This New Beginning

One thing I'm struck by as I walk around campus is the diversity of the people around me. I've spent so much time away from large groups like this, that I'm still getting used to seeing this many different faces at one time in one place.

It's times like these when I start to think about their individual lives. Where do they come from? What is their goal in life? I'm sure they have struggles and difficulties just like me.

The cosmos is filled with differing threads of life. Consider our world. Not the whole thing, but the tiny part of it we know and live in. Our lives, passing one another, briefly interacting with each other, weaving the fabric that makes up what we know as life.

Shouldn't we be trying to make a difference in others' lives? I know that I'm a bit nervous and slightly overwhelmed at the newness of everything. However, I just need to remember that for the majority of the people in my classes, they will be dealing with the same emotions as me.

Most of the time I like to proof/revise what I write before I post it. In this case, I'm just sharing some observations I gleaned today about campus. For many, today was their first day of college classes. A step into another world, one that they've probably thought about for the past few years. What types of choices will they make from today to when they graduate? What type of people will they become?

My goal would be to leave the college phase of my life as a better person. A person, who has faced difficulties and trials, whether they be academic deadlines or decisions that directly effect my immediate life, and come out of it victorious. In every situation living as I say I believe.

I wrote these quotes over time as they came to me and although they sounded good in my head (lol), I didn't really feel like they applied to my current situation. It's only now after surviving my first official day of college classes that I begin to see what they mean.

"The people that need help the most, are the ones we pass everyday without noticing."

"But what if I don't have all the answers? What if I'm just as hopelessly lost and confused as you are?"

"Life is the continuing pursuit of truth and meaning."

"I believe in God, not because I am unwilling to face the questions, but rather because the existence of God answers those questions best for me."

Perhaps, that's the truest test that faces all of us as we enter into this next chapter of our lives. This is the time, when we leave our homes and our parents' beliefs, and forge a standard of our own. We need to ask ourselves two questions: Who do we say we are? And how does this contrast with who we actually are when no one's looking?
May we all live according to that which benefits the highest standard, and may we not be found lacking.

-michael

Life is a Smoothie

Monday, October 20, 2008
10:27pm
Floor of Empty House, Twin Oaks (where I'm sleeping)

Today I worked from 8am to 4pm in the cafe. I now know how to make about eight different kinds of smoothies. Spending all that time working with fruit puree and crushed ice got me to thinking; life is very much like a smoothie. Sure different flavors go into specific drinks, but just like life's circumstances and the way we react to them, it's what is inside the mold that makes us who we are. We all only get one earthly life to live, and that smoothie can only be drank once.

Is the price worth it? As you peruse down life's menu of choices, you will be faced with many hard decisions. Thankfully, we don't have to close our eyes and randomly point. God has given us His Word, and has put special individuals in our lives to help guide us along the right path.

Although I feel that this analogy has many qualified points, I do think that in the future I will refrain from countering the question I was asked so often today, "What do y'all have in your smoothies?", with "What types of choices do you make in your life?".
I got too many weird looks...

As I close this note, I have to ask you one final (compound) question.
What are you putting into your smoothie, and is it worth it?