Whoa. It has most definitely been too long. A lot has been going on, I just haven't found the time to sit down and say something substantial about my own life, let alone think about any topics or issues worthy of commentary.
I moved in about a week ago and got to see most of my friends pretty quickly. I had a birthday. I've been helping out InterVarsity with a bunch of new student welcome sort of stuff, which is so much fun, getting to know the students coming here for the first time, leaving home for the first time, comparing how I was to how they are, answering their questions, and mostly just getting to know them and show them a little bit of love on a campus where it's so easy to feel lost and forgotten in the crowd. Plus, I've been preparing myself mentally and emotionally for co-leading a small group biblia study this year with Wyatt, my friend and brother. Once everything settles down in a few weeks, I think we're gonna have a solid group of guys.
My classes are all gonna be pretty tough - they'll need a lot of concentration and reading - but they're all things that I want to take and that I'm interested in, so hopefully all the work will be worth it. Here's a quick class run-down for anyone interested:
COMM 140 - Media Criticism - basically analyzing media from an intellectual rather than emotional viewpoint (reading text and articles)
COMM 270 - Rhetoric and Social Controversy - I think it's the same idea as 140, but focused more on speeches than on visual formats like film, television, print (reading text and articles).
DRAM 283 - Theatre History/Literature III - focused on drama since 1900, starting with expressionism (lots of reading, plays and text).
RELI 103 - Intro to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament - taking this with Dr. Ehrman, and I'm really looking forward to learning more about this part of the biblia, since the history often gets overlooked or simplified into "Bible stories" (lots of reading, text and basically the whole Old Testament)
RELI 401 - Elementary Biblical Hebrew - self-explanatory title, an intro level language class looking at ancient Hebrew as it appears in the original texts, not modern Hebrew, so I have to learn to read it, but not speak it. (probably the only class with more busy-work than reading)
PHYA 231 - Beginning Social Dance - basics to several ballroom/social dances, waltz, rumba, cha-cha, tango, swing, foxtrot. I think I'm the only non-senior in the class.
MUSC 211 - at the moment I'm in the men's glee club, but I plan on auditioning for some a cappella groups, and if that works out for the better (like, I get in one), I'll drop this.
So yeah, I'm looking at a busy semester, but I really do think there's gonna be good stuff happening in these classes, so I'm doing my best not to get anxious or worried about what they're gonna look like down the road.
Until something in my environment grabs me by the gut and screams out its desire for my action and input, I just don't have any commentary type stuff to write. I mean, there's probably stuff, but nothing that's really drawing me right now. So I'll let someone else do the writing for me. I read a book earlier this summer with some decent thoughts and passages in it, more of an inspirational sort of thing than a theological or lifestyle type book I was looking for, but that's okay. I found this chapter, and it did grab me by the gut, and I knew that I would be sharing these words with you here, because I knew that I wanted these words to motivate me and encourage me and exist in me as I began this year.
"It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded y decision to be made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is not that I must make a choice. Becuse of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose.
I choose love...
No occasion justifies hatred; injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.
I choose joy...
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I choose peace...
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I choose patience...
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes myplace, I'll invite him to do so. Rahter than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignment, I will face them with joy and courage.
I choose kindness...
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I choose goodness...
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.
I choose faithfulness...
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.
I choose gentleness...
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If i raise my voice may it be only in praise. If i clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If i make a demand, may it be only of myself.
I choose self-control...
I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest." -- Max Lucado, When God Whispers Your Name
Much love. Out.
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