“People care much more for how things look than how things are.”
― Donna Lynn Hope
This quote really says a lot. I’ve worked in a few shallow churches that were all about image and lacked a ton of substance. Shallowness, although, is not limited to the church.
I am disappointed with humanities lack of depth, which means I’m disappointed with my own lack of depth, in some areas. I can talk youth ministry, youth ministry theory, and all things youth ministry programming and discipleship. Poetry, not so much. But here is hope.
I am reading a book by Robert McKee called Story. A quote caught my attention concerning attending movies and it sparked this post (with more to come).
We do not wish to escape life but to find life, to use our minds in fresh, experimental ways, to flex our emotions, to enjoy, to learn, to add depth to our days – Robert McKee
I sat in Arby’s the other day, talking with a young man about ministry, when a gentleman from the booth next to us chimed in.
Dan the Carpet Guy: Do you think you can be saved by the Ten Commandments?
Me: No.
Dan The Carpet Guy: What about the fourth commandment?
Me: The Sabbath?
Dan the Carpet Guy: Yeah, I think many churches are disobedient to this.
Me: Well, you could attend a Seventh Day Adventist Church. They meet on Saturday. Where do you go to church now?
Dan The Carpet Guy: Baptist Church.
Me: Well, if it’s your conviction that you ought to worship on Saturday, then I say live your convictions and do that.
Dan The Carpet Guy: I can’t. My wife won’t let me.
Me: (Laughs hysterically)
We went back and forth, sharing scripture and jabs, all with a good attitude. What ensued was a great conversation and it added depth to my life.
We’re so afraid to talk deeply., to love deeply, or to share deeply for fear that we will be found out to be frauds or worse, shallow.
As we go deeper into the things we believe with other’s who believe the same and with those who disagree; depth will sneak up on us and attach itself to us, readying us for the next round of life.
“Maybe a person’s world can grow bigger in all the right ways, not too wide that it becomes shallow, just large enough to preserve its depth.” ― Deb Caletti, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye.
Here’s my Facebook post where I share a little more.