I may have committed a crime!

Question: is the lake water at a public beach up for grabs? Because if it's not, then I'm a criminal.

Today I am co-leading youth group. The topic is Silence and Solitude.

Next Question: How does one possibly teach silence or solitude to a bunch of teenagers, especially considering that I am horrible at practicing those disciplines?

The Answer: We have decided to do six "sessions"...the youth will visit each of the six sessions to think about or to practice the discipline of silence. We can't really have them practice solitude unless we gave them complete access to the church, which we can't do. The sessions will be great but whether or not the youth will remain silent for an hour, yes, ONE HOUR, is the bigger question.

So anyhow, back to water. I read a great analogy about going to a river and filling up a jar with water. Our lives are normally like when we shake the jar and all the sediment goes flying around. You have to wait until the debris has settled before you can see through the water clearly. Likewise, we need quiet and still our minds and bodies so that we can see more clearly what God has or wants for us. Plus, it is also more likely that once we've piped down that we'll be able to hear God's still small voice. A good lesson to learn.

So I snuck down to the lake's beach (on my way to work), before the blessed sun had even risen (which I'm still not sure if it has risen since it is so grey outside) and filled 12 jars with lake water. I kept looking around expecting the caretaker, police or some random neighbor person to ask me what the heck I was doing. But I made it out. Alive. But cold.

Now, hopefully tonight's lesson will go well after I sacrificed my non-criminal history for the sake of the youth!