Midterm elections tomorrow.
Most people are predicting the Democrats gaining control of the House (they need at least 15 seats), and some are also optimistic about a gain in the Senate (Dems need at least 6 seats).
That's all well and exciting, but I'm mostly pumped about the fact that after tomorrow, people will begin to announce their intentions to run for the Presidency in 2008.
I read Barack Obama's memoir, Dreams from My Father, this past summer, and I was shocked at how honest he was. Granted, he wrote it in 1994, a full 10 years before he was elected to the Senate. However, in subscribing to his podcast recently and almost finishing The Audacity of Hope, his second book, I am fully on the Obama bandwagon. In fact, I feel like I'm driving it because I'm so pumped.
I know he's young... I know he's inexperienced... but he's such a breath of fresh air. He seeing listening to both side as important and champions the art of compromise. Some people are suggesting that doing those things will make him appear weak, but I think the average American (if there is such a thing) won't see it that way. And I in fact, think it's genious. Everyone whose taken an entry-level political science course knows that to win, you must run against the predecessor. By actually taking others' opinions and intelligence into account, and perhaps considering them fully, Barack is not necessarily changing his own positions, but he is respecting the art of a democracy. And he's also posing himself to run as a candidate that is nearly the opposite of what we're used to in the Bush White House.
His father is Kenyan. His mother is from Kansas. He grew up in Hawaii and spent a couple years in India when his mother remarried.
And when I see him speak in campaigning for Democratic candidates, whether live on C-SPAN or on YouTube, when I read what he has written, and when I listen to his podcast... I cry because of the hope that he has for America. I cry because his ideas and policies are thoughtful, and I believe prayerfully considered. I cry because this is a candidate that I could actually be excited about.
I know it's premature... but if he runs and is given a chance by winning the Democratic primaries...
I think it's meant to be that my first semester teaching history may be a turning point in American history, where we first elect a Black president and start to see real, positive change in all of our lives.
Monday, November 6, 2006
Sunday, November 5, 2006
leave no doubt, i want the whole world to know just what i'm all about...
Why would you ever be a Christian, because people inevitably lump you into the same category with people like Pat Robertson and Bush?"
This is some paraphrase of an essentially rhetorical question that a kid at TIP scholars weekend threw out there during the class I was TA-ing on the 2006 midterm elections. The students were involved in group discussions on different House races, and the question probably wasn't meant to be heard... at least not to anyone outside of the group.
I hate the fact that those are the only greatly publicized pictures of Christians that a 15 year old kid can come up with when explaining why he's a Deist.
People have a great desire to be loved, to feel love, and to love one another. That can sometimes be hard to see with all of the brokenness and anger around us... While I understand that it's that conviction that makes someone pro-life, it can be that same conviction, interpreted in a different way, that makes calls someone to support stem cell research.
Christianity, and how people interpret it, is extremely complex. Some people do in fact assume certain things to be true when you call yourself a Christian. Unfortunately, one of those things isn't necessarily that you are trying to imitate a the life of Christ, or at least understand his teachings and his call to a greater purpose to love and care for all people.
For all people. For people who aren't so different from yourself. For people whose sins are not unlike my sins and whose struggles are not unlike my struggles. And none of us are deserving of the grace that God extends to us through Christ, but God extends it to all of us, just the same, no matter what we've done. We all need the love and grace of God because we are all of this secular world, not above it in a position to judge the people in it.
Barack Obama discusses the historically black church's impact on his life by describing that it, "rarely had the luxury of separating individual salvation from collective salvation... It understood in an intimate way the biblical call to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and challenge powers and principalities. In the history of these struggles, I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death; rather, it was an active, palpable agent in the world."
The emotions of love and personal responsibility to all people can be incredibly powerful, and I don't think that as Christians we've really known how to fully tap into that. I need to be more convicted of that... so that people who have not known God can still feel the effects of God's love.
And perhaps to challenge the perceptions that being a Christian is likened to Pat Robertson
This is some paraphrase of an essentially rhetorical question that a kid at TIP scholars weekend threw out there during the class I was TA-ing on the 2006 midterm elections. The students were involved in group discussions on different House races, and the question probably wasn't meant to be heard... at least not to anyone outside of the group.
I hate the fact that those are the only greatly publicized pictures of Christians that a 15 year old kid can come up with when explaining why he's a Deist.
People have a great desire to be loved, to feel love, and to love one another. That can sometimes be hard to see with all of the brokenness and anger around us... While I understand that it's that conviction that makes someone pro-life, it can be that same conviction, interpreted in a different way, that makes calls someone to support stem cell research.
Christianity, and how people interpret it, is extremely complex. Some people do in fact assume certain things to be true when you call yourself a Christian. Unfortunately, one of those things isn't necessarily that you are trying to imitate a the life of Christ, or at least understand his teachings and his call to a greater purpose to love and care for all people.
For all people. For people who aren't so different from yourself. For people whose sins are not unlike my sins and whose struggles are not unlike my struggles. And none of us are deserving of the grace that God extends to us through Christ, but God extends it to all of us, just the same, no matter what we've done. We all need the love and grace of God because we are all of this secular world, not above it in a position to judge the people in it.
Barack Obama discusses the historically black church's impact on his life by describing that it, "rarely had the luxury of separating individual salvation from collective salvation... It understood in an intimate way the biblical call to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and challenge powers and principalities. In the history of these struggles, I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death; rather, it was an active, palpable agent in the world."
The emotions of love and personal responsibility to all people can be incredibly powerful, and I don't think that as Christians we've really known how to fully tap into that. I need to be more convicted of that... so that people who have not known God can still feel the effects of God's love.
And perhaps to challenge the perceptions that being a Christian is likened to Pat Robertson
Monday, August 28, 2006
hair blowing in the breeze, yo we superstars
..think analytically about society... question the way things are... consider how things could be different. Such thinking involves an active, not a passive, relationship to the world. It requires confidence that your thoughts are worth persuing and that you can make a difference. And it demands looking beyond how to make do and into how to make "making do" different - how to change the structures that control our lives.
~Charlotte Bunch
That's just a little bit of my reading for my feminism political theory class. I feel that it is going to be fantastic.
I have never thought about the wording of having an active relationship to the world, but I love that phrase. I like to think that I do a decent job of doing that, but now that I have a tangible way to say it, I can encourage myself to have a more active relationship to the world every day. This summer left me a bit paralyzed at times... and for some reason, some days I did not even care to have a relationship with the world around me... much less an active one. I just didn't appreciate where I was and that God put me there for a reason. While I was forced to sit down and examine myself, which ultimately is obviously a good and necessary thing, I hated it as it was going on.
These past few weeks have been crazy, and I have been loving it. I need to figure out how to have an "active relationship" to the world even without that constant movement.
I also need an international experience... immediately. I'm feeling a little more than stagnant having been in Chapel Hill for three full years (summers too yall... seriously). I love this place, but I have to get out of here if I'm going to learn more about myself and my relationships to people and the Lord. And if I'm going to learn more about how to love more fully, every single day.
Megan will flip because of my recent (haha 2 day stretch) blogging consistency.
~Charlotte Bunch
That's just a little bit of my reading for my feminism political theory class. I feel that it is going to be fantastic.
I have never thought about the wording of having an active relationship to the world, but I love that phrase. I like to think that I do a decent job of doing that, but now that I have a tangible way to say it, I can encourage myself to have a more active relationship to the world every day. This summer left me a bit paralyzed at times... and for some reason, some days I did not even care to have a relationship with the world around me... much less an active one. I just didn't appreciate where I was and that God put me there for a reason. While I was forced to sit down and examine myself, which ultimately is obviously a good and necessary thing, I hated it as it was going on.
These past few weeks have been crazy, and I have been loving it. I need to figure out how to have an "active relationship" to the world even without that constant movement.
I also need an international experience... immediately. I'm feeling a little more than stagnant having been in Chapel Hill for three full years (summers too yall... seriously). I love this place, but I have to get out of here if I'm going to learn more about myself and my relationships to people and the Lord. And if I'm going to learn more about how to love more fully, every single day.
Megan will flip because of my recent (haha 2 day stretch) blogging consistency.
would you lie with me and just forget the world
All of the responsibility I have on Mondays thus far is a dance class.
That's seriously it... and it is absolutely fabulous. This Monday I have a little bit more going on, just because of papers and such, but still... I'm feeling fabulous.
WOW is over. That rocks my world.
all is well
That's seriously it... and it is absolutely fabulous. This Monday I have a little bit more going on, just because of papers and such, but still... I'm feeling fabulous.
WOW is over. That rocks my world.
all is well
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Don't you know, things will change
Carrie's bachelorette party.
The first time I've actually hung out with my sister while she was drunk. That part was quite entertaining. What was not very fun was her getting upset, me getting pulled by a couple cops on the way back (who ended up being super nice), and realizing that friends will disappoint you at all stages of life.
To make a long story short, her friends mostly didn't make the event very special for her. Basically it seemed more like we were all going out than we were going out specifically to celebrate Carrie.
While I hate that the night ended up being a small disaster as a result of selfishness on the part of some of her friends, it ended up bringing Carrie and I closer together than before. And for that I'm actually thankful. We ended up leaving Saturday night to drive back to Chapel Hill (at 4am... got here around 7am). Carrie and I haven't been alone for that long in a while...
She's getting married. She doesn't think it's that big of a deal, but it's huge! Granted, it will be more huge when she starts to have kids and things... but Carrie and I won't really be alone much ever again. Mom and I really can't just run to Charlotte to spend the night with her... because there will be a boy spending every night with her. In six weeks our lives will change drastically forever. That's craziness!
This whole wedding planning stuff is happening much differently that I anticipated when we were little kids. I'm not able to help out as much because I'm here and my work schedule has been crazy. Plus, since Carrie is pretty casual about all of this... there's not much to plan. I mean, it's on the beach, so there are virtually no decorations... not even many flowers.
I just can't wait to be standing there in the getting-ready room alone with her on that day. I get to stand beside her when she makes one of the biggest moves of her life... and I'm excited.
The first time I've actually hung out with my sister while she was drunk. That part was quite entertaining. What was not very fun was her getting upset, me getting pulled by a couple cops on the way back (who ended up being super nice), and realizing that friends will disappoint you at all stages of life.
To make a long story short, her friends mostly didn't make the event very special for her. Basically it seemed more like we were all going out than we were going out specifically to celebrate Carrie.
While I hate that the night ended up being a small disaster as a result of selfishness on the part of some of her friends, it ended up bringing Carrie and I closer together than before. And for that I'm actually thankful. We ended up leaving Saturday night to drive back to Chapel Hill (at 4am... got here around 7am). Carrie and I haven't been alone for that long in a while...
She's getting married. She doesn't think it's that big of a deal, but it's huge! Granted, it will be more huge when she starts to have kids and things... but Carrie and I won't really be alone much ever again. Mom and I really can't just run to Charlotte to spend the night with her... because there will be a boy spending every night with her. In six weeks our lives will change drastically forever. That's craziness!
This whole wedding planning stuff is happening much differently that I anticipated when we were little kids. I'm not able to help out as much because I'm here and my work schedule has been crazy. Plus, since Carrie is pretty casual about all of this... there's not much to plan. I mean, it's on the beach, so there are virtually no decorations... not even many flowers.
I just can't wait to be standing there in the getting-ready room alone with her on that day. I get to stand beside her when she makes one of the biggest moves of her life... and I'm excited.
Friday, August 11, 2006
You don't want to see my tears, so why are you still standing here just watching me drown?
I'm slightly obsessed with The Wreckers right now... hence the title.
I think a lot.
Most of what I will remember about this summer will be what was going on in my head. I've had a lot more time to myself than usual, and as a result I've changed a fair amount. I realized today that that change cannot really be quantified. I can't pin down any exact memorable moment or remember how exactly all of this happened. What I do know is that I'm a different person than I was in May.
I've realized some of the ugly things about myself. I've always thought that loving every person fully is a pretty sure way to fulfilling God's will. That can be exhausting. It can be beautiful. And I definitely have not even attempted to do it with some people this summer. While God's will is very complex, and it cannot necessarily be reduced to just love, love definitely plays a powerful role.
I do a much better job of loving people who are different from me than loving people who are like me. This seems contradictory to what normally happens, but this is how it is with me. I find is so easy to overlook the faults of those who are drastically different from me in any way, whether through their appearance, sexual orientation, age, religion, etc. I have recognized this as a definite gift, and I truly feel alive when I spend my time loving these people fully.
But I have a very hard time attributing that same grace and love to those close to me that are similar to me. I recognize that everyone is extremely unique, and that it's hard to quantify exactly what I mean by people that are "similar" to me... but in my head I know exactly the groups that I am talking about. It's not that I blatantly choose not to love them, because that would go against my entire life philosophy... haha... but this summer I've really realized how much I suck at it. Admitting this is a step in the process of learning how to love these people fully as well, but I haven't been pushing myself past that step.
This summer has been slow, yet it feels really weird that it's almost over. Being essentially single for three months has made this process of self-realization even more inevitable. For that, I am thankful in some ways. I know a lot more about my issues, and what I need to work on (even if I'm not ready to work on them yet). I also know a lot more about the gifts that God has given me, and how to use those more effectively. I've never really seen the value of spending time by myself or specifically alone because I am so energized by people. I've always thought a lot, a whole lot actually, but mostly about others' situations, and how I can be more effective in their lives. This summer I've thought more about myself, and how I can be a more effective person over all. There is great value in spending time doing this, and that is something that I've slowly learned. I still would rather be debriefing about other people and helping others along with their own personal development, but I can no longer ignore the fact that part of my own personal growth has to come from within. I've learned so much during these past few years from other people, and I've had time along the way to internalize it and realize what it means for me. But this summer, instead of being part of an amazing group-journey type of experience, I've had to take more of a path of self-discovery. And it has definitely been interesting.
I'm thankful for this. I'm thankful for all of this. I am thankful for all of the people in my life, and this year I want to push myself to express that more fully. This is the last year that I have in this place with these same people... even if I'm here for graduate school... it will never again feel like this. That's a bit scary, very crazy, but it presents me with a timeline... haha... and I work best under pressure. Every day presents me with another amazing chance, and after this summer that was significantly different than what I was use to, I know that I'm more equipped to seize this year's opportunity.
I think a lot.
Most of what I will remember about this summer will be what was going on in my head. I've had a lot more time to myself than usual, and as a result I've changed a fair amount. I realized today that that change cannot really be quantified. I can't pin down any exact memorable moment or remember how exactly all of this happened. What I do know is that I'm a different person than I was in May.
I've realized some of the ugly things about myself. I've always thought that loving every person fully is a pretty sure way to fulfilling God's will. That can be exhausting. It can be beautiful. And I definitely have not even attempted to do it with some people this summer. While God's will is very complex, and it cannot necessarily be reduced to just love, love definitely plays a powerful role.
I do a much better job of loving people who are different from me than loving people who are like me. This seems contradictory to what normally happens, but this is how it is with me. I find is so easy to overlook the faults of those who are drastically different from me in any way, whether through their appearance, sexual orientation, age, religion, etc. I have recognized this as a definite gift, and I truly feel alive when I spend my time loving these people fully.
But I have a very hard time attributing that same grace and love to those close to me that are similar to me. I recognize that everyone is extremely unique, and that it's hard to quantify exactly what I mean by people that are "similar" to me... but in my head I know exactly the groups that I am talking about. It's not that I blatantly choose not to love them, because that would go against my entire life philosophy... haha... but this summer I've really realized how much I suck at it. Admitting this is a step in the process of learning how to love these people fully as well, but I haven't been pushing myself past that step.
This summer has been slow, yet it feels really weird that it's almost over. Being essentially single for three months has made this process of self-realization even more inevitable. For that, I am thankful in some ways. I know a lot more about my issues, and what I need to work on (even if I'm not ready to work on them yet). I also know a lot more about the gifts that God has given me, and how to use those more effectively. I've never really seen the value of spending time by myself or specifically alone because I am so energized by people. I've always thought a lot, a whole lot actually, but mostly about others' situations, and how I can be more effective in their lives. This summer I've thought more about myself, and how I can be a more effective person over all. There is great value in spending time doing this, and that is something that I've slowly learned. I still would rather be debriefing about other people and helping others along with their own personal development, but I can no longer ignore the fact that part of my own personal growth has to come from within. I've learned so much during these past few years from other people, and I've had time along the way to internalize it and realize what it means for me. But this summer, instead of being part of an amazing group-journey type of experience, I've had to take more of a path of self-discovery. And it has definitely been interesting.
I'm thankful for this. I'm thankful for all of this. I am thankful for all of the people in my life, and this year I want to push myself to express that more fully. This is the last year that I have in this place with these same people... even if I'm here for graduate school... it will never again feel like this. That's a bit scary, very crazy, but it presents me with a timeline... haha... and I work best under pressure. Every day presents me with another amazing chance, and after this summer that was significantly different than what I was use to, I know that I'm more equipped to seize this year's opportunity.
Sunday, July 9, 2006
Reno 911!
So I just turned on the TV waiting for The Daily Show to come on, and none other than Reno 911 was on. Now, this was not a show that I was even acquainted with until Vanessa's untwisting party last summer. It is a pretty horrible show, but it is mildly and mindlessly hilarious.
I just spent my week off in Corolla, quite possibly my most favorite place on the planet. Now I haven't exactly traveled far and wide to come to this conclusion, but I feel the most like my self and the least stressed out when I am there. And for that, nothing else will quite touch it. My sister is getting married there in September, and that is a great excuse for me to skip class for a week and go hang out some more. And James will actually be making his first appearance
Oh by the way, The Daily Show doesn't come on on Sunday nights. I don't know what I was thinking... except for the fact that I had to work today because Duke doesn't like Jesus, and I've been confused all day.
Anyway, James is coming to the beach with me for the first time, and I could not be more pumped. He will also be meeting my extended family (my dad has 5 brothers and sisters... making me have 15ish cousins, some of them are married with children, etc), which will be interesting to say the least.
I think weddings are pretty incredible things. Everything surrounding the event is just such an amazing way to celebrate the relationship that is about to be bonded and committed. I just think of all of the great things we have been and will be doing to get ready for Carrie's wedding, and what that day will hold in itself... giving everyone who loves Carrie and Jacob a chance to express that and support them in this major milestone of life.
And just because this can't all be a happy post, I'll just throw this in... Carrie and Jacob have been so excited over the past few months. Witnessing their relationship grow over the past few years and eeing them together makes me realize more about how important the ability to marry really is. Reading headlines about all of the gay marriage, civil unions, etc court cases over the past few days has really made me wonder how and why the government would want to attempt to regulate and restrict something as powerful as love.
I just spent my week off in Corolla, quite possibly my most favorite place on the planet. Now I haven't exactly traveled far and wide to come to this conclusion, but I feel the most like my self and the least stressed out when I am there. And for that, nothing else will quite touch it. My sister is getting married there in September, and that is a great excuse for me to skip class for a week and go hang out some more. And James will actually be making his first appearance
Oh by the way, The Daily Show doesn't come on on Sunday nights. I don't know what I was thinking... except for the fact that I had to work today because Duke doesn't like Jesus, and I've been confused all day.
Anyway, James is coming to the beach with me for the first time, and I could not be more pumped. He will also be meeting my extended family (my dad has 5 brothers and sisters... making me have 15ish cousins, some of them are married with children, etc), which will be interesting to say the least.
I think weddings are pretty incredible things. Everything surrounding the event is just such an amazing way to celebrate the relationship that is about to be bonded and committed. I just think of all of the great things we have been and will be doing to get ready for Carrie's wedding, and what that day will hold in itself... giving everyone who loves Carrie and Jacob a chance to express that and support them in this major milestone of life.
And just because this can't all be a happy post, I'll just throw this in... Carrie and Jacob have been so excited over the past few months. Witnessing their relationship grow over the past few years and eeing them together makes me realize more about how important the ability to marry really is. Reading headlines about all of the gay marriage, civil unions, etc court cases over the past few days has really made me wonder how and why the government would want to attempt to regulate and restrict something as powerful as love.
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