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07447 July 21, 2007
Peace and quiet
'Contemplative' prayer vigil changes the pace at Youth Triennium
by Jerry Van Marter Presbyterian News Service
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - Ever seen absolute silence out of 4,500 teenagers?
After a week of vociferous, raucous, celebratory worship services at the 2007 Presbyterian Youth Triennium here, the mood turned quiet and reflective Friday night (July 20) as Mark Yaconelli - the "guru" of "contemplative youth ministry" - led the massive crowd gathered on the grassy slopes of Slayter Amphitheatre on the Purdue University campus here in an emotional prayer "vigil."
Instead of rock-and-roll and hip-hop hits, the loudspeakers pumped out Gregorian chants. Instead of up-tempo electrified praise songs, the yet-to-be-named PYT Band led participants in Taize refrains such as "The Lord is my light, my light and my salvation; In God I trust, in God I trust." And candles in hand, participants heeded Yaconelli's call to silent reflection.
"Sometimes it's hard to find God in the noise and agitation," said a young worship leader. "Tonight let's rest in silence and beneath the healing presence of God - offer this place and this moment to God and let it move across this group and around the world..."
Yaconelli said a couple from a nearby residential facility for abused and troubled teens "who do not have the love and support you have" had come to see him the day before. "I sat with them and prayed with them and they watched you walk along, laughing and loving, and they wept because their kids don't have that."
In their prayers and meditations, Yaconelli implored the crowd "to reach out with our love and prayers to those 50 kids about an hour away from here and to all those who don't have what we have here tonight."
That call was clearly heeded.
Speaking on the theme "Hope in Our Heart: Waiting Expectantly," Yaconelli told the story of his first love ... in college, for the woman to whom he is now married. As the love progressed through several hilariously-told episodes, he drew the lesson that true love requires patience as illusions of love are displaced by the reality.
So it is with faith, Yaconelli continued. "Read the gospels and replace the word 'Jesus' with the word 'love.' That's what the Bible tells us: 'God is love.'
"When you look at it that way, you realize that each of us is made to give and receive love - with God and with others," he said. "And when you see through the eyes of love, people look different. When you listen with the ears of love, you hear differently. And when you feel with the heart of love hope is born."
The Holy Land of Jesus' time was filled with teachers, Yaconelli said, "but the disciples chose to follow love and look where it led them."
Such love can be dangerous, he insisted. Addressing the second chapter of Mark, where followers lower the paraplegic through a hole in the roof so the man can encounter Jesus, Yaconelli said, "These guys loved so much they tore off a roof! What do you think their parents thought about that?"
Parents want their children to love Jesus, but they also want their kids to be safe and secure. Sometimes they can't have it both ways.
"Loving Jesus is dangerous. What if your eyes of love are drawn to the homeless in your community and you suggest, 'Hey, let's fill up our church building with homeless people'? Or what if you don't sense enough Holy Spirit in worship, so you suggest church start off with an energizer. How do you think that'll go over with the old-timers?"
Loving God and others also brings pain, Yaconelli cautioned, "because the reality of Christ's love isn't here yet. When we see pictures of the world's children suffering and dying, we would weep forever were it not for the hope that comes with loving Jesus."
Jesus doesn't want our belief, Yaconelli said, "he wants our love, he wants us to see the world with the eyes of love and when we do, we'll suffer. I wish I could tell you something different, but that's reality."
Contemplative prayer is that discipline which allows us to be patient, to love God, and to wait for that love of Christ to bloom and grow into hope. "Hope heals. In the waiting and in the trust in God, healing does begin to take place.
"If you want to see God's hope in the world," Yaconelli concluded, "look around - you are it - see through the eyes of love, respond with the heart of Christ, and hope is born."
Several triennium participants offered their prayers of hope for healing - for those suffering with terminal diseases or depression; for victims of war and domestic violence; for those in Palestine, Iraq, Taiwan, Chiapas, the Czech Republic, Peru and Zimbabwe; for those who have lost loved ones; for abused children and the homeless; for those living in poverty and broken families. With each prayer, a large wooden cross was struck with hammers, the sound echoing across the amphitheatre and participants slowly got to their feet, locking arms with each other.
Then a single candle was lit and the flame was passed through the crowd until all 4,500 candles glowed. The light shone in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.
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