Mazel Tov!
My friend's daughter had her Bat Mitzvah yesterday at a Reform temple. (They can drive on the Sabbath as opposed to more orthodox Jews that walk to temple.) I have been to synagouges before, though mostly Messianic Jewish ones, so I was familiar with the books that open backwards, and the sound of the Hebrew, so I could follow along on the singing. A lot of the hymns/songs were straight out of Psalms, though there was some poetry there too. It was nice to read the translations as well as explanations on the bottom of the pages.
The service was nice, there was a lot of purple because it is the girl's favorite color and afterwards there was the blessing over bread and wine. I almost drank my tiny cup of wine but caught myself in time and remembered to wait for the blessing. We also got a chunk of bread after the Rabbi cut a slice and tore pieces. Sort of like communion, which actually started with Passover, as we were sharing with friends.
Lunch followed, for the invited guests, with lots of desserts and music. I knew some of the kids from my school, there were a couple that were in my 5th grade class two years ago. I spotted one of my former students, while they were playing musical chairs, and knew he would be the winner for several reasons: he is bright, alert, and he played a smart game, keeping his eye on the chairs. He also reminded me of my oldest daughter, who is an over achiever and tends to do a great job of whatever she chooses to take on. When the muscial chairs were over, I was proven correct. He is a very likeable and cute young man, and I predict great things for him.
I think a rite of passage is important for young people. Most cultures have a distinct point where the young person crosses over into adulthood. Even if they are not quite ready to take on adult responsibilities, its good to recognize that there is a line you cross and you know its coming, so mentally you can prepare for the trip from adolescence.
For Hispanics, its Quincenara for the girls, the Lutherans and Catholics have confirmation, even Islamic cultures have the young girls take on the headcovering at a certain age. (In some countries, they just get married off) but for Americans that don't have a ritual, adolescence can be prolonged or maturity does not arrive soon enough. Its called Living At Home. Its important to have those boundary lines, then you can have rules, like - you're 18 now, time to pay rent and do your own laundry.
Our Presbyterian faith has a membership type thing where young people can join the church and take communion, but my Calvinist background had an actual Profession of Faith. This was a recognition of spiritual maturity.
I had my own passage for my daughters, where I took them to dinner on their 18th birthday and gave them their special chastity necklace which symbolized waiting for their special man to court and marry them. Then they could give their husband the key which came with their heart locket. As far as I know, it worked for them all.
Of course, most of these cultures mentioned are religious ones, so I am not trying to say that the non-people-of-faith don't have their adulthood passages, but I don't think drinking your first beer or "first" some other thing has quite the deeper significance to it. You need to be in touch with the Creator of the Universe to have meaning to life.
And thats your homily for today.
