Here's to Living

I'm taking a couple classes this semester that are trying to get us to look back at our past experiences in order to understand where we came from and why we are where we are. It's always fun to look back and remember the stupid stuff we used to do. Does anyone else remember pogs, or maybe the yo-yo fad that happened for awhile? How about the fact that I secretly thought boy-band music was really catchy but was too much of a man to actually buy any CD's (don't judge, you know you probably know most of the words to songs like "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys). That's all well and good, but once we get past the stupid music, and the goofy clothes, and the bowl-cut hairstyles, I can start to actually see the things that have made me who I am. In the class Discipling and Mentoring we're talking about our faith experiences and what it was that brought us to know Christ. Some people had hell-fire-and-brimstone experiences that scared them into faith while others had less dramatic experiences. I realized that the recipe of my faith began with something like: one part fear of damnation, one part Jesus is my buddy, and two parts everybody else is doing it. But since I've been in college I've realized how selfish that recipe was. I wanted to be saved, I wanted a friend who would love me unconditionally, I wanted to be liked by everyone else so I went along with the crowd. The class, however, is really challenging all of us to think of Jesus' mission in terms of "The Kingdom of God". What does that mean? It means there is a whole world out there that is hurting. There is a whole world out there that needs to know Gods love. It means that my faith may be something that starts within myself, but it cannot stay there. Being in college has really opened my eyes to the fact that the world doesn't really revolve around me (yes, it took this long to figure that out).

But I think that is what college is all about, opening your eyes to the world. Last semester when I was in Pittsburgh we talked a lot about how the rich don't even know the poor because they have removed themselves so far from them. While I was there, suddenly the poor were our neighbors, they were the people that went to our church and rode our buses (ok, so I personally didn't ride the bus but other people did). I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think the biggest thing Bluffton has done for me is helped me to realize that there is a more to life than just what I can get from the world. In honor of yesterday I will end with a little something from the Rev. Dr. King:

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." Martin Luther King, Jr.


Here's to living.