Today Nicolai will make a presentation to his English class as, Hel, the Norse Goddess of death. The mask he fashioned represents life and death. Nicolai hopes to be voted by his classmates onto the twelve member Council of the Gods.

An enormously proud father with his son. 

 
Inspired by the music of the day, Maya and Chloe perform their own duet. I really admire the fact that Chloe treats Maya like a little sister.

After the service, we celebrated with a reception to honor the organizers, mentors and Coming of Age participants. Jeanine has persuaded both Kyle and I to join her on a 21-day clense so the extent of our enjoyment of the feast was limitted to carrots with hummous. If not for the fact that I have lost 5 pounds in three days I would have conspired to mutiny. 

 
As part of the Coming of Age program, the teen participants conduct the entire Sunday morning worship. Kyle and his close friend Seth performed Time of Your Life for the congregation and it was nothing short of exquisite. Nicolai did an excellent job videotaping the performance and you can view it at this link.

 
In the Unitarian church, we invite our young people to develop their own credo, and to share it with the congregation. Our teens spend several months exploring their personal beliefs about religion and spirituality with a group of peers and adult mentors. We celebrate this rite of passage and call it Coming of Age. Today, this journey of self discovery culminated when Kyle stood before our parish and spoke of his beliefs and values. Jeanine and I could not have been more proud or moved as we listened to Kyle speak. Below the pulpit are masks created by each Coming of Age participant. See if you can guess which one is Kyle’s. I will post a photo of it later in the week.

It was a cold November morning when I arrived at soccer practice fifteen minutes late. To avoid extra running as punishment, I sprinted around the field and stealthily joined a group of my friends in a passing circle. They greeted me and asked “Hey man what’s going on, you have missed the last three practices, and now you’re showing up late?” “My parents are making me do this stupid coming of age thing for church,” I replied. “What’s that and what religion is it for?” they asked. I mumbled back “Unitarian Universalism.” “So what do you believe in?” they inquired. I thought a little and stumbled over some words and finally said, “We believe in whatever we want to.” The group teased me about it and practice went on as usual.

After this experience I realized I had almost no idea about what I believed in and decided it was a question worth answering.

I began to identify spiritual beliefs I could embrace as my own and to separate them from other beliefs I knew were not right for me. The first thing I realized was that I did not believe in any form of God or after life. At the same time, I concluded that science alone could not explain the beauty of nature, the cycle of life and death, the amazing human body, or our place in an infinite and mysterious universe.

I believe people have souls that are revealed through their relationships with each other. I believe there are spirits in nature that are revealed through beauty. I believe that everyone is born with a gift; a single precious life wrapped in a beautiful body. This gift is amazing but fleeting and I believe we must strive to live life to the fullest and make the most of every moment.

I then asked myself what makes for a life well lived. Is it by dying a rich man? Is it by creating a loving family? Is it by becoming famous? Is it by building enduring friendships or is it by helping the less fortunate?

How to live a fulfilling life is different for everyone. During the past few months, I began to define what it meant for me.

First: I cherish my family. I love my mother, father, brother, sister and our dog. I love my relatives and one day hope to create and nurture my own loving family.

Second: I value my friends. True friends who I can have a good time with and who are there for me when I need them, not because they have to be, but because they want to, knowing that I will be there for them as well.

Third: I want to help others. Living a fulfilling life for me will mean helping others to do so as well. I want to know that my life will have had a positive impact on the world after I have left it.

Fourth: I believe the Earth is sacred. I must fight to protect the environment so my children and their children will one day be able to enjoy it as I have.

Fifth: I want to live with integrity. I value loyalty, so I will be a good friend; I value wisdom so I will be a good student and learn from my mistakes, I value justice and equality so I will treat all people fairly and with respect.

Finally: I want to have fun. I want to explore the corners of the globe, play in a rock concert to thousands of screaming fans, parachute from an airplane, and score a goal in the World Cup. I want to live with no regrets.

I may never become a famous musician or soccer player, and I may fall short of attaining some of my goals, but I believe I will have lived fully if I never stopped reaching for them.

If you see a loving family and group of true friends gathered at my funeral remembering me as a fun loving, caring person, who made a difference in the world, my spirit will be at peace.

This evening both boys had dates. Chloe(1) spent the evening with Kyle and Chloe(2) went to the dance downtown with Nicolai. If not for their very persistent aunt, getting the boys to line up for this photo would have been nearly impossible. While talking to the girls as I drove them home, I found it necessary to create the Chloe(1) and (2) monikers. All seemed amused with the naming convention and I think it is going to stick. Thank God we decided not to name the dog Chloe, as was once contemplated.  

Kyle’s ankle is still injured, but he is still expected to attend soccer games even though he cannot play. We drove to Wheaton College (about an hour) and I did a little photography in between games. 

Jeanine and I took Nala on a very long walk this afternoon. With the invisible fence, we normally let her roam the yard anytime she wants out. When we go for a walk the leash comes out and Nala, knowing what this means, starts going crazy in anticipation. 

Jeanine’s father requested a combination of all the black berret photos from last week. Click on the imge for a larger view. 

Jeanine’s sister, Susan, arrived today. She has come to witness Kyle’s Coming of Age celebration at church on Sunday. 

 The whole idea of an off site meeting is kind of funny. We go to someplace really nice and then spend the entire day inside a room that could easily be down the street. Never the less, this was one of our most productive meetings in some time and everyone left feeling good.

The tab dissolves under the tongue within

 The view out of our conference room window was punctuated by this cute little golf cart bridge over a stream that winds its way through the golf course. We started at 7AM and worked until 9PM. I was so tired that I skipped dinner and went straight to my room. The good news is that we accomplished a great deal and worked through some tough issues.