Wild Abandon
Many years ago, I was asked to “teach” our parish’s Rite 13 class. It was an interesting experience, often feeling more like a penguin chasing a butterfly. I thought I could describe how the church operated and the principles of faith. I was successful in a way but there was a lot to learn about an authentic practice of faith which those teenagers taught me – specifically, faith is something to be experienced, not observed.
It was the thank you gift which drove the point home, a book entitled Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli. In it, he talks about the nurturing of a wonder-filled life of faith, faith like a child’s faith, which unleashes God’s power in individuals and churches. We move forward in faith by “following Jesus instead of the rules of Jesus.” Our call to follow Jesus is to model our lives after Jesus’ actions.
The invitation we receive from Jesus is to live a life of wild abandon, nearly reckless at times. A life of abandon is one that probes God and community to see what is missing or a little off. My experience of teaching the Jr. High class was one that allowed me to do shocking things like allow the youth Sunday to play “Wheel in the Sky” by Journey as the recessional. Then to weather the disdain of some because “that wasn’t appropriate.” At least until they listened to the lyrics, then things changed.
God is calling us to a deeper and, at times, non-traditional expression of our faith. Our faith and how we practice it is uniquely ours, there’s nothing new under the sun. We grow by applying what we experience to what we know to allow our faith to encourage others to experience God in ways that move them forward. Can you give yourself the space to be childlike and approach God with wide-eyed wonder? I think that’s where we will find the places that God is calling us to serve our neighbors.
Blessings, Fr. Les+
