Tension

We had an interesting discussion in intern training this past week (all first and second year YL staffers in Chicagoland get together every other week for time with Bob Davidson, our regional trainer) about music. We were all asked to bring in a song that conveyed a theological truth. I brought in "The Call" by Regina Spektor. It speaks for itself if you give it a listen. The conversation led to the topic of tension. Sometimes, to a person (high school/middle school kids in our case) who hasn't come to experience the overwhelming power of God's grace and saving love, certain music can dismiss the tension in life.

For example: They lyrics to a song that say "how can I stand here and not be moved by You." I know how I can be moved daily by the Lord, but I know a lot of people who only see the reality of what's in front of them, and that reality does not include abundant blessing . . .

Take Kevin.

Kevin, the boy on the left, was one of the people who we worked with this past summer on the YL work trip. This past week Kevin and his uncle, Clemente, were gunned down in the street. If you read this post (scroll down for a section on Kevin, read it all if you want to spend some time in the shoes of those whom live and work in the worst neighborhoods of Guatemala City) by Brady Greene, the YL staffer down there, it might seem prophetic. But is stating reality really prophetic?

Tension.

John 16: 22--Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Can Maritza, Kevin's mourning mother, in this moment, stand and be moved by the Lord? Or is acknowledging her pain and suffering and the reality of the neighborhood a better route to take? I think Jesus would choose the tension. Lepors. Outcasts. Promiscuous women. He meets each one in grief and leaves them with joy.

So, for now, I'm living in the tension, thinking about how Kevin and Hinsdale can coincide, living

with Maritza and the Vida Joven staff in their grief, and anticipating a taste of the joy that is promised.

(For more on Kevin and Clemente, please read the words Brady wrote for the funeral.)