something_i_learned_from_opera (friday_reflections) i have friend who is a grad student at the Boston Conservatory. he is studying opera. as in, he is a real life opera singer. (we have the privilege of knowing some crazy talented people here in boston). i was asking him about grad school and his program and he was telling me how long it takes to hone this particular craft. then he said this: "i hope to be able to make it as a singer, but a lot depends on how my voice ages." "what does that mean?" i asked. and he went on to explain that the voice changes as we age and this can have a dramatic impact on the career of opera singers and the types of roles they can perform. he told me that for most tenors they can only take on the most prestigious and dramatic roles as they get older because as the voice ages it becomes more heroic! how about that. a 25 year old opera stud can have all the talent in the world, work harder than anyone else, train like crazy, and still be years away from being able to fully embody certain roles in the opera canon. fascinating. a lot of these friday reflections have focused on aging. i guess turning 30 does that to you? anyway, i'm sure there are many facets of this idea that i could play out, i mean there's a sermon in this metaphor is there not? i'm sure a true opera aficionado* would take issue with how i am interpreting this information, but the idea of the heroic voice gives me hope and offers a challenge. is my "voice" becoming more heroic as i age?
*according to dan there are two general types of tenor voices: lyric and dramatic (neither is considered to be better than the other). the dramatic tenor can age in to the heroic roles. here are a couple of great examples of a heroic/dramatic tenor (schicoff and domingo). for comparison here's an example of a lyric tenor.
stuff_that_happened_this_weekend we held our fourth ReadRetreatServe event with sojourn on saturday. 25 students, staff, and volunteers joined together for an immersion experience with one of our neighborhood initiative partnerships. i am particularly excited about some of the conversations coming out of the weekend as there is a new wave of students involved with sojourn who, before yesterday, weren't familiar at all with this aspect of who we are and what we do. we spent the morning reading and talking about God's justice and his heart for the oppressed at St. Mary's (where our UMASS students tutor high school kids). we heard some stories of folks who have intentionally moved to the upham's corner/quincy street/dudley street sub-neighborhood of dorchester to live this out. we ended the day with an interactive tour of the neighborhood and some practical next steps for students to take. i thought the day turned out great and each element brought a particular aspect of the conversation to life for our students. i am stoked to see what happens next! check out the slide show:
oh, and then today amy and i participated in foxborough's old fashioned ten miler (amy as an employee of marathon physical therapy and me as a runner). if you've been following me for a while you will remember that i ran in a trail race circuit in durango. a couple of thoughts...one, those were trail races and at high elevation so i actually thought they were all harder than this run even though it was a couple miles longer than i've ever run before...two, there were a LOT more people in this race than any i ran in CO...three, i actually surprised myself considering my running has been very spotty in january and february with the snow (i was hoping for a 10 minute mile pace and i actually beat 9!). ps. if you check out the results you will notice that the winner was from dorchester!
books finished this book today. absolutely amazing. i experienced a wide range of reactions to his ideas: everything from wanting to throw the book out the window to standing up and cheering. in the next 2-3 years someone (rob bell?) will write the popular version of this thesis and everyone will be talking about it. important stuff...challenging stuff. his conclusion is very close to mcknight's in a community called atonement, but he comes at it from a different academic discipline. a must read for anyone who is in any type of position of influence.
seasons (friday_reflections) **some friday thoughts on seasons (on a monday to boot). another disclaimer: i don't usually like cheesy metaphors, but hang with me, this is real!** this is my fifth winter of snow, my fifth calendar year with four distinct seasons. winter is hard...especially now that we are getting in to what i call "dirty winter." (dirty winter is when you have a nasty mixture of brown/black snow and ice along with trash, debris, salt, and a bunch of other junk..it's gross). winter is hard, but i love living with seasons. just when you think you can't handle any more snow, spring comes and the cycle continues. here in new england i think we all wish spring and fall lasted a little longer, but there is something comforting and even spiritual about the natural rhythm produced by the changing seasons. i kind of like that winter is hard. not to over spiritualize things but we go through difficult seasons...we have seasons of "dirty winter" that are just gross...or we go through times that are just challenging...we long for spring...for something new...for rebirth. this is not a new metaphor. i have almost been on staff with Sojourn for two years. so far, it's been a great time, but a lot of it could be characterized as a winter season. we've spent a lot of time doing "winter" things...hidden things...under the radar things. things like simplifying and clarifying our language and process. and things like getting organized. and things like investing in a smaller number of leaders and students. frustrating things. things that don't always fit with the ideal of "growth." but now we are in a spring season...lots of growth, energy, excitement, etc. and this is great. in fact, this semester has been the most fun for me so far. as we continue to grow and work through the implications of "more" and the tension of remaining organic and relational, i know that there will be even harder "falls" and "winters" ahead. new challenges and new ways to experience the seasonal cycle. but that's what seasons are all about: growth, life, enjoyment, struggle, death, rebirth. repeat. and repeat. and repeat again. success isn't about extending a spring or a summer indefinitely but about being faithful in each of the seasons with what each one requires. and i like that. i like seasons.
kinect *my apologies to youth pastors* one aspect of collegiate ministry (that i enjoy) is that it is not youth ministry. again, no offense to youth ministers, but ym always fights a battle with entertainment (the best youth pastors take this battle head on and do a great job with a huge challenge). but, campus ministers don't have to do battle with entertainment the way youth ministry does. college students have a million things to entertain them...they get involved with campus ministry because they have questions, they are seeking something, they are looking for purpose, etc, etc. that gets me excited in ways that wacky games and cool videos don't. when we decided to do an event at UMASS-Boston this semester called Kinect with Sojourn I cringed a little. pizza, xbox kinect, dancing...sounded a lot like a youth ministry cliche to me. this probably says more about me than anything else.
nonetheless, we knew we needed to do something as a "middle step" event for all the people we've connected with who wouldn't jump right in to our weekly conversation (which is more of a bible-study type gathering). in the end, the event was a great success...we had over 50 students show up, we have a ton of people to follow up with, and our core students were super stoked with the energy and excitement of the day. UMASS is longing for anything that brings students together and creates a sense of community on campus. i think we accomplished that. and i think i learned a lot (again) about how often i can get in the way of what God is doing with my preconceptions and prejudices. God is definitely moving at UMASS-Boston. it is a diverse campus in every sense of the word, and it is the school where the kids who grow up in this city go to get a college education. i am humbled and honored to be a part of this work and to help UMASS students on their journey back to God.
