I haven't updated this since August 1st? Really? Wow.
I'm a month away from finishing my next-to-last undergrad semester. It's been.. crazy. I started off the semester by having major panic attacks every single night and seriously considered withdrawing. Things are a lot better now.
Half of the school* had H1N1. I haven't caught it yet.
I'm still trying to figure out what it means to follow Christ. I honestly don't know if I want to anymore. His other followers are so disheartening. I know that's a silly reason to not want to be a part of it, but it's really hard to get past. I had a woman tell me last night that in order to be in God's will, you must be super-conservative politically. When I explained that even though my politics lean towards the liberal side of things, I believe that the gospel doesn't require me to believe certain things when it comes to politics. Love God, love others, live simply. I can't find these values in any political party, but that is what I believe the gospels are about.
My professors are letting me take my finals before Thanksgiving so I can stay home and not have to drive 20+ hours before Christmas. Hopefully I can get a job or something.
Revelife is about to feature one of my blog entries from wordpress.
I can't decide what to do about grad school. I know I want to go. I don't know what I want to go for. As much as I love literature and writing, I feel completely burnt out on English. There's a program at Duquesne University that is Social Policy with a concentration on Non-Violent Conflict Resolution (or something similar. I forget the exact words). I'm really hoping to get into that program. If not.. well, we'll see. Hopefully I won't have to go work at Starbucks just for health insurance or something.
I like Mark Mathis.
*I exaggerate. A couple guys on the baseball team and maybe two or three others had it.
Comments (4)
I'd take that program lol.
I agree with you that no political party represents the Gospel well. Like Derek Webb says, one of the greatest lies heard is "that Jesus Christ was a white middle class republican and if you want to be saved you have to be like Him."
Two books to pick up that helped me a lot in this area are:
Myth of a Christian Nation by Gregory Boyd
Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder
Don't let misguided (though probably well intentioned) disciples sway you from loving and following the teacher. We're all missing the point in some form.
Glad you updated!
Sorry the thing with the Revelife post didn't go that great, judging from your comment on it.
...and that people are trying to tell you that your politics qualify you as a "good" or "bad" Christian. I sort of know what that's like, but not because of politics. I'm a Christian, but I'm also a Goth...and while nobody will come right out and say it, they give me really strong hints sometimes that I can't be both.
*sigh*
Well...cheers for now.
Get a copy of the book Wisdom Hunter (Multnomah Press). It's a novel unlike most other Christian novels you'll read.
I solemnly urge you not to give up following Christ because of a particular brand of believers. I used to fully identify with the Christian Right, but now I consider the Christian Right as "them," whereas I used to say "we." It's not that my beliefs on particular issues changed much, but that I could no longer identify with their single-minded interpretations of current issues and especially their attitudes and emphasis. The Bible is a broad document with many interpretations possible in many places.
There are plenty of Christians out there who love Jesus, believe the Bible, and do not agree with even the Biblical interpretations of the Christian Right, let alone their tactics. Search for them, and don't let the Christian Right people turn you away from the love of our Savior.