Squirrels

Several months ago I read a book entitled Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli. Ultimately, the point of this well written book is to remind parents that practicing the presence of Jesus is utterly more important than doing things in order to have activities. In his opening chapter, Yaconelli makes a point that has stuck in my head, as in the heads of our youth group. As I was reading this book I decided to teach a class on authenticity because our youth group was becoming more and more comfortable with putting on a good show for our brothers and sisters, rather than picking each other up (something very natural to do when you're at a very fragile point in one's social life!). I was looking for a way to say that I had recently felt anxiety while planning our mission trip and various summer trips while grieving my father's loss. And that I felt like I had recently made bigger deals out of small things. And Yaconelli has the analogy nailed in his first chapter, anxiety is "a state of agitation in which we lose our larger capacity to empathize, to love, to respond to the needs of others. When we're anxious we become squirrel-like -- nervous and wary, teeth chattering, eyes scanning for danger, muscles spring-loaded, waiting to scamper up the nearest tree at every sound" (Yaconelli, 35). I proceeded to tell my youth group kids, "I'm a squirrel!" Of course, they found this very funny. Apparently, they still find this very funny. They have given me squirrel stickers, videos, pictures of suirrels with my face photoshopped in, and countless roadkill pictures.

The reason I am writing this today is because I am heading to Lubbock (immediately after I finish this post) to attend a Youth Minister's conference at Lubbock Christian University. The keynote speaker for this conference is Mark Yaconelli.

If you were an animal, what would you be?