After my essay last month on our era of loneliness and a lack of connection, this month was marked by the opposite: near constant community and people. Without further ado, here’s what happened in February. Pictures at the end:
The first week of the month I traveled back to Kansas for my recruiting trip: an all expenses paid extravaganza of luxury and excess (i.e. staying at my parents house) with the purpose of recruiting the next generation of MVSers. This included a trip to Bethel, local youth groups, and an update to my supporting Church: First Mennonite in Newton. We got far more interest than I was expecting, which is exciting for a program that has gotten substantially smaller in the past few decades. The number of MVS houses has fallen from somewhere in the 20ish range just two decades ago to only three houses today. It’s sad to see such a large part of my life and my familial/cultural heritage declining. It is still an awesome program, so if anyone reading this is interested in spending a year serving others in community, please reach out! Also while home I had a birthday and spent it eating burgers, playing poker, and finding niche little shops in Wichita. A birthday well spent.
Schyler and I recruiting at Bethel. Look at all those stickers!
The weekend following I was able to drive up to RMMC for snow camp. It had been about a year since I’d visited, and nearly two since I’d worked on the Pikes Peak Massif. In that time I’d forgotten. How much I love camp. The people, the culture, the work ethic, the constant conversation with friends old and new. After spending a year in Alamosa building a support system from the ground up, I felt so… seen. Accepted. Like I didn’t have to work at fitting in. Soul filling and life giving. And while connection is great, so is the tube run: Screaming down an iced over half-pipe, head first, inches away from the hard packed wall, snow spraying your eyes making it impossible to judge when a bump will throw you into the sky and slam you back into the ground. I need that at least once a year, and I’m glad I got it.
The young adult volunteers snow camp weekend.
The following weekend two college friends, Seth and Steph came to visit and refilled my soul what little goodness I’d lost in the intervening week home from camp. When I was younger and didn’t have the time on earth yet to have the displeasure of experiencing prolonged separation from friends and communities, I always wondered how that would feel. Would I still be able to connect the same? Would months and years apart cause ever widening gaps not able to be bridged in the short span of an hour, day or weekend together again? Through college and especially this year, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to catch up and reconnect with former everyday companions.
Tuesday’s have been busy, as there is a group of us doing the Mennonite Action peace school: a 4-week zoom coaching us on how to protest. The immigrant community in The Valley has so far been minimally impacted by recent changes, and it’s been suggested that we limit attention brought to that population, so we will likely hold a small vigil as opposed to a larger protest, such as the ‘not my presidents day’ protest held by the local Democrats recently on President’s Day. Some macabre valley history: 5 years ago during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, a truck tried driving through protesters blocking the street at the same intersection, and the driver got shot in the face by a lawyer. Driver survived, lawyer got charged. Anyway, holding space for beliefs in private is a long standing Anabaptist tradition, born of our persecution in the early days of the faith, echoing back to that time two millennia ago when all of Christianity was persecuted under Rome. The power balance has fully flipped since then, with the ‘One nation under God’ commanding the largest arsenal of machines designed for death and subjugation in the world (surely the Jesus who supported anointing with costly oil in John 12:3 would love our $2 Trillion F-35 program), and has ironically made it necessary for those practicing the teachings of Christ to still sometimes meet in secret, so as to avoid the wrath and attention of those… ‘Christians’ in power. In addition to this time of political thought, our rec-league volleyball has started, also on Tuesdays. They can take away our freedom, but they can’t take away amateur organized adult sports.
I hope this post is a welcomed counterbalance to last month’s. Life in general follows an ebb and flow that demands it not be taken too seriously, something my type-A perfectionism is forever resistant to. Speaking of connection, a few of the other MVSers have blogs as well, and one I’ll shout out is Patrick Webb (patrickwebbtucsonchronicles.substack.com), who gives insight into life in the Tucson unit. Go check it out! Now for some pics:
View of the Sand Dunes from above
The ‘Not my President’s Day’ Protest, taking place on Presidents Day. Those Democrats sure are witty!
A Kansas sunset on an evening run
Sadie, fluffy and shell-shocked from the groomer
That’s all folks, see you for a (hopefully) more timely March update!