Transient Things

Read part 1 here.

While the evaluations from last week hit me on technical level, many comments from this week nailed me on a cultural level. I feel bad especially for the younger staffers (Sharyl does too) for they way some of the adults who come to camp judge their behaviors. Our staff consists of young adults who are still learning, still growing, and still deciphering the direction of their walk with Christ. I don't think its fair to be so harsh on them for their behaviors and language, especially when the judgement comes from seminary-jaded people with an agenda.. Many of these staffers have only been away from home a short while. They are mostly just starting on their journeys.

This flavor of judgement is novel to me. It appears to come from a much more personal place than the judgments that are more culturally-based like in Asian cultures. While I'm used to being judged (and seeing others being judged) by standards that are generally agreed on by a certain community (like the immigrant Cambodian community, for example), this judgment has caught me by surprise because so much of it is stemmed from somebody's personal crusade. A side-effect of allowing everyone the opportunity to make up their own mind. A culture can agree on its unwritten rules, its stereotypes. But in a culture where everyone can make up their own rules, it's very difficult to navigate in a "socially acceptable" way. The learning curve increases but I don't think people are allowing very much grace for it.

Lighten up, please. Whatever happened to learning and then allowing others to learn like we did?