Luncheon

Just before the aforementioned Angela Davis broadcast, I found myself at a youth workers luncheon organized by Insert Para-church Organization Here. Which is to say, I found myself in a room full of spiky-haired young men and their older, less hip-looking counterparts. It was a land where people spoke of "inviting Jesus into their lives," where everyone but me seemed to have a praise band, and where mission trips were about "getting people saved." It was a land where t-shirts saying "Poverty Sucks" were apparently appropriate (Thank you, Captain Obvious). It was a land where I was the only woman, which marked me out pretty much instantly as the only liberal as well. This is the same land that produces sold-on-TV albums of "the best power anthems of the Christian faith" and includes the song "Butterfly Kisses," which as far as I can tell has absolutely nothing to do with Christian faith, and which obnoxiously gets stuck in my head and warps my entire sense of being. Anyway.

I have a bit of an allergic response to this sort of thing, due to over-exposure earlier in life. Honestly, I came so very close to just getting the heck out of Dodge before we could even break out the sandwiches.

But, I stuck it out, and it wasn't that bad. These are people who care about kids. They want to provide ways for kids to follow Jesus and make generally good life choices. We can work together with this. Also, we broke up into pairs and prayed for each other's ministries. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had done this whole prayer partnering thing until I noticed how odd it was making me feel. But once we got started, it was good. Sometimes I need to give other Christians a bit of a break.