What Do Oranges, Youth Justice And Matt Maher Have In Common?
No, this is not one of those corny jokes that have a rather lame answer that causes you to groan, but the foundation of one of the most poignant moments I have experienced in my work in youth justice.
My role sees me providing prayer services for the clients on a fortnightly basis, and music and song has proved to be a powerful means for connecting them into a prayerful space. On one particular day, I was using Matt Maher’s song, Alive Again. In this song, the chorus brings alive the words of St Augustine where he reflects on the experience of his conversion, realising that whilst it took him some time to respond to God, when he did, he experienced God capturing him through all his senses.
I told the group of young men, many of whom are awaiting trials for serious crimes, that St Augustine used to get up to mischief with his mates stealing apples and pears from the orchards in their neighbourhood. I suggested that whilst this might sound rather lame to them, it was relatively serious in the time of Augustine. One boy remarked that their equivalent was aggravated burglaries, and whilst most of us would not easily hold this in tandem with the actions of Augustine, the message that God wants to awaken each of us to his love remained.
Fast Forward about six weeks!
As I walked into a unit, a young man approached me with a big smile and said, ‘Mel, sing me your favourite song, you know, the one about oranges’. I have to admit it took me a long time to work out what he was talking about, because oranges are not something I readily equate with this song, even with the prompt that he thought it was number three on the CD. But once I’d realised, this young man said, ‘tell me that guy’s story again – the one who stole the oranges’. It was a beautiful opportunity to reiterate Augustine’s discovery of the difference that the love of God could make in his life, thereby encouraging this young man that the same is possible for him.
Since that time, this young guy often takes the opportunity to remind me of this experience, even eating a orange Zooper-Dooper one day and saying, ‘orange Mel, that’s like our favourite song’ as if it were the most exciting thing ever.
So there you go, oranges, Matt Maher and youth justice do have something in common – they have come together in a profound way to encourage this young man in his journey of discovering the love and freedom that relationship with God can bring.
Mel Edwards
