January 2010
19 posts
The Aftermath
Snow is fun.
Ice is not.
Ouch.
Sometimes huge self-realizations hit me like a sack of bricks.
Man, I can be so vain and self-absorbed. It’s embarrassing, really, how great I sometimes think (and think others think) I am.
Thank goodness I never voiced those proud thoughts. And maybe, eventually, I’ll thank God for knocking me down a peg or two.
First Weekend Back
Okay, so technically it was my third full weekend back, but I’m not counting short course.
It was wonderful. I love it when campus is full of people and activity. Because it’s not the place or the buildings or the learning itself that makes Freed unique - it’s the people.
Friday evening and Saturday morning I was privileged to be at ΓΤΩ Officer Retreat. We talked about our...
Schedule Spring 2010
I think I’m going to like this semester. It’s been a bit of a flex year - lots of chances to take classes just because I think they’re cool. Luckily, those “cool” classes also happen to get me a history major.
I’ve now been to the first meeting of every class (except Great Lit, which won’t meet for the first time until next week) and I think I will LOVE...
Productivity
It was a good morning. Sasha went home to the Burg, so I’ve been alone in the room for the last couple of days with no idea what to do with myself. Today I was possessed with the desire to clean and organize. So I plugged in my iPod and got to work: washed my sheets and other laundry, put away all the clothes that had been piled on the floor and bed, organized my desk and shelves,...
A Clarification on "The Social Gospel"
I realized that my post entitled “The Social Gospel” may have been misunderstood by some, so I’d like to clarify briefly. As always, please recognize that there is a dialogue and situation and a whole lot of wrestling with ideas that goes into the thoughts that make it into my blog, and even then they’re subject to growth and change. Unfortunately, you guys don’t...
Great Literature
I just got the list of books for my Honors Great Literature class and got really, really excited. Because I get excited about books. We’re reading four:
Brave New World by Adlous Huxley Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Road by Cormac McCarthy The Giver by Lois Lowry
I’ve actually already read Brave New World (my sophomore year of high school on my own and my senior year for...
Haiti Earthquakes Disaster Relief →
If you click the title/link above (courtesy of Josh Barber) you will be taken to a story about the earthquakes and find links to several organizations affiliated with the Churches of Christ who are working to bring aid to Haiti.
If you’re in Henderson or soon to be back, know that the Estes congregation (who sends mission teams to Haiti every year) is collecting money to purchase food,...
The Social Gospel (cont.)
Ok, so you agreed with my earlier post that the church needs to be more involved in benevolence and general do-gooding, what now?
Work with your church to send aid to Haiti.
Haiti? Yes, I know that with Freed’s unfortunate “bubble”-complex you may not have heard, but devastating earthquakes in Haiti (already the poorest country in the western hemisphere) have left thousands...
The Social Gospel
As you may know, I’m taking a class called Religion and Politics as a short course. The class is focused primarily on videos and discussion rather than lectures, which is part of the reason why I love it so much.
Lately we’ve been talking about religious “voting blocs” - evangelicals vs. mainline protestants vs. catholics vs. black protestants, etc. and why they vote the...
Justin Williams
Sasha and I are in love with a 27-year-old cancer-surviving American Idol contestant. And we’re not ashamed to admit it.
I wonder if you’re still planning on avoiding me in heaven. You know, the whole looking right through me, not returning my waves, refusing any contact no matter how innocent or slight.
It’s going to be a long eternity.
“But the business of laws is not to provide for the truth of opinions, but for...”
– John Locke in A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
“I may grow rich by an art that I take not delight in; I may be cured of some...”
– John Locke in A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
“It is not, therefore, to be wondered at if those who do not really contend for...”
– John Locke in A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
In context, Mr. Locke was addressing the use of force to convert non-Christians and suppress heresy, but I wonder if his words ring true today, if we sometimes try to use arms and means unbefitting the Christian soldier.
An Apolitical Political Studies Minor
Is it odd that I’m both fascinated and disgusted by politics? Is it weird that I want to minor in and learn about political studies but really don’t give a hoot about being politically active?
Is learning just for the sake of learning reason enough to devote time and effort to a study?
Thoughts from East of Eden Part 2
And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.
- John Steinbeck, East of Eden
I’ve been...
FHU
Yesterday I made the 12 hour drive from Austin, TX to Henderson, TN. It was the first time I’ve ever driven the entire trip before, and I didn’t even have anyone in the car to keep me company and awake apart from Jim Dale and his marvelous reading of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (although Ben Vaughn was nice enough to let me follow him the whole way).
Is it weird that...