July 3, 2008

• PAPA Fest Reflections

  B"H

  Trying to break an old habit

  No, I’m not an alcoholic, but I do seem to have a problem with whine. Although I very much believe to the contrary, more often than not, I seem to complain and whine, rather than taking the high road of acceptance and transcendence. As many of my dear friends know, both here in cyberspace and in real life, I generally feel conflicted in that I think and speak of one reality and yet live in a different world entirely. For a variety of reasons, I am often scattered in my thoughts and words. The talk I gave at the recent PAPA Fest was no exception.

  Originally I had a fairly detailed outline prepared of what I wanted to present. As things developed, which I have already mentioned, I sort of became confused about what I was doing and eventually relied on my ability to speak extemporaneously. In other words, I had a few scattered notes on a page, but mostly I didn’t follow that either. There’s a plus and a minus to this type of presentation I think. On the one hand, it’s fresh and potentially new. In my case, neither the hearers nor the speaker had a heads-up on what was coming next. The negative aspect of this is that in not being more formally organized, there are many things I left out which I wish I had included.

  Having said all this, I request that my readers here pray for me in two specific ways. First, that I would take my own advice and learn to practice trusting the LORD and stop whining about my circumstances in life. Second, that I would get over being lazy and take my work more seriously in terms of writing and communicating the things the LORD has taught me.

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  The PAPA Fest is purposely different from most of the other festivals in several ways.

  First and foremost, it is smaller by design. (Although the planners wanted to cap the event at 1000, I think that if we had 800 we could have easily accomodated 1500.) The smaller size, in terms of attendance, makes for a much more intimate event. There was also only one stage for the music groups and that was both good and bad. It was bad in that with more venues, then more groups/bands could perform. On the other hand, since almost everything was being presented outdoors, if there were another stage I think it would have created some sound conflict issues. In fact, at one point a bunch of drummers started a session in a central area, and it was hard to hear and hold a conversation anywhere around there until the drummers were done. The smaller numbers make it easier to meet people and make meaningful connections. When the group is very large, like at Cornerstone, then the sense of family and community is harder to establish.

  Secondly, the general feel of the PAPA Fest is different in that the vast majority of people are in their 20's and 30's and not necessarily connected to particular church groups. While there are an increasing number of community groups participating, the lone individual or family unit was by no means the exception to the rule. There's a whole bunch of people in our country right now who are sort of searching for a new way of being a disciple of Jesus. They are too young to remember the Jesus Movement of the 60's and 70's and there are new issues present this time around which make the current happening unique.

  Here’s a quote from a link on David Swanson’s site, Signs of Life, which he took from the Young Anabaptist Radicals, and it appears it originated here,

  “In case it hasn’t become obvious from my description, PAPA festival serves as the unofficial convergence space for the New Monasticism movement. The movement is gradually coming of age and the number of kids running around was one concrete manifestation of that. There were at least 70 kids running around and hanging out in the Children’s village. Their presence alongside many dreadlocked heads contributed to a carnivalesque collision of counterculture and family friendly feeling." - Tim Nafziger

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  Although Penninah and I had to leave early due to a prior commitment back home, we still had a great time.

  I want to send a special shout-out to Mark and Amy Van Steenwyk and Casey and Marty, and Dave of the Missio Dei community in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. On Thursday evening we followed the sounds of their singing and guitar playing like ones enchanted by the melodies of the Pied Piper. We drifted into their campsite and shared stories and fellowship until nearly 11 PM. The next evening we returned with challah, grape juice, candles and a Siddur to share the start of the Sabbath with a kiddush ceremony. Our new found friends were very gracious in sharing time and food and fellowship. We hope to take a trip, perhaps as soon as August, to visit their neighborhood and partake in their ministry at home.

  Blessings,

  Shlomo

   

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