New, Tender, Quick

I've found that one of the most helpful spiritual exercises is to reflect on my recent past and try to remember the moments when I felt most alive. One of my favorite poems is called Love Unknown by George Herbert. It concludes with words the poet believes were delivered from God to his soul, words that have become watchwords for me. In the poem, God expresses a desire that Herbert's soul remain 'new, tender and quick.' So my spiritual exercise is to ask 'When have I felt new, tender and quick'? ('Quick' as in quick to respond to and love what is before me.)

In the last week perhaps the most powerful moment was last Friday afternoon. We were hosting the Young Moms Marin in Duncan Hall for the first time. I was there along with two other volunteers from St. Paul's, Janet and Nancy. Teresa Ashby, the adult founder and leader of the group and a great friend of St. Paul's was there as well. After about and hour of eating and settling into the space the young moms, about eight of them, were sitting around the big dining table. Nancy, Janet and I were around the table with them. There were about a dozen toddlers and infants around the hall. Some of these wee in constant motion, others were fast asleep and a few were attentive on their mother's lap.

Teresa stood at the end of the table and with a firm but very good humored and affectionate tone rehearsed the story of the relationship among herself, St. Paul's and the County Community School, where we serve the Teen Success Breakfast. Things already felt like they were off to a strong start, but as Teresa spoke, I could feel us enter into a new level of trust. The girls were listening attentively. At one point, Angelina, clearly the joker in the group, pointedly looked at me and said 'We're behaving really well for you!' At another point, the penny finally dropped for another Mom, who had recently been at the County Community School, as she realized that it was our church that had given her so many hot meals. 'Oh, that was you?!?'

I spoke with Janet and Nancy afterwards and we all admitted to tearing up throughout the presentation. There will be tough roads ahead, I am sure, in our relationship. At the very beginning of the afternoon Teresa told me that there was an article in the IJ the day before saying that one of the Moms who had been in her group just a couple of years ago had been arrested yesterday for a third time and was now looking at a long jail time. Her three kids were going to have to go into Child Protective Services. The risks for these young Moms and their kids are very real.

Yet we are doing what can be done and we are off to a strong start. Now, those in my prayers include Angelina, Jessica, Jennifer Abrinna and the other Moms along with their children Wesley, Cassandra, Brianna and so on. I pray that God continues to show up in Duncan Hall on Friday afternoons from 2:30 to 5:30 and that our trust and affection only grows and deepens. I pray that we all stay new, tender and quick.