Prayer In The Y.M.C.A. Paradoxes: Both/And/More Than?

One of the contributions to the longevity and vitality of the Y is its ongoing embrace of Both/And/More Than.

In 1844 George Williams (age 22) and his 11 friends founded the Young Men’s Christian Association, a prayer movement for the conversion of souls, dignity in labor, and industry reform. (like Jesus & Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10)

It didn’t take long for these founders and leaders to innovate and adapt along the Both/And/More Than reality.

Eventually both young and old were welcomed into the movement, (George was active until his death…) both men and women, both Christian and non-Christian, both individuals who wanted to associate widely and narrowly.

And obviously it has always had some sense of More Than: it’s more than just young and old adults, but all of those in-between; nowadays it includes adults indentifying themselves with categories more than just men and women; for over a hundred years we’ve been including more than just Christians, but also Jews, Muslims, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Secularist; and how people participate is more than just through wide or narrow associations, with many creative collaborations and participation opportunities.

By 1855 the Y.M.C.A. was an international cross-cultural Christian movement that needed to define some core beliefs and practices which allowed them to articulate a vibrant identity through which they could also expand their associations.

The Paris Basis is a genius expression of how the Christian men of the Y envisioned their diverse traditions working together fruitfully and harmoniously for the Kingdom of God in a rapidly changing and increasingly contentious century.

The Y has always eventually embraced paradox: it exists within multiple cultures and draws creative strength from diverse traditions of its global leaders and communities.

Ironically, the more concious and concentrated it is on its core in the Paris Basis, the more purposely inclusive the Y can be amidst diversity. When the core identity gets thinly diluted instead of thickly enriched, the weaker the associations become and less benefits the inclusion brings. (Ask the EJY about this in Palestine.)

The current paradoxes in our YMCA mission can be a creative surge of innovation in our movement to thickly enrich our core identity, or we can fuel antagonisms which erode our core and thin or weaken what holds us all together.

In our mission it sometimes seems that “Christian principles” and “for all” are pitted against each other, especially the dimensions of diversity like “faith” and “sexual orientation” or “gender identity”.

It also seems there is a split between “healthy spirit” and “healthy mind-body” – do they go together or not?

These two sets of paradoxes are good for the YMCA; they keep us energized and alert to the ways we strive to live out our values and how we also fall short of our promises. To point out failures, though, with a condescending and condemning spirit with no plan of redemption and friendship is neither Christian nor sustainable for our movement.

A purist mentality is ironically toxic, while a pluralist society can actually embody harmony.

Why? One is focused on vigilantly excluding toxins, which is a negative-oriented approach to existence based on prejudices, assumptions, and glossing over truths – the other is focused on awkwardly including differences and slowly embracing change, clumsily thickening their identity while lovingly becoming more concious of their adapting legacy and innovating traditions as they pursue truth.

It’s maybe too dramatic to declare the Y is at a crossroads, but with the violent upheavals surging through our cultures and environments, we’d be wise to more quickly embrace our paradoxes.

Ironically, let’s celebrate our clashing! Let’s also humbly insist on learning from our “antagonists” and commit to telling the true story of a Y.M.C.A. that has imperfectly endured, has elicited affection and generational gratitude in communities across the globe, has too many examples of falling short, yet continually (not without struggle) commits itself to confession and repentance, redemption and conciliation.

For Christians in the Y today, out of all the paradoxes we struggle to embrace, understand, and put into the practice, the most severe and compelling one is Jesus and his prayer in John 17:21. Either it’s a core guiding vision for the Y.M.C.A. or it is not.

If it is, then we have before us a disturbing paradox which both inspires and dejects us, empowers us yet exhausts us. What do I mean?

Well, is Jesus going to answer his own prayer for unity or not?

Is Jesus answering his prayer in our generation or not?

Do I like how Jesus is getting along with it? Do I have some serious concerns about Jesus’ tactics and strategy? Am I disappointed and frustrated with Jesus and his complicated and lengthy approach to answering his prayer?

Don’t say that you’re fine with Jesus, it’s his people you have a problem with. Jesus is the Head of the Body of Christ, he is with his people in spirit, mind and body – holding all things together and with us to The End.

And yes, this painfully heightens the frustrating paradox of the prayer “that they may all be one” and our trust in God’s Son that it will be answered.

To participate in the Kingdom of God and the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus-prayer for unity is to exist within a divinely difficult to grasp paradox that births: remarkable Faith and doubt, persevering Hope amidst despair, and transformative Love through our suffering. (see St. Paul’s prayer to his friends, 2 Thessalonians 1:2-4, 11-12)

This is the Young Men’s Christian Association at its best- since June 6, 1844, both courageously and humbly seeking to live out its name through more than 18 decades, both globally thickening its legacy and embracing the paradoxes in love, while being more than just an authentic guide for our tumultuous times but also as gentle imitators of the suffering Christ Jesus, as patient and faithful participants in his own proleptic prayer “that they all may be one.”