Imagine yourself in a large body of people, racing toward 59th Street at Columbus Circle. Some are your teammates; others your competition, and you’re all in a scavenger hunt to win a prize. The first destination (so you think) is the Coach store. Turns out you’re right. Your reward is the chance to catch your breath and the gift of a new clue that will point you to the second stop. “’Do you want to be made well?’ If so, trek it Uptown about one mile and ‘park’ it here.”

Did you figure it out?

Relying on vague riddle above, all teams that participated in last Saturday’s YAMazing Race Challenge correctly linked the clue to the Bethesda Fountain on 72nd Street in the middle of Central Park (the first half of the clue is a popular scripture from John 5, featuring the pool of Bethesda, and park points to its location). After this stop, however, the clues got harder and only one team emerged the champion of the six-destination race, which was sponsored by our Young Adult Ministry (YAM).

In all, the YAMazing Race welcomed more than 50 young adults from FCBC and The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of NY. (Greater Allen’s co-pastor Rev. Dr. Elaine Flake is the guest speaker for FCBC’s upcoming ‘Women of Worship’ Service on 9/30.)

YAM originally designed the event to help FCBC’s members and visitors ages 19-35 to experience community – within our church family. The race mimicked the popular CBS show “The Amazing Race” and called for teams of five young adults to work side-by-side to solve riddles that would guide them to several unknown destinations between 59th and 125th streets. Yet, a leader of Greater Allen’s young adult ministry heard about the event and contacted Pastor Tory about partnering with FCBC YAM for the entire day of fellowship, which ended with a group lunch at Dallas BBQ.

In the end, only two teams – both a mix of young adults from FCBC and Greater Allen – figured out all six clues and crossed the finish line. Yet, many others walked away with at least one new connection. A huge feat for someone like Kristen D. Goodlett, 24, who has only been attending FCBC for a few weeks.

“I decided to participate in the race because I recently moved back to NYC from Atlanta, and I’ve been looking for a church home and family,” she said. “I am excited to get involved, and I knew the race would be a great way to meet people, make connections about to learn more about the church community.”

To learn about upcoming Young Adult Ministry (YAM) events or to be added to its mailing list, contact fcbc.yam@gmail.com. You also can stay abreast of the ministry on Facebook. Search for username “Fcbc Yam.”

Something has happened that has forever changed what I view, understand or even attempt to conceive as sacred. I have been on a journey to discover my true self and embrace the real and very evasive ME. And what a journey it has been! It has involved massive breaking and destruction throughout my entire life; all because of a growing awareness of the real me. Every lofty construct I had of myself was served an eviction notice. Every egotistical delusion of grandeur that was necessary for me to function with some sense of self confidence has been hi-jacked by those pesky pirates of grace and humility. That deceptively shallow well of false bravado which fed my supply lines of self-righteousness and certainty has been capped and sealed. This new reality has forced my lines to be re-routed to that limitless well of divine ambiguity and spiritual uncertainty.

There has been a total deconstruction of the self that I once knew and “loved” dearly. So now what? I know more of my real self. I am embracing the brightest, darkest, weakest, strongest, best and worst parts of me. I am more real. I am more open. I am much more exposed. Now what?

To stop at this place as if it were the ultimate goal would allow me to celebrate the results of transformational work but leave me short of true transformation. At this point, the raw and honest awareness of my true self would make it virtually impossible for me to judge anyone…which is a great thing! However, it does not inherently mean that I would be moved to live compassion (to suffer with). There is yet one more step needed to experience the fullest manifestation of Creations joy and transformation into the very essence of the God in all of us. And that is to CONNECT! Not to touch, not to engage, not to unite, not to bond, not to know, not to understand, not to help…but to CONNECT! This process would mean that I allow the essence of my raw and exposed self to connect with creation. All of the breaking down and destruction of all that was not me has transformed me into a connectivity receptor. So to answer the original question, “what is sacred?”…it is connection!

For me, this seemingly simple expression has unlocked more of what our connectedness to God is all about. But as Phillip Gulley suggests (in his book If The Church Were Christian), we can ill afford to limit this revelation to a vertical understanding and practice. Meaning, if this only remains our understanding of our interactions with God and not the (horizontal) expressions of our connectivity with each other (all of creation) we’ve missed it! I can further understand what the writer of 2 Corinthians was trying to express in the 5th chapter when speaking about how God was reconciling (connecting) the world with God’s self through Jesus and how we as disciples have been given the message of reconciliation (connection). I believe the writer left his teaching open for too vertical an interpretation. His charge is to only carry the message but not “practice/live/embody/become” the message. That is why so many of us can extensively talk about it but find it difficult to live it. For living it would put us in line with the Old Testament prophets who understood their call to embody the message that they received from God (Isaiah, Hosea, Jeremiah, etc).

Also, the writer of Deuteronomy in chapter 29 verse 29 suggests that the “secret things” belong to God and those things that are revealed belong to us. Therefore, I now know better how the connection of marriage is sacred. When you connect on such a level with another of God’s creation, how can it not be worship? How can it ever be divided? In our connection to God, we may find ourselves apart (because of our issues and not God’s) at times, but never divided. How can it be any different with our relationships (that are connected in the same way) in our horizontal plane? With this revelation, this call of true connection is now our responsibility! Thank you God for the call to connect with You and Creation….for it is indeed waiting!

Prayer:

God, as we each connect more with You and Your Essence within us, please grant us the courage and tenacity to connect in the same way with all of Your creation. May we seek to love, give, sacrifice and live without the need for affirmation or reciprocity. May Your Truth continue to be revealed in all of Your children who are coming to know You in truth!

Amen…