A Lesson from the Hacky Sac Circle.

I remember the first time I had the thought that I was getting old. It was about a decade ago. I was still the youth pastor here and I was participating in the youth convention worship service when I had this thought. "This music is awfully loud." That is when I knew that the top of the hill wasn't too far off.

Fast forward ten years or so and I am back at youth convention. This time I'm a volunteer chaperon; my son now of youth convention age. It is lunchtime, and I am sitting on a parking lot curb as some of our kids and a youth worker or two are in a circle playing an impromptu game of hacky sac, though it looks more like a game of pick the hacky sac off of the pavement again, and again, and again. It is an amusing site to behold. There are smiles, laughter and some good-natured ribbing. There is an absence of ego in this particular game since all participants share the same lack of skill.

But more is happening here than meets the eye. The relational web is expanding. Students who know each other and are polite to each other are beginning to relate to each other. In the circle there are students from the sixth to the eleventh grade. There are kids from Christian homes and kids from homes where that is not the case. Public, private and home-schooled students are represented in the hacky circle. The differences go on and on. You can't buy what is happening here with all of the world's wealth. These guys are going to take home with them a priceless gift: the memory and experience of no pressure acceptance in the hacky circle. It has been said that "All are equals at the foot of the cross," but right now the cross has taken on the shape of a circle - all are equal right here, right now. God has broke the walls that divide.

Then there's the old guy (me) sitting on the curb taking it all in, evaluating (accurately I might say) the lack of hacky skills being displayed by those in the game. I sat there quietly quoting to myself the old proverb that states, "It is better to not play hacky sac and be thought a poor hacky sac player than to play hacky sac and remove all doubt." At least that is how I remember it. I have excused myself from participation because I have no desire to feel foolish...even if it is among the foolish. So, there I sit, my reputation in the hacky sac community untarnished. But at the same time I am missing out on the community that is being built right before my eyes. You see, the sad truth is this: community is being built in this collective hacky sac dysfunction, and I am missing it.

Fast forward two days. It's Monday and as I think back on the events of this weekend I'm beginning to wonder just how many community/relationship building adventures I have missed out on because I was too proud to appear foolish...even when it was amongst the foolish.

How many of these adventures have I missed out on, have you missed out on, have we missed out on as we sat "evaluating" on the sidelines?

I honestly don't know the answer, but my prayer this: Lord, give me the grace to jump into the hacky sac circle the next time I see your cross there and please give me the courage to not fear being exposed as the fool that I am, even when I find myself in the middle of the wise. Amen

Blessings,
PB