Newspapers / Montreat College Student Newspaper / May 13, 2010, edition 1 / Page 5
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1 US, ‘Can I be myself?” Her question is power ful. College graduation awaits me in a few short days, and there are so many future things I should be thinking about, yet this is the theme I’m stuck on: finding freedom in my own skin. For a recent assignment, I met with a professor. He asked me in the middle of our meeting, “Lucy, do you know that you’re diL ferent?” Stunned at the unexpected honesty, I shrugged vulnerably, and answered yes. My following question to myself was this: “Am I okay with that? Do I embrace that?" small mountain campus. It’s entailed hundreds of limit-pushing soccer practices where endur ance and strength have been tested. It’s been meeting people com pletely different than myself, and learning how to celebrate life with them. It’s been let ting my heart be broken, so that it could be built back the right way. It’s been finding a new and fuller way of loving and receiving love. It’s the joy of living in com munity together that’s tuckea away. It’s sitting on the library lawn, Sunday afternoon four square games, mountain exploring, fireside chats. I have spent the end of Pan Day, not to men Culture Nathan H. Adams This is something I wrote for a conversation on facebook. I have sub mitted it to the Whet stone with minor edits for clarity. I really feel like God is a whole lot bigger than we often give him credit. God is the fount from which all things beauti ful and good now. Now, let me expand on what I mean by beautiful and good. I mean, basically, anything that expresses love. For me, pop music enlivens my souf and makes me reel alive. It excites me, it takes my soul to new heights, and it helps me feel like a worthy part of the universe. Alternatively, a lot of Contemporary Christian music makes me feel belittled and worthless. Why is this? The reason is that the language of that culture (^a Chris- tianese) reminds me of a very emotionally abusive past where the church is concerned (and just so that I am very clear, I am not talking about “bad” churches, I am talking about churches, period). Now, for me, the music of the Christian culture does not com municate love to me; it communicates pride and presumption. Flowever, secular music filled with lyrics about all sorts of things, to me commu nicates love, acceptance, and joy. And why shouldn’t it? It was written by people who ar^’ust as worthy as any Chris tians, it is filled with their concerns, their fears, their joys, and I think it is just as worthy. Now, does that mean everyone has to listen to pop music? No. For some people it does not communicate love, and for them, it is not edify- ing. That s fine. But cul turally Christian music does not edify me. I guess what I’m get- dne at is that in the end, God is God, and we are humans. And when we, as humans, come together as a group for don engaging academi- callv together... when we have time, of course. Montreat has been a transformative time for me, and that is why I write to you now. Through my four soul-scratching, blood pumping, andheart-stir- ring years here, I have determined through resounding realizations that the best we can pos sibly be is simply who we were created to be, with all the complexi ties and abnormalities included. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we all released control in trying to cre ate what we think is the best personality. What if we laid it down at the feet of God and said, “Yes. Here you are. Your original creation, we give back to you. Show us how to love others. Illuminate us.” Personal ity isn’t who someone is; rather, it is a splash of color on a canvas that speaks to those who take time to admire the painting. It is how we interact with the world. Someone once told me, “There is no harmony when everyone sings the same note.” If mat is true, and we know it is, then let’s all sing our own notes freely, and dance wildly to the beat of our own drummers, sharing our similarities and celebrating our dif ferences. There is resto ration and a new start available to those who have tried to be some one they never were, and there is forgiveness offered for those of us who have criticized our peers as they struggled to know who they truly are in Christ. I have a lot of love for this place and you people. Thank jmu for speaking truth. Thank you for adven tures and laughs. Mostly, thank you for giving me the freedom to be myself. I hope I have ex tended the same to you. God is such a great artist; the best, in fact. It’s hard to hand Him the paintbrush, but when we do, it’s always beautiful. Be thankful and enjoy every color vou receive. And so I leave you with a love commandment from Him, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) some reason, that cre ates a culture. There is a Western Christian Culture. I think many people have confused the tenants of that culture (hair length, ap propriate subject matter, etc.) for finite laws of God. I do not think the Christian Culture is in any way better, nor has it any more together than any other group on earth. We are people, and liable to st^idity. The Christian Culture in the west is prideful, ex clusionary. preciate the “f-word”, so I try not to say it around them. But I have friends for whom, at the right time, when they are down, nothing could be more loving. It can be used to convey simply and beautifully, “I know your pain, and I empa thize so deeply,” in a way no other word could. I do not believe it is what we say, or what we talk about; it’s all about how we say it, and the spirit in which it is said. and judg- ii^. All ofthese things are just as bad as sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. The real litmus test is love. I have friends who do not ap- COLLflGK ItOOKSTOlU YOlJR KlVl'lUE PURCHASE MOXTREAT COUJ^GE IMMmSTOR] VAUD UNTIL 6/30/2010 May 13,2010 | Page 5
Montreat College Student Newspaper
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