Survey question: Who are young adults today?

As some of you already know, I'm involved in starting up a new year-long, full-time, community-based young adult volunteer program for the United Methodist Church in the Rocky Mountain/Yellowstone region. We're still working on a catchy name (and tag phrase), but in a brainstorming session today my colleagues asked some questions I wasn't sure I could answer definitively for all people in our target age range (I was the only "young adult" actually in the room). So I'm putting them out to you, O bloggers: If you are between the ages of 18 and 30, please respond to any/all of the following with your comments:

1. How would you characterize young adults today? Are there traits or values that cut across gender, ethnicity, economic background, education level for our age group?

2. What are young adults looking for in life? What is appealing?

3. Are athletic/sports-related images and metaphors relevant, limited, or overused?

4. Has the "eXtreme" concept been done to death?

5. What, if anything, would attract you to a program where you would commit to a year of full-time volunteer work, living in community in a house with other volunteers, learning about and reflecting on social justice issues and your own spiritual growth?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Miscellaneous

Okay, so obviously I have about as much systematic dedication to blogging as I have to journaling, which is why in spite of having received approximately 8 journals as gifts over the past five years, I'm still writing in one started in 2000. Still, in case anyone out there is still checking in once in a while, I thought I'd put up some stuff.

First, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina is real and the recovery is going to take years. If you haven't donated already, consider giving through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (www.umcor.org), one of the many worthy organizations providing direct aid - thanks to the United Methodist system of giving to wider missions, 100% of gifts given to any particular cause go straight to that cause - people support the administrative costs intentionally through other means.

I found this article by Jim Wallis, of Sojourners, interesting and thoughtful - it's about how in times of natural disasters, "those who have the least to lose are often those who lose the most."

And yet, as terrible as the scenes of destruction are, and as much as I mourn with those who have lost loved ones, a home, neighborhood, livelihood, and perhaps worst of all, hope, I thank God that it was not worse. And I hope that even as generous people across the country open their wallets and their homes to help those displaced by Katrina, we will not forget the millions whose lives were affected by the tsunami eight months ago - those communities are still a long way from getting back on track. And I hope we will not forget the Israeli settlers who have had to leave behind their homes in Gaza, or the Palestinians who have waited so long to be heard and who have grown so desperate that they have trouble seeing a just peace in their land as a viable option. Or the ordinary people of Colombia who find their lives threatened by both military and revolutionary forces, or the millions dying of AIDS in Africa and around the world, or the 30,000 children who die each day because of hunger and poverty-related causes.

It's a big world out there, friends. And I'm not really a glass half-empty kind of person; I just find it important to remind myself of all the need and suffering that still exists, because it's so tempting to stay wrapped in my cozy little bubble most of the time. I mean, it's enough to break your heart.

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Well, that ends the sermonizing portion of this evening's post. Just for kicks and giggles, those of you who haven't seen it already should check out The Onion AV Club's feature on "Dining for a Dollar: Summer Snack Edition." It's friggin' awesome.

My favorite, in the category of That Is So Wrong: the Dippin' Dolphin Pop.

A pox on both my houses

I hate moving.

I mean, I really HATE moving. Even just a few miles across town.

Thanks to my friend Ben for sending me this link to a comic strip some of you might also enjoy:

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=593
("Piled Higher and Deeper, a grad student comic strip")

The main point of which, of course, is that "helping you move is a debt payable in blood." And no one owes me any big favors right now that I can call on.

I hate moving.

And... I'm done.

Whew. Where did the time go? Of course, I realize I've not been a very regular poster here to begin with, and I'm sure my "readers" (crickets are chirping in the silence) have barely noticed my absence, but it's still a little embarrassing to have had so little to say for six weeks. Well, perhaps not so much having so little to say as not having time to process the whirlwind of my life in order to comment on it.

So the big news is that I graduated from seminary! Woohoo! (And there was much rejoicing... yay...) Yes, friends, I now have a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology. And since I'm not currently pursuing parish ministry (not as a pastor, anyway), let's hear it for being overeducated and underemployed!! It could definitely be worse, as I'll be employed half-time for the next six months with the possibility of going full-time after that if we get lots of grant money, and I'm working on convincing myself it'll be good for me not to be killing myself every week just to keep my head above water. I'm getting close to believing it.

But of course the lease on the house I've been renting a house with 3 other (wonderful) women is up June 30, so I need to get packing pretty soon. I hate moving. At least this year the trauma of the move is mitigated by the fact that moving across town is far less traumatic than it would be to move across country right now. I have come to value stability and familiarity this past year in ways that would have been very surprising to me a couple years ago. Yes, God is still doing new things, and I am grateful and excited to be part of some of them - but there is so much to be said for knowing you will be in one place long enough to paint the walls or plant perennial flowers or draw up a year-long project budget (at work) without just assuming that someone else will see it come to fruition.

Well, those are a couple of my thoughts on transition at the moment. This does mean I'll be in Denver for at least another year (barring unforeseen events and circumstances, which I'm sure will come up anyway, but I can hope, can't I?), so if you know me and have been putting off that trip out to the Rocky Mountains, COME VISIT ME NOW!!

Looking up

It's sometimes amazing how things can turn around in a short period of time. Without actually having any more positive prospects for employment, I am actually really not bitter any more. Disappointed, yes, definitely, and a little anxious still too. But the weather is supposed to warm up this week (after a two-week spell that was colder than most of February), and I can't complain about the social situation any more either. Without going into any details, I have to say that I have further proof that God has a slightly wicked sense of humor, and She is laughing Her ass off right now.

Of course, if any of you out there in the blogosphere are looking to hire a recent seminary graduate with interests in peace & justice, young adult ministry, or worship and the arts, you know where to find me...