I do not know exactly when the tradition began, but it is apparently a somewhat longstanding tradition for dances in the Northwest in my church to end with the U2 song “With Or Without You.” This is even true of events that aren’t necessarily dances, like this evening’s sports and games night in Washougal. I even managed to hear the song while I was on my way home, so I figured that this would be a good song today. Of course, I heard this song at the end of my notorious dance in Tacoma [1], and it also played at the end of the teen dances at the NWW the last two years, where I was most definitely not present. While the song is certainly older than any of the teens in the congregation, I suppose it is a suitable song to remind me of my youthful friends and acquaintances here.

While this song is generally meant in a somewhat sad but not entirely gloomy way of saying goodbye to one’s friends (and I suppose I might even be included for at least some people in that number), there are others for whom that is an entirely darker matter. For example, I have an acquaintance who had to try to convince a young man who seems to have been obsessed with dating her not to kill himself because she would not date him. There are other friends I have who struggle with dark depression (it is not an uncommon problem in this world after all), from a variety of causes (including abusive parents, something that always tends to upset me). We cannot choose the sort of struggles that we will face, but living well is the best revenge. If we are wronged and must suffer, and truly all of us have to deal with such matters, it is better to live well so that people miss us in their lives rather than feel as if we are too dependent on them.

Today was, by and large, a pretty odd day. I got a phone call letting me know that I would be teaching the Sabbath school class for the third time in the last four Sabbath services [2], which led me to do some quick pondering about what I wanted to say about King Manasseh, the subject of today’s lesson. Then I had a successful choir practice, and also found out that one of my friends was able to sing with me (if I can only get the practices set up to get everything to work out, which might be a bit of a challenge). The sermon today dealt with the subject of being a stranger and a foreigner, a subject I take very personally.

The evening was quite long and enjoyable, full of good music, excellent conversation, some fun (most of which I watched the teens involved with), along with some well-deserved awards. All of the coaches got gift cards for Starbucks, which means some iced tea and crossiants appear to be in my future. The teens who won awards, including awards for encouragement, leadership, enthusiasm, versatility, improvement, and coachability, were all well-deserved. Before those awards were given out, each of the coaches was able to make a few short remarks, and I made some short remarks about how I had received encouragement on being involved in volleyball, something I would have been rather shy to do without the encouragement [3]. Having received the encouragement, though, I hope it stays a pattern, and I hope that everyone else enjoys themselves as well. After all, that is what a night like this is all about, celebrating improvement and enjoying good conversation and good fun over good food (salads and pizza in this case, along with homemade desserts) with good people.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/younger-now-than-we-were-then/

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/a-still-small-voice/

[3] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/smile-raise-your-voice-and-go-out-singing/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/dont-leave-until-they-throw-you-out/