A Reason to be Thankful

The noise in the hallways today has been a little louder than usual. The girls of St. Mary’s seem to be thrilled about the extended Thanksgiving Break. Each time one has walked in my office I have asked them if they are excited about Thanksgiving and I inquired about their plans. Although, I am pretty positive that almost everyone is excited to be out of school, some look a little terrified of their planned excursions.

“I have to go to my grandmothers, and there is no one my age, just my cousins who are a lot older and won’t hang out with me,” said one girl. I try to cheer them up but I understand exactly how they feel. We are forced to be around family and usually several more people than we are used to having invade our personal space. Holidays all around mean more family skirmishes, a lot more stress, and a hike in everyone’s blood pressure.

There is a special lectionary reading for Thanksgiving from the gospel of Matthew. In this Jesus says, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what your will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” This comes at Thanksgiving, when we seem to stress about so much. I am fretting dealing with the stress levels of the Burruss kitchen as my mother and father try to prepare the turkey feast. Someone is always getting in the way and upsetting everyone else, the meal never goes exactly as planned, and although the last few years have been pretty easy with just the four of us, this year we have out-of-town guests. And that always means chaos. We always have a fabulous time, but we certainly worry about our food and drink.

As Thanksgiving arrives this week I challenge us all to quit worrying and be thankful and focused during this celebration of the gifts of God. I am thankful for the chaos in the kitchen because it means that I have a family to be with. I am thankful for worrying about if the turkey is too dry or too overcooked, because it means that I have a dinner that I can share with others. I am thankful for having the family invade my personal space at my home, because it means that I have a roof over my head and a place to have family visit. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Listening to Youth

I had the privilege of being a part of a spiritual retreat this past weekend for high school students. The annual event is called Bishop’s Bash and provides a unique experience for youth where they engage in conversation with the bishop of West Tennessee. In years past, we have designated a time period for the bishop to answer questions from the youth. I was rather surprised this year when Bishop Johnson asked, if for a change, he could put the youth on the hot seat and ask them questions. He had a unique opportunity to get unsolicited advice from a quorum of youth.

Bishop Johnson has been asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be part of a group that will try to figure out if it is possible for dioceses to have oversight from a different primate other than the Presiding Bishop. This is a challenging topic which threatens to change the structure of the world wide Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church forever.

I was a little surprised when the bishop asked if he could ask the youth questions. I naturally assume bishops are bishops because they are more knowledgeable about the Episcopal Church than most, have very good judgment, and are called by God. Foolishly, I wouldn’t have expected a bishop to seek the advice of forty high school students on how to handle one of the most delicate problems that has faced the Episcopal Church in years.

So often, we are guilty of writing off the opinions and viewpoints of youth. Even I, who work with youth, find myself looking elsewhere for advice. I can think of only one Episcopal Church in our diocese that has youth on the vestry. Of the twenty-two dioceses in Province IV, only two let youth vote during the diocesan convention. At least two dioceses do not even let youth attend. What Bishop Johnson recognized was that youth need to be listened to. They have quite a bit invested in the church. It is not only their church right now, but the decisions that are made today shape the church of tomorrow, the church the youth are left to run. And sometimes a fresh perspective from someone a little younger is a very valuable thing. Imagine how our education system could be changed, if teachers and school boards asked not only the parents, but also the students what they were getting out of their classes and what was and wasn’t working.