I love watching curling at the winter Olympics. I find myself jumping up from the couch and screaming at the television when the rock thingey would glide closer, closer to the house thingey. (You can tell I'm a real pro at this, can't you?)
But I'm terrified to watch the skiing, the snowboarding, even the ice skating because I'm so worried people are going to fall down and get hurt. And then there was the death of the luge racer, which doesn't seem to have stopped anyone--especially Shaun White--from doing amazing and crazy things.
The motto of the Olympics, of course, is "Swifter, Higher, Stronger." I think one reason why I love watching curling is because its motto seems to be, "Slowly, carefully, and with cunning." But slowly and carefully is not going to work if you're looking to win gold for the Super G.
I think a lot of our youth are told to achieve in a way that resembles the Olympic motto: More, Better, Faster, Stronger, Higher, Popular, Smarter, and with a higher GPA. But they're told to do all that while at the same time never falling down, never making a mistake, and never getting hurt. But here's the thing: falling down is part of skiing, is part of life.
I have no doubt that every adult involved in CnC has fallen down in their faith and in their life at one time or another. One of the gifts that our teachers and mentors have to give our youth is the witness that we can fall down and get up again and carry on. That's part of what Lent is about: it's not about getting our Lenten discipline perfect, but learning from it, learning from our failures, learning from when we fall down. It's not simply saying, "Well, I fell down; that must mean I'm a loser." Falling down a few times doesn't make a person a loser. If I could be a loser like Lindsey Vonn, I'd take it in a minute.
I don't think the goal of our faith is getting it right. And the goal of Confirm not Conform is having a living faith, one that will grow and change as we grow and change. One of the things I hope we can give our youth in Confirm not Conform is the confidence to do crazy and amazing things with their faith without the fear of falling.