Right now, we are making choices that have the potential to shift things one way or another. <\/p>\n
In my work with LightclubberZ, an arts ministry of Joie et Vie, we don\u2019t just talk about climate change, we make art about it. <\/p>\n
Association des Eglises Evang\u00e9liques Mennonite de France collaborates with other churches in France on this mission agency. My work is with young people \u2013 teenagers and young adults. Using dance, music, livepainting, theatre and stomp, we make art that shares the good news. <\/p>\n
Joyful simplicity<\/h4>\n
Although our creations can be quite complex, I have recently become very influenced by the concept of simplicity. I encountered it through reading La sobriet\u00e9 heureuse<\/em> (happy simplicity) by secular environmentalist Pierre Rabhi. But then, of course, I also found it as a central message from Jesus: do not accumulate wealth; look at the birds, look at nature; look how God provides; stay limited to what you need, not have more superficial things (Matthew 6:19-34). This is a big theme in the gospel and the Bible.<\/p>\n As a Mennonite, I connect a lot with that topic. Unfortunately, although it\u2019s rooted in the Bible and Anabaptist theology, we don\u2019t really have it as part of our daily practice. <\/p>\n So with the young people in LightclubberZ, we wrote a song together about simplicity. <\/p>\n French engineer Jean Marc Jancovici points out the technical problems of climate change are not the difficult part. It is the cultural aspects that are challenging: changing people\u2019s hearts and minds, or simply changing their habits. <\/p>\n Through songs, dances, and artwork, the young people in Lightcluberz are learning to change the way they see. One of the strengths of art is that it helps us to receive information through other doors. Instead of receiving through our minds, we learn through our bodies, our hearts, our feelings. <\/p>\n Following our Mennonite convictions, we bring people together in a small community where values can be shaped. Bringing people together to make art is a way to see God\u2019s kingdom come in our midst. <\/p>\n God doesn\u2019t need us but God invites us to participate in God\u2019s work in the world. When I do my work with LightclubberZ, I feel like I am helping participate in God\u2019s work at all levels. <\/p>\n We are social animals, we need the influence of others around us. We really see changes in people\u2019s lives when we have an experience of living together, not just we meet we do a show and go back home. Through our summer camps or our tours, when we live as a community for days or weeks together. After the confinement experiences with COVID, it was so obvious how much we need real relationships in order to be influenced in a right way. We need the church and real community of real people to move closer to what Jesus asks from us. <\/p>\nShaping values in community<\/h4>\n
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