Saturday, December 16, 2023

“If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?

If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?”

I Corinthians 12:17

I hated Physical Education (P.E.) classes as a kid. There were lots of reasons for this that included, but were not limited to, my perceived incompetence or lack of care from the coaches who taught the classes, the unsupervised actions of classmates who were also in the classes, my own personal set of insecurities and imperfections, and the like. Suffice to say, there was plenty of blame to go around. But the point is that P.E. classes were not my favorite part of the day, and the clocks in the gym seemed to go much more slowly than the clocks in the classroom. I would have given anything to be able to be anywhere else. But P.E. was required by the state and the district, so I did what I had to do. I showed up to class and participated as best I could.

When a new unit of study began, the process was pretty similar. Whether the sport was basketball, flag football, kickball, baseball, dodgeball, track, or any other unit of study, very little instruction was given by the coach, although there may have been a sheet of paper that was shared with us that contained the rules and the scoring procedures that we would need to memorize for future quizzes on the unit. After the information about the sport was shared, here is what usually took place: two people were picked by the coach as team leaders, and then the sorting began. I almost always had the privilege of being the last kid standing, and the team leader who was the last to select teammates was stuck with me. For what it is worth, I probably hated being chosen last all of the time as much or more than the team captain hated having me on the team. In case I forgot to mention it already, I hated P.E. classes as a kid.

One of the units of study was volleyball. And, when that unit came up, the process was just like every other sport. We got a sheet with rules and scoring processes, we divided into teams, and we started playing. When you are starting off on the Jr. High level, the key to getting the most points is basically being the team that can get the ball over the net during the serve. On our first day with the unit, by the time it was my turn to serve, the other team was winning, and things weren’t looking good. Then, I got the ball over the net, the ball was not returned, and we won the point. This kept happening until we had won the game. I went from zero to hero. The next time we played volleyball, I wasn’t the last to be selected. And I had a few days in school when P.E. wasn’t so bad.

My lucky streak that day didn’t have anything to do with luck. I actually liked playing volleyball, and I had some experience with the sport through my church youth group. We had a volleyball net at our church, and one of our annual activities was to play volleyball with some of the youth from an area Lutheran congregation in a neighboring town. I had figured out how to get the ball over the net long before the P.E. unit started. And I had my church youth group to thank for that.

Two of my ministry situations as an ordained pastor were in congregations where I served as the Pastor for Children and Youth Ministries. Both ministries were relatively short lived, but I loved working with the youth and their families in both contexts. Working with the Senior Pastors was an entirely different story. But working with the youth and their families was always meaningful and fulfilling. However, I must admit that I am glad to be out of that particular ministry focus at this stage in my ministry. I read articles about how the youth of today are looking for different kinds of things than what I needed as a youth or what I probably provided to youth in past congregations. Today’s youth, apparently, want “relevant” programs. And, to be honest, I have absolutely no idea what that means. My hope is that the youth I did serve found me to be someone who provided them with a spirit of welcome and support in their faith journey. I know that the youth provided that for me, so I hope that was reciprocated. But I wouldn’t even know where to start to provide “relevant” programs in today’s context.

For youth events at my home church, we did hayrides, we had dances, we made spaghetti suppers, we collected canned goods for food pantries, we hosted lock-ins, and we played volleyball. I have no idea how relevant any of those things were at the time, but I enjoyed them. At the church and while doing church activities, I had a place and a purpose. I was welcomed and included. The things we did, we did together. And, even if I wasn’t the best at something, I was allowed to participate with no judgment. In the process, I learned. I grew. I even gained some volleyball serving skills that helped me hate P.E. a little less than I would have otherwise. I think that is relevant. It certainly was for me.

I knew I had a place in the community called the church. And because of the relationships that I built, the activities that I did, and the things that I learned, I found out that there might also be a place for me in spaces outside of the church – spaces like a volleyball court.