Eating and Hugging and Such

I decided to be ambitious this morning and woke up early to attend the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC) breakfast. The speaker was Don Griggs, the Christian author whom I sat with at the Presbyterian Outlook luncheon earlier this week! His presentation addressed how to stay technologically literate in a world whose forms of media are ever-changing and developing. In hopes of demonstrating how technology has advanced dramatically over the past few decades, Griggs asked for a show of hands to indicate those who had taken a computer class in elementary school. I raised my hand high and was immediately met with stares from the entire room…which was when I realized I was the only YAAD at the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation breakfast. Lovely.

At 8:30, I walked over to the Westminster Presbyterian Church for the Ecumenical Service of Worship & Holy Communion. What a beautiful building! The stone exterior is just as grand as the interior, artistically ornamented with colorful stained-glass windows, intricate wood carvings, and a full pipe organ at the front of the sanctuary. The church was packed and the service included special music from the Minnesota Boys Choir and various other musical groups selected to represent different cultures. We sang music and heard scriptures read in several different languages: Korean, Spanish, German, and French, among others. The service highlighted our diversity as an all-inclusive denomination as well as the importance of unity.

After morning worship, I went to Panera with Annie to meet up with some other YAADs and use our trusty debit cards for Frozen Caramels. Sitting outside, we took full advantage of Panera’s outdoor patio (which is ideal for summer!). Since this was one of our only “free” mornings, we ate leisurely and later strolled over to Target to purchase some essentials. As visitors to Minneapolis, we found the two-story Target absolutely fascinating, especially the escalators designed for carts! In exploring the store, we found Kenny in the luggage section, buying a suitcase to use as extra storage for everything he has accumulated over the past week…probably a wise purchase to comply with the mysterious increase in “swag” which will accompany us on our flights back home. I hope my suitcase doesn’t go over the weight limit for my flight back!

For lunch, I went to Dakota Jazz Club with Annie, Lauren, Emma and Kenny for a salad with spicy walnuts. As if we hadn’t had enough to eat for one morning, we stopped for gelato on the way back to the hotel, doing our best to race against the sun’s melting rays. The white chocolate gelato was definitely worth the extra stop, and gave us the motivation we needed to psyche ourselves up for an afternoon and evening of plenary, plenary and more plenary!

For the first half hour of plenary, we relearned how to use our voting pads, practicing on plenty of fun questions unrelated to the assembly. The first question asked, “Have you hugged a Presbyterian today?” I racked my brain for any instance of hugging this morning…no hugging at breakfast, no hugging at lunch, no hugging my roommate or Janet or Katie. To my disappointment, I was forced to vote “No.” Luckily, the YAAD who sits to my right, Taylor, came to the rescue and hugged me just in time for me to change my answer to “Yes.” It was a close call, but I emerged from the vote a friendly and extroverted Presbyterian. When the commissioners were polled, 68% answered “Yes,” to which Madame Moderator responded, “Well, it looks like 32% of us are introverts.”

I’m hoping the fact that I randomly received voting pad #1 will serve as some sort of a good omen and we’ll get out of plenary early tonight. We already broke an hour early for dinner, so that's a good sign! Now for dinner with the Presbytery, plenary till late and a YAAD gathering after that.