Who Am I?

Stick with me, friends, for I have a series of posts about from the last week at Drew.

This first post is about self-definition and how we see ourselves as special. For those of you who don't know, I'm currently volunteering a few hours a week for SCEEP, which essentially is a tutoring program that works simiarly to Fresh Air Kids. Kids from the inner city are brought to various suburbs one day a week, after school, to be tutored and mentored. The group at Madison UMC is a beautiful bunch of 7th and 8th grade girls, who are struggling a bit academically.

The tutors are also a beautiful bunch of people from all stages of lifespan development. There are high school students, Drew undergrads, Drew PhD-ers and MDiv students, and career people from Madison and surrounding towns. Last week, we were sitting around about to do a poetry jam session when I overheard one of the SCEEP girls (an 8th grader I believe) talking to one of the High School tutors about clothing. They were both identifying themselves by where they shopped. Hollister versus Aeropostale. I had to giggle at first, because once you are a masters student, it just matters that you have clothes to wear that somewhat fit you and keep you warm. But then I grew saddened by the coversation. Both girls didn't see themselves as the BELOVED of God but rather as important by the clothes they wear. Is this just a stage of adolsence, to be cut off from what's truly important to who we are, or is it something that is going to continue through out their lives?