Tonight, we prayed the stations of the cross with the and I was so impressed with how well they handled the silence, at least for a while. They seem to respect and maybe even enjoy that kind of thing. My hope is that we are introducing them to something like this so that silence and candles and prayer are not foreign to them. In fact, i hope it becomes utterly normal. but its a hard fight trying to reclaim these kids from the world.
also, before we started praying tonight, about five punk rock kids--mohawks, bleached hair, gloves, studs, cheek-piercing, skin-tight jeans, "The Clash" T-shirts, the whole nine yards--wandered in. i know it seems silly, but i was really stoked to be able to connect with them. i hope they come back. i think the kids in our youth group could use some discomfort and these and other kids from the streets could use a home.
finally, Ernie stayed the night and Ira, Ernie and I were in the kitchen microwaving corn dogs and emptying the dishwasher when Ira, in the course of conversation, said "Hallelujah! Its Easter tomorrow! Thank You!" I got so excited! he got it! all these weeks of trying to explain that abstaining from sweets was actually worship and the night before, he got it! oh man, i grabbed him by the shoulders and i could have hugged him so tight. it is blissful moment when we see a breakthrough like that. Can you imagine the beauty of someone stumbling upon the truth of Easter, of Lent, of what worship really is? Well, I had to write this to tell someone.
peace to you all. He is almost risen!
