S.Y.A.T.P.?

Yesterday, as are all third Wednesdays in September, was an event known as See You At The Pole. Basically, it is a grass-roots effort by Christian teenagers, started some 13 years ago in which kids a public high school and middle schools gather around their school's flag pole to pray. Actually, it goes on all over the world.

Generally, I don't get too involved in it. I mean, I remind my teens about it and all that, but I don't really make that much ado about it because everybody else does.

This year, I didn't get the flyers reminding me to hit the website to report the number of students at the flagpole at my teens' schools (not that I ever did, but I didn't even get the flyer).

This year, I didn't get the e-mails from the local school sponsors telling me what time their school was starting.

This year, I didn't get the reminders from the youth pastors who have bands and all that for "See You After The Pole" parties at their churches.

This year, when I drove by (and, granted, I was passing by at the start times, so lots of teens could've been fashionably late so don't read too much into this one) it seemed as if the crowds were smaller than I remember.

This year, not one of my teens mentioned it to me, and I'm surrounded by more teens on Wednesday than any other day.

I can't be sure as it's only my personal observation based on my own little corner of the world, but it seems that SYATP may have run it's course...and that's kinda sad in a way to me. It was free-speech and grass-roots and energizing and community inciting and all sorts of the best things about working with teenagers. Sure, it had it drawbacks (mainly inherent disorganization which led to teenage politics, such as which church's guitar player would lead worship or why that "hypocrite" was leading prayers, etc.) but I really think it's an indication that the new generation of high schoolers and middle schoolers don't have much desire to have their spiritual lives be on public display.