What half of your life are you in?

Today was our first full day here in New Mexico. We began with morning prayer followed by breakfast. When I come to these things I like to mix it up who I sit with so that I can get the most diverse experience of churches attending. Today I sat with Adelaide from the Diocese of New Orleans and Sue from the Diocese of Seattle.

I love to see the look on everyone's face when I tell them that I am a volunteer Christian Ed Director. First they are astonished since the majority of folks here are paid professionals. Second, they are impressed that my church sends me each year. Most small churches do not. But there are a few of us here. And I wish more did. This is a invaluable experience.

Big or small, we are all facing the same issues. How to grow our churches. How to keep kids coming. How to attract more volunteers for Christian Education. We share ideas. We share frustrations.

I can't  say it enough times to you-you must read Richard Rohr's book Falling Upward.  I started it last night and I am already half way through.  Today he walked us thru what he feels are two distinct  halves of our lives.

The first half of our life we are trying to figure it all out. We want answers. We want knowledge. When we get to The second half we see things differently. We see things are not so clear cut. We are changed by experiences that we have gone through. And we are asking different kinds of questions. We want to DO something with the life lessons we have learned.

 How old are we when we get to the second half of our life? Some never let themselves get there. They relive the same experiences over and over again. They don't allow themselves to hurt or to feel deeply or to go below the surface of themselves. And unfortunately, according to Rohr, you must experience hardship to fully experience joy. He likens it to the resurrection of Jesus as a prime example of what beautiful joy there can be in the second half.

Fascinating stuff. And a fascinating man to listen to. He admits he is not your typical Franciscan priest. His order is a "bunch of hippies" who like to ask questions, he says. He had us all laughing at some of the funny things about Catholics and the funny things about Episcopalians.

I love that there are private areas for prayer here. Comfy areas set up near fireplaces or in quiet areas with candles for reflection and peace.

There are some great vendors here and I'm enjoying hearing about new programs on the horizons for Church School education...many geared towards technology.

Only one workshop session yesterday because of the extended time for Falling Upward workshops. I attended one about Young Adulthood: Formation in the Midst of Transition. A little disappointing, quite honestly. I didn't walk away from this one with any "hands on" things we could apply at Grace.

Tomorrow is a full day of workshops and the end of the conference