More on "Hurt" by Chap Clark

It's really amazing to think that someone can write a book and basically say the obvious and have it be so poignant. Really, all the things that Chap is saying are very true and it all makes sense. I can see everything he is talking about in the youth that I work with. I can even see a little bit of it in me as well. Most likely because I am at the end of my adolescence myself. But I also feel like a bridge between the adult world that "just doesn't understand" and the new generation of youth who are redefining so many of the standards the older generations hold so dear. For example, the word "stress" is something that is well understood by generations who grew up with fewer commitments as adolescents than the current generation. So if a thirty-something says they are stressed it is most likely because there is more on their plate than they can handle and responsibilities are being piled upon them. The difference, as noted by Clark, is that adolescents of today are already so busy, so involved and so stressed that it becomes their version of normal. Imagine a life where stress at very high levels is normal.

There is another side to all of this as well Adolescents who don't think that they are stressed, who think that life this way is normal believe they are doing are going to run themselves into the ground. I am in the ministry of helping youth understand that Christ our Savior who takes our sins, burdens and even our stress and gives us salvation and rest in the arms of love. But there is a disconnect. Why would someone that fees like life is normal, that being tired being overcommitted and not getting enough sleep ever want someone that would give them rest? This is a huge dilemma. I find huge value in retreats and moments where we can have time one on one with God. Where we can experience God in the small and and the large. But to minister to a a generation that doesn't think they need something like that makes for an interesting time and quite a bit of trial and error.

It is going to take a lot of prayer, research and error to know what is going to work and help the youth of this generation and how to let them know what they need. Pray for the youth ministry of Word of Peace and the world that we may do the best we can and make Christ real to them.

Peace,

dain