I just completed perhaps the greatest Sabbath in recent memory.
It was full of great discussion, music, sleep, activity and reflection. It all boils down to community.
1. Running has surprisingly become therapeutic. Even when it's cold.
2. I love philosophical discussions with Ryan Billington.
3. The WWU Music Dept. is rather superb indeed. It makes me almost want to be up there with them...
4. The Christmas Recognition Ceremony at the West Whitman Estate had perhaps even greater music...
5. The Christmas Recognition Ceremony at the West Whitman Estate also provided real Sabbath community.
6. There's something about getting to walk a dog. Thanks Abby!
7. Why haven't I been going to Sabbath Seminar since I arrived at WWU?
8. Alex Bryan is a hero.
9. There's just something about sitting in a recliner with a book and a journal while wrapped in the warmth of a blanket.
10. Sleep is simply stellar. Naps are vital.
Ah, community. This is how each Sabbath should be.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
community (written last weekend)
Life is an interesting thing.
This weekend held something for me: opportunity. I had few plans beyond sundown. History Club vespers Friday night and Religion Club Christmas Party Saturday night. I've been in need of some spontaneity.
At History Club vespers, I had a short side conversation with Dr. Dodds about how my sense of community at WWU has changed for me since I moved out of the dorm. I know so few people here. I don't live with them. I don't eat in the cafeteria with them. I don't know them. That's just that. They're them. I don't know their names, who they are. I'm not in a position to change that and it's not all bad. It's just a fact more than a complaint.
At vespers I enjoyed people watching. As it ended and people began filing out of the sanctuary, I realized again just how few people I know. Vespers used to be the place where I saw everyone. I knew everyone... Now, I sat back in my pew and watched. Eventually, I ended up having an interesting conversation about God and the Seventh-day Adventist church with a few friends that I haven't talked with in awhile. It lasted. Awhile. And it was good. We listened to each other. We had different stories and experiences and therefore different opinions, but we were accepting. I felt accepted.
That's why I'm still searching. That's why I still go to church, to vespers, to an SDA university. Community. I don't feel it with the general WWU church. I don't even feel it on campus. But I felt it there. I feel it each Wednesday at lunch during my small group. I feel it at Worm Ranch on Fridays. And it's good.
I may have lost my greater sense of WWU community. And while that's sad in some sense, I'm glad. I may have had one-inch deep relationships with everyone on campus (this is not meant to diminish my many great, deep friendships during my dorm years - I still have many of those friendships, but it was more rare overall...), but I now have even truer communities, where deep and accepting discussion takes place. That's positive. That's community.
This weekend held something for me: opportunity. I had few plans beyond sundown. History Club vespers Friday night and Religion Club Christmas Party Saturday night. I've been in need of some spontaneity.
At History Club vespers, I had a short side conversation with Dr. Dodds about how my sense of community at WWU has changed for me since I moved out of the dorm. I know so few people here. I don't live with them. I don't eat in the cafeteria with them. I don't know them. That's just that. They're them. I don't know their names, who they are. I'm not in a position to change that and it's not all bad. It's just a fact more than a complaint.
At vespers I enjoyed people watching. As it ended and people began filing out of the sanctuary, I realized again just how few people I know. Vespers used to be the place where I saw everyone. I knew everyone... Now, I sat back in my pew and watched. Eventually, I ended up having an interesting conversation about God and the Seventh-day Adventist church with a few friends that I haven't talked with in awhile. It lasted. Awhile. And it was good. We listened to each other. We had different stories and experiences and therefore different opinions, but we were accepting. I felt accepted.
That's why I'm still searching. That's why I still go to church, to vespers, to an SDA university. Community. I don't feel it with the general WWU church. I don't even feel it on campus. But I felt it there. I feel it each Wednesday at lunch during my small group. I feel it at Worm Ranch on Fridays. And it's good.
I may have lost my greater sense of WWU community. And while that's sad in some sense, I'm glad. I may have had one-inch deep relationships with everyone on campus (this is not meant to diminish my many great, deep friendships during my dorm years - I still have many of those friendships, but it was more rare overall...), but I now have even truer communities, where deep and accepting discussion takes place. That's positive. That's community.
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