sacred disruptions

you know what i love about working with youth? they are like snowflakes - no two are alike (and they are often times just plain flakes!). i lead the sophomore class during our wednesday night breakout group discussion times. this half hour of dialogue with my students is unfailingly the most unusual thread of conversations i experience through the week. the amount of rabbit trails that we walk down are far too numerous to even begin counting and they are usually trail blazed by one particular student, we will refer to him as george. i completely dig this boy and i fail miserably at understanding where it is that he is coming from, and if i am going to be really honest, i have to tell you that my patience is painfully tested when i am around him. (ah there, i admitted it!)

george is the tangible form of the over diagnosed disorder of attention. he is disruptive, loud, outrageously random, and rarely - no, never - truly enters into the foundation of our discussions. he talks about outer space, improv, movies, his rigid catholic church, crazy beasts that speak to him in his dreams, old fashion horror movies, and the list goes on and on. think of the most abstract latitude of the process of thoughts and there you will find george. all of this makes up the soft spot in my heart for him and equally fans the fast burning fuse of my tolerance.

last night we were discussing the question, "what does it mean to be a sacred being?". many of the students were articulating the special talents we posses is what tags us as sacred. while each young mind was expressing their thoughts on the matter, george was bursting at the seams with improvised jokes, movie quotes, quirky body movements, and the such. during this i encouraged the voices of the other students as they spoke while entering into a deep observation process of george. "what in the world is going on in his mind? lord grant me patience. how can i love this kid in the ways that he needs? am i a failure as a youth leader? do i tell george to can it? wwjd? (just teasing)..." it was then that george broke in and exposed the truth to the group. "we are sacred because god created us"... "have you guys ever seen steven siegal's furrowed brow?" whoa! my mouth dropped open. this kid had no idea the weight and centered'ness behind his words. i had to stop him and shower him with affirmation and draw the attention of the other students to the answer george had just subconsciously delivered.

the crazy thing is that the lord exists in the midst of all of george's vibrant peculiarities. just when i begin to think that this kid will never engage in anything serious or honest, he blows me away with the profound answer to the meaning of being sacred. george was taken aback when i interrupted his own interruptions to point out how correct he is. no doubt he is used to people pointing out his tangents and inability to take anything in life seriously. i am certain that he has people telling him all day long to be quiet or to pay attention. so i had to grab the opportunity to lavish him with praise. i told him that he is so right on. that even more than our special talents we are sacred because we are made in the likeness and image of god. i applauded him and thanked him. 

george is a sacred being and god let the rest of us see that. the spirit of christ is moving and living in the people we judge to be the furthest thing from god centered. god defied my own broken understandings. god gave me patience. god showed me that by loving george i am also loving him, because he lives in george. george is the answer to the question, "what does it mean to be a sacred being?"