The Evolution of the Voice: The GregCast goes to Canada (cont.)

This GregBlog Series offers a glimpse into my preparation for my trip to Canada, where I'll be serving the Dioceses of Prince Albert and Saskatoon.  Coming from Alabama, I'll be bringing more than a banjo on my knee!  Here are some latest thoughts and directions for The GregCast Live in Canada, coming October 10-13, 2012.  Feedback and input is welcomed... Part of the value in opening up this process is to also open up to the Will of the Holy Spirit, that voice within us all!  PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS, AND IDEAS!  Meanwhile, here are mine:

The trip is two weeks away, and hopes and plans are focusing in on the need to be cool about morality. What does that mean?

1. We are God's children! All of us, young and old, are given the free will to choose the path that gets us to where we need to go. God is never far from that choice, but God does not impose His will upon us. His will is ours to discover, and then act upon.

2. Freedom is not free, but it is cool! The journey we face, whether we are coming to a High School Retreat, like the one I'm headed to in North Battleford, or a Junior High Rally, like the one I'm headed to with Colm and his youth office in Saskatoon, or some adult youth minister training and listening sessions like those hosted by Warren and his PA Youth Office... The freedom to choose a path that involves Christ, must, by it's nature, involve commitment, and therefore, sacrifice. However, this sort of dedication is cool because you're finally doing the right thing, for the right reasons, in a way that confidently says to those around you... "Me and my God... We got this one!

3.  Morality is not a laundry list of "good things that you have to do now that you've given in and become one of those "Goody-goodies".  Living out our morals is the natural consequence of deciding to include that Spirit that IS within you.  I intend to focus on the overly simplistic reality that "Christ is IN us", and destined to flow out of us!  This is not the surrender that some propose it to be.  Let go, and "letting God" is a determined choice, made by us all.  Living a "moral life" is a decision to simply converse with "The Voice" within.  Conversations are supposed to be "give and take", and in this dialogue we are making the most of our "personal relationship with Jesus Christ", a big phrase down south!

So today, I'm thinking that no matter the audience, the core of the message must be to respect that "Choice", and talk to that "Voice"... And try to come up with another rhyming word with the "oice" sound, because everyone knows that good presentation always involve good catch phrases:

Hmmm... Respect the Choice... Talk to the Voice... C'mon Everybody and Make Some Noise???
Must keep working on this one!