Mache

I've just had a great conversation with Michelle.

There are many more conversations to be had.

I since then (have eaten lunch and) have covered 4 balloons with paper mache. While I was doing this I was thinking about our church. Specifically ours, but I think it works in a broader sense of the church as a whole. We are like my Paper Mache project. There are those of us who like things to be ordered. We dislike chaos and messiness. If such a person was to mache, I would think (and yes I am compelled on some level to mache in this manner myself) that their strips would be uniform, they would span the ball in a symmetrical pattern and be pretty even before the paint has been applied. Their process would involve gloves and a desire to get through the messy portion of the project so that they could enjoy the finished project. Neat and orderly. Looking for the perfect outcome.

Others, and I think children especially, will allow and even revel in the random laying down of differently shaped strips. They get into being gooey and make sure that the entire balloon is covered by overlapping pieces going in all directions. These creators are involved in the process and although desire a pretty outcome, get a great deal out of the process. What happens then is perhaps messy and less attractive, but once painted will look exactly like the ordered balloon.

So at the end of the project these mache'd balloons look very similar. There is however, a very big difference between the balloons. In the ordered, neat mache the strips have little contact with each other, and the contact they do have is with as few other strips as possible. Perfect and symmetrical but because of the minimal overlapping with other strips actually very easy to take apart. The messy version is an entirely different creature. The random and repeated overlapping nature of this balloon creates strength. Each strip connects with many other strips. Some long and other short or perhaps thicker and thinner pieces. This strength, this connection to each other is what we need to find in our church again.

I would love to have some of our older members remember what it was like for them to come into the church as young adults and want to make waves. What is it that now makes so many of then want to live in that neat ordered balloon mache project when they once embraced the messiness? Does it make sense to make the changes you wanted when you felt like a progressive move within the church was needed, only to dig your heels in when others came behind you wanting the same thing. Can they not see the fragile nature of this perfectly ordered balloon? No room for change and advancement within the church means we are getting weaker as we pass each other with little contact or room for the mess that change may bring. We need to get messy. Mache up to the elbows. Make all of our strips, as random and different and necessary as all the others, connect with as many other strips as possible, create strength. Create together a strong place to move forward through change. People need people in times of change. The more connections we make the bigger our support system and the stronger we become as individuals as well as, as a group. I don't know when change became a bad word, we must move forward embrace newness despite of how messy the process is. We are all working toward the some goal. A vibrant living breathing life, a beautiful balloon mache'd into (we are making giant Christmas tree balls for our outside tree) a piece of art, a church warm and welcoming and ACTIVELY LIVING.

Life is messy - roll up your sleeves and dig in

Michelle is "young and idealistic".

I think she is fantastic and I wonder why being "young and idealistic" has become a bad thing in the church. We have been following the same path for some time and as such we are dwindling. Might that suggest a new path should be embarked on. Mache people!

Love Beki