Aerating

I spent this morning renting, hauling and actually using an aerator. Very interesting. In the periennial struggle every spring to grow my lawn, this year we decided to try aerating it.

The idea is something like this. Take a lawn, use an aerator, and go over it like a mower. When you are done, you will have a lawn which has a bunch of poke holes in it, with clumps of dirt everywhere, looking like some kind of large waterfowl poop.

As I was aerating, I continued to think about this idea of 'spiritual environmentalist' that Erwin uses. The idea is that I'm poking a hole into something that maybe already looks okay, in order for it to grow at the next level. To stimulate growth and action, I'm deliberately almost destroying it in a way. I'm certainly changing the dynamic of my lawn. Deliberately opening up the lawn so that more 'air' can get in there. 'Air'-ate, if you will.

I think it's a pretty accurate description of what we are called to do with students. In my case, I know that the next few weeks, I'm going to be processing how to poke a series of tiny holes in the graduating Seniors, through our Black Hole Experience. I'm going to be purposely taking them away from their routine, into an environment where they might not be as safe, around people that are totally different than them. One of the weekend's goals is for them to see our world's cultures as they are, not as we think they are. In a sense, I'm 'culture'-ating, sort of. (I know its kind of corny.) Or in another sense I'm 'mission'-ating. In both cases, I want these kids to come back with a bigger picture of culture and mission. I want to open them up to the possibilities and the impact they can make on both cultures of the world and the mission Jesus has for the Church. It's my job, sort of, to poke these holes in them for one weekend, with the intent that they reach the next level of growth and action in their walk with Jesus and how He calls them to reach the nations.

I also put down some fertilizer and grass seed today. The bag says I should have some grass popping up in 7-10 days. I wonder what will happen to some of these students after 7-10 days...