Small church pastoral work is one of the last bastions of generalism. You never know what's going to happen next. Yesterday I had two meetings within just a couple of hours. Both sessions had to do with young adults.
Meeting one was full of hope and promise. The scene before me and the narrative that led to the meeting are the stuff of a Hallmark movie. There is every  reason to believe that in the end they all will live happily ever after.
The tragic element in the second gathering was thick enough to be suffocating. Any thoughts of bliss at the end of the story had been abandoned long ago. The conversation had nothing to do with producing a good outcome. All of us will be satisfied if we can bring about an ending that is less-bad--something just this side of absolutely awful.
In short, at 10:30 Hope came in and permeated my office. At 1:00 it was like someone had hooked up a huge hope-sucker to the room. Every good prospect was gone--or at least it seems that way.
There was a time not long ago when all of the young people involved in my two gatherings were equal. If we had a photo album we could look and "OOOH, and AAAH" at how cute they were. We could look into those eyes and see great promise. We'd see pictures of kids smiling, wearing crooked hats and proudly holding trophies, bright-eyed on Christmas morning, and having fun with family. If you took a picture of the mood of each of the meetings I hosted yesterday, one would continue that bright tone, the other would appear as one big, black splotch.
I don't know enough to say just when, but if we could trace the time-thread backward we would find choices, maybe even one critical choice, choices made by parents, friends, teachers, the young people, themselves. After those two meetings yesterday this guy in my head was yelling, "How you choose and what you do are important. You are building the life you will live." Not every decision I make is critical and irreversable (THANK YOU, LORD!), but some are, and I seldom know which one one, or ones, are defining decisions. Wisdom counsels me to be careful with all my choices. Down the line there will be a meeting about me. Will it be full of hope, or dark with despair?
Here is a site where you can find out about Jesus Christ and His plan for you. You'll find several opportunities to explore. If we can help you, let us know.
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