The "Pack"

We are in the middle of Youth Fellowship Meetings for the Southwestern District. As of last night, 97 young people had come from other communities for these meetings. It's a far cry from the 800 we used to have sometimes before the Eastern and Western districts were further subdivided into five? smaller districts. But it's also a far cry from the five out-of-staters that apparently attended last year's meetings.

Hiromi and I are among the oldsters who have attended the meetings so far. What a pleasure! The topics by Arthur, Ernest, and Caleb have been superb-- all on the general theme of "Running the Race Without Being a Rat." (Sounds like something a committee of five young males might come up with, right?)

Last night Hiromi and I met Ernest and his wife for the first time. As usual, when dyed-in-the-wool Mennonites meet, all sorts of previously undiscovered connections surfaced. Actually, we had had some recent email correspondence, and I knew that Ernest knew my father and our son, so I hoped we could become acquainted. I also knew where he had grown up--in a community where I had visited several times while I dated a young man from there--when Ernest was two years old, as I learned last night. I had never heard anything about his wife except for her first name.

The most surprising thing I learned was that I used to know Ernest's father from having attended the same school meetings. My sister Linda worked with Cathy at Faith Mission Home, and Cathy had taught my future daughter-in-law when she was in grade school.

I picked them out of the crowd as having the right "look" to match what I knew about them. They picked us out as being Shane's parents. (What can I say? I suppose they just saw a man who looked like he might fit with a name like Iwashige.)

Ernest's topic was on "Running With the Pack." He spent some time exploring what kind of "pack" we are as Anabaptists, historically. He also highlighted some of the features of the mainline Protestant "pack," the Evangelical "pack," the Fundamentalist "pack," and the middle-of-the-road Mennonite "pack." Then he challenged us to be part of the Kingdom Builders "pack." This "pack" has much in common with the best features of each of the other packs, and avoids the pitfalls each of the others falls into.

Ernest showed his best "teacher" side by arranging for a memorable object lesson. As he was speaking, Bryan, who is about 6'3", got out of his seat in the audience and calmly walked to the platform and picked up a whip that awaited, and began to crack it menacingly all around Ernest, while Ernest shrank into a miserable, hunched-over object and recited a long list of things that young people can be driven to do by the cruel taskmasters of peer pressure and wrong desires. The audience laughed appreciatively (and with nervous recognition?) when he made particularly insightful observations about how this works.

If I have one frustration with young people (and I do appreciate much about the ones I know), it is this willing enslavement I see too often. While I sometimes feel fairly philosophical and tolerant, and hope the troublesome things will go away when they grow up, I see a lot that I wish would go away now. Preoccupation with extreme skirt lengths and invisible or nonexistent socks and caboose-type bun shrouds for veilings, and winch-tightened hair, all radiating from one spot or part are absolutely the stuff of future giggling sessions when people look at old pictures. Moderation and common sense are great insurance against future embarrassment, I say--from first-hand experience actually--the moderation and common sense forced upon me sometimes, no doubt, by my parents.

I admire the ability to do as Ernest did--to point out people's foibles and follies in a way that produces instant recognition with a dash of humor to make it palatable. The important thing though is to be able to move beyond this point of recognition to the commitment and surrender that make kingdom building possible. Even dyed-in-the-wool Mennonites, or perhaps especially such people, need to focus on this important task, clearing away encumbrances and loyalties that interfere. No other connections are as important as being connected to the One who unites us in a kingdom building "pack." Thanks to Ernest for reminding us.