Keep Calm and Blow Bubbles

            A few weeks ago, I went to a lecture series at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. One of the workshops I attended was called “Real Relationships, Virtual Space.” It was about how technology can help us enhance our church life (as opposed to replacing it…the work enhance was key). The speaker had many good ideas about how to use technology better in our own contexts, but the activity that was most meaningful was the one with stock photos. She had printed out 200 stock photos (which are free from copyright) and laid them out over a table. She invited each of us to go and find a photo that best described what we wanted our ministry to look like.

            This is the picture I chose:

            Maybe I was drawn to it because my mom loves sunflowers and it made me think of her. I was also drawn to the bubbles. I’ve always been a sucker for bubbles. There’s something about bubbles that just makes you feel like a kid again. Do you remember sitting there with the bubble wand and blowing as slowly as you could to make the biggest bubble possible? Did you ever sit in a bubble bath and blow the bubbles off your hand like that scene in The Little Mermaid? Bubbles remind me how important play is: how important it is to simply do something because it’s fun.

            Were you ever disappointed when the bubble popped? Sometimes it was funny. When the bubble burst because the dog tried to eat it, that was funny. I always wondered how soapy the dogs mouth was after an afternoon of eating bubbles. There is such a thing as the “unpoppable bubbles” which honestly are kind of a pain. The last time I used unpoppable bubbles, all I could think about was how sticky it was. Good old-fashioned bubbles for me, thank you very much.

            Bubbles are fun. They don’t always last, but we play with them anyway just because it’s fun.

            That made me think of what I want my ministry to look like: don’t forget to play and don’t be afraid to try something new even if the new thing doesn’t last (read: work). Some things will last, especially when the people of the church feel like they have a part of it. Not every new thing that I started in my previous church lasted. But some things have stuck, and I celebrate that. Not everything we do in my church now will outlive the ages, just as things previous pastors started haven’t always outlived the ages. But we try new things anyway.

            We’re doing Vacation Bible School here next week. It’s an adventure theme and the tagline is, “Exploring God’s Promises.” I don’t think we explore enough in church. We don’t always look at ministry as an adventure (PS: our Christmas word “Advent” comes from the same root as the word “Adventure”). The Message translation of Proverbs 2:3-5 reads, “If you make Insight your priority, and won’t take no for an answer, searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt, believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours; you’ll have come up on the knowledge of God.” I love that. I want my ministry to look like that: digging deeper into my faith seeking the gems of God’s wisdom through play and curiosity.

            Some bubbles might break along the way. We might even run out of bubble fluid. But by the grace of God, we can always make more bubbles.

            Challenge: Find a photo that describes your faith. Post it in the comment section of the Blog with one or two sentences about why you chose that photo. I can’t wait to see them!