During our last worship service together at YAV orientation, each of us took a pinch of salt after receiving Communion - to remind us to be salt - flavor - wherever we were headed. Over the past week, I have been reminded of that commissioning service, and more specifically, the moment I licked the salt off my fingertips, on several occasions.
This month basically marks the halfway point of our time here in Northern Ireland, so, with that in mind, I asked Doug if we could have a one-to-one meeting to chat about some projects that I thought Glengormley and the Vine might enjoy and from which they might benefit (Please note: I don't want to be or come across as the awful outsider who comes in with all the solutions... I think most people could do with a good social justice shake up from time to time, myself included, and I certainly don't have all the answers). Doug took this opportunity to remind me about being salt to each of the organizations in which I'm involved like one would salt a good piece of meat; however, he quickly added the caveat that I might be the worst person with whom to use a meat-related metaphor (I was a vegetarian for five years before moving to Northern Ireland). We laughed.
-Salt in Church-
The very next day during our staff meeting, our congregational visitor prayed that we would remember to be salt and light to the people of Glengormley PC - how wonderfully fitting. A brief aside, our congregational visitor also teaches the youth Bible class on Sunday mornings, and he always loves to say that he teaches "the creme de la creme" or the best of the best each year. He frequently gives me lifts from the church to the community centre, and he loves to give little pep talks as he drives - sometimes we talk about poetry, but my favorite talk thus far was when he told me that he always tells the youth never to let anyone tell them that they're not good enough. A very important message for us all to hear every so often.
On that note, I coordinated the discussion for Youth Fellowship last Sunday on acceptance. I modified a powerpoint from Youth Link called "Not in My School" in which the youth have to rank eight kids in order to decide whether or not they want to let the kids attend their school. They rank the kids first by photo only, re-rank them after learning one fact about each kid, and then again after learning a second, final fact about each kid. I was tremendously proud of the YF kids for their mostly mature responses and the thought they put into the process - overall, it was a solid discussion and, I hope, a fruitful jumping off point for further conversations.
In my meeting with David on Tuesday, I suggested a series of Sunday afternoon speakers on local social justice issues (the Simon Community, Women's Aid, etc.), the possibility of discussing inclusive language in a small group Bible study setting, doing local service projects with the youth, and engaging in a take-off on Empty Bowls. Of all the projects I suggested, David seemed to really like the idea of Empty Bowls - basically, you ask local ceramicists to donate bowls (or pick them up from a charity shop on the cheap) feed people soup, bread, and tray bakes / bars, and the money raised at $5/person goes to a local charity. I thought it would also be great to get the youth involved in some of the cooking, if possible. So, I'll keep you posted, but I hope that this event will happen at some point in the coming months...
-Salt in Community-
In my conversation with Doug about the Vine Centre, I suggested that I could start doing smaller projects like make Valentines for the pensioners lunch club simply because it would mean a lot to them, and help them create a memory / story book about the Shankill area and their lives, because for many of them, the lunch club is a large part of their social interaction for the week. They really appreciated the Valentines, many of them said that they made them feel loved again - very touching. Geoff, one of the pensioners, proceeded to ask me if I worked out and what I did - I said that I like to jog, but that I'm a horrible runner, and then, of course, they had to ask if I was going to run the marathon. Nope. But, I told them that I might run the 5k fun run, and Geoff said that he'd be outside his door with a video camera that morning because their house is on the run route!
On a heavier note, two women committed suicide this past week - one by ingesting too many pills and another by hanging herself - many people at the Vine knew these two women, had known them as children and watched them grow up - so the centre as a whole had a very sober feeling about it this past week. Suicide is all too common in North Belfast, so people were not grieving outright in the hallways or anything, but there was a palpable sense of pain.
-Salt for Each Other-
While on facebook this evening, I saw an image on the page of a popular athletic wear company called Lululemon Athletica (
405613_10150500133932732_33693527731_8787639_647071342_n.jpg) The caption reads: "It's your job to uplift those around you." Well, that's how I've been feeling for the past six months, that its my job to uplift the people with whom I work over here each day, and also people at home who may or may not read these blog posts, but I don't always feel very uplifting. Much of this work is difficult and trying on numerous levels, so instead of blogging and connecting with people about the challenges (and rewards) of mission work, I just didn't blog, because I felt like I needed to be uplifting all. the. time. Not true, and frankly an unhealthy expectation.
So, if you know Patrick, you can thank him for inspiring me. In one of his recent posts, he talks about how the work that we do isn't always easy or fulfilling, how he has been writing a lot for himself lately, and how Henri Nouwen writes that even in the difficult moments people can experience joy. Nouwen writes that joy is deeper than happiness, and that joy can occur right along with and underneath frustration, anger, resentment, sorrow, and a myriad of other emotions. That being said, while I've experienced many of the aforementioned emotions over the past few months, I also have experienced joy. Joy in the hospitality of so many families from the church on Sunday afternoons, joy in conversations in the church kitchen over cups of tea, joy in disagreeing with open ears and hearts, joy in sharing a crisp, cool pint at the end of a long day with a friend, joy in being able to walk to and from numerous places in Belfast, and joy in health regained.
As my yoga teacher and friend, Marcia, has said, "Your deepest joy and your greatest sorrow are always holding hands inside of you."
This coming week, the YAVs will be going on a short retreat, and I am so looking forward to getting away. It will be such a blessing to be able to have time together, time to relax, reflect, rejuvenate in order to better serve those around us.
With that, I challenge you to go out into the world and be salt. Find the people or places who / that could use some flavor, and help them spice it up - but not too much!! ;-) Or, if you find yourself needing some salt, do something new for a change - something just for you - to make yourself smile.
Blessings on your journeys, friends!
