Sometimes You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name...

So I was at a Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth meeting once (yeah, one of those wierd age-based service organizations) where we talked about what young people wanted and what kind of goals HC/HY should set. We had with us about 7-8 middle school/high school kids - mostly of the "skater" crowd... Well, the details don't really matter...

One of the things the kids said that they really wanted in the community was a place. Some kind of place where they would be welcome and not looked down on and not pushed aside. They wanted a place where people of all ages could interact with each other. A place where everybody respected everybody and where young and old alike had equal voice and equal space.

And I said: I know just such a place...



It's called....







MYSPACE!





Sigh...that's probably true, you know...

But my FIRST thought was, really, that's the church. That's EXACTLY what the church is. An intergenerational place where...and then it hit me. That's what church SHOULD be...but, sadly, isn't.

But it can be. We can do it. We just need to look more at (and like) Jesus and less at (and like) each other. We need to live what we belive - not just say it (and sometimes we don't even say it). We need to be that place where EVERYBODY has voice, place...it's home...