"...sometimes there's a man who, well, he's the man for his time and place -- he fits right in there -- and that's the Dude"
These words are from the opening of one of my favorite movies, the 1998 Coen Brothers classic comedy, The Big Lebowski. It is difficult to articulate exactly why I find this movie so enjoyable, engaging, and enlightening. In many ways, you either get it or you don't. And I get the Dude.
I have been a youth and/or young adult minister in the Church of the Brethren for nearly nine years now, and I have found it similarly difficult to articulate what drives my ministry. The things that I just "get" -- without having to think about or reason through -- the things that arise from my being immersed in my time and place, of my efforts to "fit right in there" -- these things are often not in sync with the prevailing patterns and thinking in the church. But articulating them in ways that are accesible and can be understood by those who don't "get it" is a bit like trying to describe what makes a flower beautiful or what makes running enjoyable.
My hope for this blog is to provide another venue for articulating, exploring, and maybe even experiencing what it means to be in ministry in this time and place. I welcome questions, conversation, critical reflections, and alternative viewpoints from my own community of faith and beyond.
