Currently Watching Baraka (Special Collector's Edition) see related

This past weekend was our retreat, which was cool.  There was the obligatory drama (breakups, betrayal, and mad flirtation), food games (my littlest brother won the balogna eating contest by a split second), people ending up in the pond (one willingly, one unwillingly), and assorted wacky hijinks (hijinks is a fun word to use).  We went on a charter bus this year, which was a Good Thing.  Some of the older boys thought it would be fun to chug 2L bottles of pop on the way there.  They aren't quite old enough to realize that chugging=vomiting.  The whole trip up was punctuated by pale-faced boys making their way to the toilet in the back accompanied by shouts of "Clear the way!  We've got another one!"

Tonight at youth group we saw a slide show (hastily put together by myself from a CD of pictures another leader took) of pictures from the retreat.  As I was looking at them I saw that, as usual, I'm in barely any of them.  A while ago I realized that I don't really have that many pictures of myself.  I'm just not the kind of person other people think of photographing.

In class today we watched part of a movie called Baraka.  It made a deep impression on me, especially the scenes of baby chicks being processed at a plant.  All these tiny, fluffy baby chicks sliding helplessly down chutes, bouncing off landings, and being crowded into hoppers.  I kept thinking that somewhere along the line a human hand would have to pick one up and love it.  It never happened.  When they were finally picked up it was only to be carelessly slung by one wing into various bins.  It was hard to watch. 

The film made an analogy of these chicks being herded helplessly along, and how the ways we are forced to conform to our technology can rob us of some of our humanity.  However, it reminded me more strongly of some of the kids in our youth group.  They're so young, and so helpless in so many ways.  What they need most of all is for someone to love them.  I think that's what I want to try to do.  I'm not one of the limelight leaders, but I can love.