So busy. So tired. So worth it.
My mind is turning to mush. I couldn't pull all the thoughts together last night at midnight, and don't know that I will. The pictures will tell much of the story once I get the chance to post them.
For now I'll just give a brief recap...
When we woke and saw the weather forecast (hurricane alex) it was a bit daunting to imagine going back out into the monsoon with wet shoes. So we made phone calls at 7am. (We're kind of a big deal). Our burgeoning Louisiana Episcopal network came through and we managed to find volunteer placements for our whole group at the summer arts enrichment camp at the Cathedral.
Before going, we had the advantage of listening to other groups tell us that the camp could be unstructured and difficult to manage. Having that information enabled us to prepare our youth to pay attention to attitude and initiative. A question I posed was "Is this day about you or is it about these children who need your love?"
Going in with the basic goal of loving the children as much as possible enabled the camp's struggling structure to surface and function properly. The neighborhood kids rotated through classes in violin, guitar, dance, choir, and karate while our youth accompanied them. I wish you could have seen them! In the process, we met an Anglican youth group from Toronto who challenged us to a game of Ultimate Frisbee on Friday. We accepted. And talked a little friendly trash (in the Spirit, of course). Even if we lose, we'll report a commanding victory upon our return.
After our service at the camp we spent the late afternoon at a classic New Orleans spot--the Rockin Bowl. Highest score of the day after 2 games gets to supervise cleanup--Bobby Hamill's 136 edges-out Liam Bowers' 128.
We spent the evening at St. Anna's Episcopal church in the HBO-famed Treme neighborhood. Words cannot describe the experience. Let me try to paint a picture for you: The facade of the church is a billboard with the names and ages of every person Murdered in New Orleans for the year. It's well over 100 this year. Inside the church: light blue wall paint with gold leaf fleur di lis painted everywhere. Statues of Mary. Incense Everywhere. Black gospel music with guitars and jazz piano. A priest with a pony tail (awesome) who looked at our kids (the visiting youth groups were the congregation, basically) and said this (paraphrased) :
"I saw you come in here looking bored like church is stupid. Jesus Christ didn't die for you to be bored. What do you think church is? No major social change in the history of our country has ever happened because of government. It's always been because of the church and faith leaders. If you think church is boring, it's your fault. Do something. Tithe your money. Vote in your church. This is the real gospel."
We had a smoky communion then more black gospel. Then red beans and rice with hog knuckles while we were entertained by "Doc Otis and the Junker Jazz All Stars." The concert and dinner is part of a neighborhood outreach ministry which started at St. Anna's in the year after Katrina. Residents realized they would never be able to recover emotionally without a critical piece of their souls back in place-- live music. Since all the favorite venues (for locals) were destroyed, St. Anna's became a stage for the resurrection of the soul of Treme by hosting jazz after church every week. Since then it's scaled back to a summer jazz series, the first concert of which was planned for our group.
In closing, the young people in our group and the other groups have left behind anything that divided them before the trip. They've become a unit among themselves and with the other youth groups, especially the group from Austin, TX. (lots of girls)
It's fantastic to see our youth being youth, free from the demands of school, programs, excellence, and achievement. They are just having fun learning to love each other and work together.
It's holy. Plain and simple.
Big love from the Big Easy,
Josh
No comments:
Post a Comment