So I don’t know about you, but I’m happy that the 5th of July is a National Holiday this year.  It would have been a bummer to not get a day off of work to celebrate Independence Day for the US of A.  Unfortunately I spent the 4th sick as a dog in bed with the flu.  It was making the rounds all last week at our Vacation Bible School.  I’m not surprised that I got it, but it was sad to miss out on all of the festivities yesterday.  I didn’t see one display of fireworks, though I did hear a few go off in the distance.  With all of that being said, it’s nice to be alive and feeling well.

This week we have a stellar group of young people going to camp El Camino Pines in the shady forests west of Frazier Park, California.  We will meet up with them tomorrow and spend some time accompanying them on a journey of faith.  Summer camp was for me, and hopefully will be for these young people, a life changing experience.

In the weeks ahead we will be doing various other summer trips and events with the youth from our congregation in San Clemente, CA.  As we take these journeys I have time to reflect on the theological project that I have endeavored to be on.  The project/conjecture is this:  Young people are fully human beings and equal partners in the Kingdom of God.   This is a shift in both theology and youth ministry.  Young people instead of being objects of conversion, are sources of God’s grace.

A confession.  This is not an easy way to think or live.  Young people can be very challenging to work with.  But the theological challenge beyond the ethical one of how to interact with young people, is what insights do young people give the world about God.  How do young people reveal a certain knowledge or revelation about God?  I think they do, and I think it is manifold.  I hope to share some of these revelations with you throughout the summer as they appear.   For the coming weeks and days I will also be sharing reviews of books and movies that I have read and watched lately.  Some are most gratifying indeed.

Here’s to freedom!

-the Pirate