanted to drive. We heard youth and young adults from all across the country tell us their experience, and what they desired for themselves and for the rest of the people in their area.
Finally, shortly after 2 am, when most people went to bed, a small group of us took what we had heard and went to Tim Hortons, where we continued the work for another three hours. We took what we had heard, and out of that came the carefully crafted proposal that you see now. Each
of those items that you see on the page come from the deepest part of someone's heart. They truly desire to know those things and see them happen in their home communities and churches.
At 5:30am...as we finally decided that we had what we wanted, a couple of us went to find someplace we could print what we'd written (we never did find anyplace...apparently Thunder Bay has no 24-hr printing and photocopying place), but before we left to do that we did something I'd never done before. As we left Tim Hortons, we stopped in the parking lot, and we prayed. We thanked God for the energy that we'd been given, we asked for energy to get us through the coming day, and we praised and gave thanks for the ideas and the passion that had been so obvious during our whole conversation throughout the past 18 hours.
What we've written is merely our innermost desires and longings for the church. Some people who have seen it don't share these same desires, but we think that most people do. We want to hear what you think. Our proposal wasn't dealt with at General Council, but the Executive of the General Council dealt with it at their meeting in November. It is going on for more work, and will be coming back to the Executive in May. We want your input, your comments, your criticisms. Please e-mail us at ucyayanetwork@gmail.com and let us know what you think!

-Matt Woodall

Awakening A Sleeping Giant:

A Tranformative Vision for Youth and Young Adult Ministries in the Third Generation of the United Church of Canada

“We have the resources [in the United Church of Canada] that we need.” – Right Rev. Dr. Peter Short, Aug. 13, 2006 (Moderator, 39th General Council)

Whereas we have been called in this place and in this time to discern the future direction of the UnitedChurch of Canada for its third generation; and

Whereas the youth and young adult movement in the United Church of Canada is growing in community and a group of commissioners to the 39th General Council 2006, 30 years and under, have engaged in meaningful dialogue over the life of this meeting; and

Whereas we believe the youth and young adult movement in the United Church of Canada would benefit from a spiritual leader at the national level; and

Whereas we feel called as members of the Church to reach out to our youth and young adults whether they be pursuing a secondary or post-secondary education, starting a career, beginning a family, or working in another vocation; and

Whereas the United Church of Canada has an opportunity to be a leader in youth and young adult ministry; and

Whereas the United Church of Canada recognizes that God’s call is not dependent upon age and also recognizes the call of leadership in youth and young adults and further trusts the call to leadership in these people; and

Whereas youth and young adults are engaged in both paid and unpaid ministry at all levels of the United Church of Canada; and

Whereas approximately 20% of the people within the bounds of this court are 14 – 30 years of age and that this presence should be taken as a sign of commitment to the United Church of Canada and to this work; and

Whereas we recognize that good and faithful work is being done within and without of the United Church of Canada and we strive to work with our partners in a positive manner and there is a desire amongst the youth and young adult leaders within the church to connect, build, and sustain relationships with others across the country.

Therefore, it is proposed that the 39th General Council 2006:

Set aside resources for the creation and maintenance of a national youth and young adult network.

Set aside resources to fund youth and young adult ministries at the pastoral charge and presbytery levels over the next three years and investigate the creation of a national retreat for youth and young adults engaged in the Church to be held on the year in which neither KAIROS nor General Council are held.

Investigate the possibility of creating an elected position for a spiritual leader for youth and young adults and that the results of this investigation be reported to the General Council Executive no later than the fall executive meeting of 2008, so that the first election may take place at the 40th General Council 2009.

-R. McNally/M. Sawyer

Random Con-nec-tions

2007-03-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

Life and Economics Class

In my Economics class, we spent a lot of time talking about this concept called “opportunity cost”. It explains the full cost of buying, or doing something. For example, if you were talking about the opportunity cost of a college degree, not only do you have to count tuition, but you also have to factor in the money that you could have been making if you had gotten a job rather than going to college. Or the opportunity cost of buying an orange is not only the money spent on the orange, but the time it takes to go to the grocery store and get the orange, as well as the fact that now you can’t buy an apple or a bag of Skittles with the money you spent on the orange.
It’s one of my favourite concepts, because it relates to back to real life so perfectly. For every choice you make, you have to give up making another choice. Whether it’s a choice to go to class rather than skip and go to your favourite band’s concert, or if it is to go to Church Sunday morning rather than stay up all night Saturday. Every choice has a consequence.
Even if you don’t understand economics and you don’t understand my explanation, I want to
you think about this: when you’re making choices, what the consequences of your decision? Are you giving up more than you’re receiving? What’s going to be a better choice in the long run? For a moment stop focussing about what great fun it will be at the time and think about how you’ll feel after the fact. What will you think of yourself after? Are the costs greater than the benefits? I know this is something we hear all the time, but I want you to really think about it for a second. How many times have you made a bad choice that could have been avoided if you had just thought about it?

-Kathleen Kerr

God's Plan

2007-03-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

In the world that we live in, there are many problems that we are urged to lend a helping hand towards. Especially from the church. The issues range from helping each other, to homelessness, to government policies, and everything in between. There definitely is a long to-do list in this world of things that need to be done. There are a lot of people who might just need our help, who may need that helpful little nudge towards a better life. Sometimes, though, I can’t help and wonder why, if God is all powerful, does he not do something about it? Why doesn’t he just snap his fingers and make it all right?
I came by a quote recently that I believe holds the answer to this question…at least to some extent. “Passed the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them... he cried, ‘Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?” God said, "I did do something. I made you.” ~Author Unknown
I found that to be a powerful statement. “I made you”. Maybe that message alone is something we all knew already. However, it seems that he made us for more than just the fun of it. Or maybe this is all part of one big experiment by a higher being that we’ve taken to calling God. Who really knows? But maybe, just maybe, the reason that we are each here on this earth is to help one another.
Maybe, as the seeker was made to help the crippled, the beggar, and the beaten, we are made to help each other. What if God has made each and every one of us just for that purpose? Albert Pike once said, “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” There’s something to that statement.
Nobody will ever remember what we have done for ourselves. The only one who will ever remember that is ourselves, and we won’t last forever. What we do and have done for others has an impact on them and on the world for ages to come. One need only speak a few kind words to someone who needs them, or lend a helping hand to someone who needs it and the course of the future has already been set in motion. That kind gesture can make a world of difference and we may not even realize it at the time.
There are some who say that God sends angels to help us. I don’t know if I believe that totally, to be completely honest with you. It could be true, I’m just not sure. But there’s a song I know that really speaks to how I feel about that. The song is called Baptism, sung by Randy Travis and Kenny Chesney. “…I didn’t see no angels, just a few saints on the shore; but I felt like a brand new baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord.” I believe that I have seen those saints on the shores of life, as I am sure many of us have.
So maybe God does help us. Maybe He has created us to help one another. “I made you,” He said. He made me, He made you, He made us all. He created us to help each other, to grow and share in love and kindness. To help. And at times when we wonder what God has planned for us and the world… just remember, He made us.

-Nico Anderson

Life Isn't Perfect

2007-03-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

Life isn’t perfect. Ever since Eve took a bite out of that forbidden fruit, humans have struggled with tears, broken hearts, and unfulfilled dreams. We’ve been hurt, broken, and crushed. But for some reason humanity continues on its quest to find the perfect life.
But the point is that we all hurt, and that we have all felt broken at one point in our lives. I’ve spent hours in my room crying by myself, believing that no one cares. I’ve been hurt and bitter and believed that everyone had turned their back on me. I’ve had my heart ripped into a million pieces and been forced to face the world alone.
And so not only are we hurt, but we’re lonely. Because there isn’t always someone watching us, everyone has their own lives, their own problems, their own hurts, and their own broken hearts to try and fix. There isn’t enough time to watch over everyone else’s hearts as well as your
own.
I mean, yeah, I know that I’m supposed to believe that God is up there, watching over me, helping me on my way. But I mean, really as much as I may want to, its not like I can just go cry on God’s shoulder when I need a hug.
The real problems for me though, start when not only can I not cry on God’s shoulder, in the moments when I can’t make myself believe that God is even up there. It’s not like God is just up there yelling down to me “I am here.” No, I’m expected just to know, some how, that even though there are no signs, and there are no thunderclaps during my prayers, and God has never spoken to me, I’m still expected to believe that he is going to fix all my problems. Right.
Maybe part of this whole “believing” thing is to wonder. To not always know if God is actually up there. Maybe we all just have to live for the moments when we know that there has got to be something more to life, the moments when it all seems worth it, those few moments of absolute certainty.
This article was supposed to be all about crying, and God being up there watching us anyways, about how God is supposed to be watching over us, knowing all about every single tear we have ever cried. Then it turned into me wondering what happens when a person begins to doubt, when they don’t always know that God is up there. What is it now? I don’t know. I’ve been writing this for five months, and the truth is I still don’t know.
I think that the point at this moment though, is that even though sometimes we’re all alone, and crying on a corner, or under our beds, and we don’t always know that God is up there counting our tears, and we aren’t even sure God is up there in the first place, that we’ll get through it. The moment only lasts so long. If its ten minutes or ten days, or ten months, eventually the moment will pass. Awful moments end.

-Kathleen Kerr

No You Can't Borrow My Book

2007-03-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

Random Obsessions with Peter Short

Have you ever read a book that you loved so much that you wanted everyone to read it, because, well, it was just that amazing? So then, someone asks you to borrow the book… but you realize that you couldn’t possibly part from it long enough to let anyone else read it.
This is exactly how I feel about Peter Short’s book Outside Eden: Essays of Encouragement. Rarely do I go a week without opening it for some reason. Posted all over my wall are sticky notes with my favourite quotes from the book, written in random neon highlighter. Even my friends and I find a way to bring it into almost every conversation we ever have.
But why is it so great? For me it’s not just a book of essays, the type you have to read for school all the time. Peter Short shares his ideas, inspiration, and insight on both faith and life. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re at in life, he manages to make you feel as though he is speaking directly to you.
This book has seen me through the thick and the thin. When I attended General Council this summer, it was the most amazing spiritual, life-changing event I had ever been to. Returning home to life (which although I’d changed, home hadn’t), it was a bit of a culture shock of sorts. I missed the feeling of General Council and when I needed my spiritual fulfillment of the day, Peter Short’s book filled the hole growing inside me, lifting me up and helping me adjust to my not-so-perfect life. And when I finished it, it made me sad. Actually, I cried. Somehow Peter Short managed to write exactly what I wanted to hear. He has the words to write what I sometimes feel but can’t express.
And then began my obsession with Peter Short. I’m not a stalker, but I have perhaps gotten closer to the line than I am willing to admit. I googled “Peter Short,” looking for anything at all that he may have written. Upon running out of anything new, I began re-reading and re-reading and reading again the stories I had. And then in me grew a mad, desperate hope that Peter Short would write another book… which became a mad, desperate plan of moving to Fredericton, just to attend the church where Peter Short is a minister.
Basically, I would recommend this book to everyone and everybody, as you probably all want some Peter Short in your life. (Although you’ll have to buy your own copy because you can’t borrow my copy… not to be selfish, you’ll love it too much to return it.) Or check out Peter Short’s writing for yourself— www.united-church.ca/moderator/short/. You know you’re excited.

-Kathleen Kerr, with help from Charley Switzer

A Story About W.H.Y.

2007-03-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

A tale of how W.H.Y. came to be (for those of you who haven't heard!)...
Once upon a time, in a far, far away land... or well, last summer, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Charley and Kathleen were at the 39th General Council of the United Church of Canada... This
meant that they went to Ontario so that they could sit through a week long meeting. (Which was their idea of fun!)
Throughout this event, both Kathleen and Charley felt very moved, and were worried about what it would be like when they went home and this new feeling was left behind. They wished that there could be a way to bring this feeling home with them. Later, Charley sent Kathleen a note mentioning that she wanted to start a newsletter for youth. Kathleen thought it was a fantastic idea, sent a note back to Charley saying that she was "so totally in!”
A few days after getting home, Kathleen started thinking about the newsletter idea again. She emailed Charley, saying that she thought that they should do "the whole newsletter thing," and after a rather long phone call, WHY was born.
The morale of this story is to keep dreaming and know that YOU can make your dreams a reality!

From the Editor's Desk!

2007-03-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

Somehow in our formatting and writing, we ended up doing the intro last. Perhaps because it’s the hardest. By this point all the articles are written, and all we have to do is plunk them into their places. Though this is more work than we first thought, it is still easier than writing something thoughtful to get everyone all excited to read the issue.
Make sure to check out some of our fantastic articles. We are excited to have two articles by new writers— “Awakening the Sleeping Giant” and “God’s Plan.” Be sure to check them out!
In other important news, we were interviewed by the Observer last month– which was fabulously exciting, even if it did mean that we had to get up ridiculously early! So be sure to watch for us in an upcoming issue of the Observer.
We can’t express enough how much we appreciate, love, and NEED your feedback. If you want W.H.Y. to keep arriving in your inbox, it won’t take money, but we do need encouragement.
(Otherwise, we might accidentally assume nobody is reading it!)
All in all, we are thrilled to bring you this issue. Enjoy!!

-Kathleen & Charley