Today, I have had a profound sense of my senses.

We recently moved to Monroe, LA. Along with this, my body and all of its senses have remembered the vast geographical location of Monroe (or more accurately, specific places within Monroe that I have been) and have begun to create new associations with my surroundings.

I awoke early startled and thinking, "Where am I?" We moved our bed to better suit the space last night, so my body noticed the sun peaking through the blinds this morning. It alerted me that to my left was something it had not remembered being there when I previously awake. I was worried as to where I was, almost in the sense that I thought I had been abducted and made to sleep in a foreign place.

My body also noticed the smell of West Monroe the other day. It had rained, so the paper mill emitted a foul smell, which I associate with a bad broccoli smell. I knew before we moved here that I would remember it from when I would drive through West Monroe to get to Pecanland Mall.

I looked up directions for the DMV yesterday to go change my driver's license. I mentally remembered the location as being just past where I previously went to get to the airport.

My nearly 11th month old daughter has even experience these similar body relocations! I simply find it amazing how God has wired our bodies to sense differences within our physical world, even to the slightest degree. Sophie's room is almost the same size, set up the same way, and curtains blocked out the same. However, her body knows, as well as mine and Missy's, that we are elsewhere.

Intergenerational Ministry

I am working on creating an intergenerational curriculum that will be used in a small group setting (more on this in later posts). All of this is coming about from the calling and vision that the Lord has given to me for intergenerational ministry (IM) in and through me. One of the convictions that I have is that this work needs to be going on already through me.

I need to live into a culture that seeks to connect with people from any generation, including any walk of life, ethnicity, race, age, gender, culture, sexual orientation, social status, etc. This is at least what I have thought of so far as being the focus in doing IM. There is more to it of course, but I stopped for a moment to reflect on this "mission statement" of IM, thinking about the usage of "from."

What follows may simply be me looking too far into something: Of course people come "from" somewhere, something, someplace, and some particular people. I am not questioning the assumed background of people. What I am pondering is the presumption that people will come "to" a relationship and culture with me "from" who they already are and where they currently are.

I believe that IM is a going out "to" people who are not in the same generation as me, regardless of what generation I am in. I believe that it is living out a culture within myself to others that connects with them in relationship to where they are at now. What do you think?

Another thing is that no matter what generation I am in, I am responsible for this going out to people of other generations. I think that it is hard for younger generations to reach out to and engage with older ones. It may also be hard for older generations to reach out, especially if there is are unspoken expectations for the older generation to do so and to lead in this. I believe that no matter who we are or where we are coming from or going, if we want to properly participate in IM, we need to be the ones initiating and fostering the culture of connecting with others unlike us. What do you think?