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Dear Folks:
These last few weeks, immersed in the Western Regional Youth Event with 150 kids in Long Beach, and then at You and Me Camp at Camp Mimanagish, I observed traditions and memories being transferred from an adult cohort to a group of youth. Both events are steeped in memories of former times, and the act of remembering and telling the stories of past experiences deepens the sacred sense of awe and connection. Giving the next generation similar experiences to ours helps to solidify and secure memories that can be transferred as a tradition to future generations.
We are at an inflection point today where memories made in mere moments come in a vast overwhelm of experiences with no guarantee that any of those experiences will become traditions to be passed on. Passing on memories, traditions, and rituals requires both someone willing to give them out and someone willing to receive them and keep them. What is valued by one generation must be accepted by the next generation for the value to move forward. For the mantle to be taken up by Elisha, it must first fall off Elijah (II Kings 4).
I think about when a parent or grandparent dies, and their things must be gone through and given away or tossed in the garbage. Sometimes it’s unclear what is of financial value, what is of historical and social value, what is of emotional value, and what has no value at all. In all of this, it is the receiver—not the giver--of the memories who chooses what to accept and what to reject, what to pass on and what to toss away.
Memories accrue, building on each other, reshaping the older ones by overlaying the new. For me, stepping into these memory zones requires navigating my own sense of an original experience as well as the layers of emotions of those bearing the history. I often wonder if my experience rises to the level of others’ memories. Was my experience meaningful enough for me to take on their memory and pass it on, or does it die with me? Does it make sense, in today’s world defined by a deluge of communication, to carry it forward?
For the next generation to take on the roles and rituals of the Church, the older generations must give out their memories and stories as well as give up their authority and power. For new ideas, new thoughts, and new experiences to emerge, the traditions that bind us must be relinquished. For new leaders to arise, current leaders need to step aside and become former leaders, allowing new forms of decision-making and outcomes. Like the technology of former decades, old traditions with little meaning today become thick with dust, entangled in wires and useless connections. Do we keep the tired tangled traditions because we don’t know how or where to throw them away or because they may be useful in the future? Rather than freeing space for new wires and connections, the old ones clutter up our mental drawers, cupboards, and storage spaces.
Yes, it is maddening to be in this liminal transitional moment when we need 4, 5, 6 cords with a variety of USB connectors to charge all of our wireless things. Yes, it is frustrating when traditions, like charging cables that worked yesterday do not seem to work today and what we’ll use tomorrow is unclear. Yes, it is sad to watch the next generation reject the memories and traditions of the olden golden days. For now, until the transition is complete, we need the drawers over-filled with cables and connectors, and we need the tired tangled traditions. All we can do is drop our mantle and hope the next ones pick it up.
Peace and blessings on your summer traditions.
Pastor Tony
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