Aquinas and Happiness

Well I'm back. Back in the Grove, sitting on the second floor of the SAC marking papers with a blue highlighter trying to encourage myself to actually do some schoolwork, when all I really want to do is something other than schoolwork.

I'm working on a paper for Civilization, one of those great Humanities classes that GCC makes everyone take in order for them to have a well-rounded education. In talking to others and hearing about their papers it sounds like mine may be one of the harder ones that is required to be written. I have to take a reading from some great philosopher/theologian of old and analyze it searching for his answers to two of James Sire's seven questions that every worldview must answer.

At least by now its going better than it was the other day riding back from good old Massachusetts. I was sitting in the backseat of Uriah's car trying in vain to understand what I was reading. I had determined that perhaps I would do Aristotle's musing on the human soul as my reading to analyze, but wait, all Aristotle answered was one of the worldview questions. Sigh...well maybe Thomas Aquinas then. Nope, not him either. It was at that point I gave up for the day.

Of course as I sit here now I am actually highlighting Aquinas' work as when I read it later with a clearer mind I discovered he does, in fact, answer two of the worldview questions!! HOORAY!! Can you feel the sarcasm seeping through?

However, more importantly this reading points to the fact that the ultimate happiness of man consists in the contemplation and understanding of God. And you know what I don't believe that as much as I should. I mean I do believe it, but I put it on the backburner so often, especially over break trying to see all my friends, which is by no means a bad thing, and can be very spiritually uplifting. But what about all these times at college where I'll play Guitar Hero for another hour instead of seeking God and His truth, the only thing that can really bring happiness. I need to stop settling for anything other than the ultimate happiness of knowing God...because I certainly do more times than not.

Truth Elitism

Truth. What is it? Why are people so obsessed with finding it, or in many cases avoiding it? Why is the pursuit of truth and knowledge so central to mankind’s purpose on this earth? Truth is one of those words that when uttered can bring together or immediately tear apart. The funny thing is that often those people or organizations most interested in finding the truth also have the biggest divides internally because of battles over the so-called truth. Real truth should unite, yet it tears apart so often. However, this does not mean that truth does not exist as some would promote.

However, it is understandable how some people may prefer to believe there is no truth, when those who promote absolute values are at times incredibly arrogant about their intellectual superiority in finding truth. Truth does not give one a license to hold it over other’s heads in an elitism that can only be described as pompous and pedantic. Unfortunately, as I can attest this mentality so often seeps into life, especially it seems in the life of a Christian.

I know I’ve held my knowledge of the truth and my personal “piety” over others before. I’ve used it as a license to call myself better than the unchurched. But this mindset is not only damaging but blatantly un-Biblical. Jesus condemns those who hold their knowledge over people. In fact, he tells the Pharisees that they are hypocrites, and are filled with rotting flesh inside. Yet on the outside the Pharisees were the ones that knew everything, but the knowledge of their minds did not translate to their hearts and their treatment of other people.

Why is this truth elitism such a prominent outlook in Christian circles? Sometimes it seems so ingrained in the foundations of modern day church people fall into it and don’t even think about it. It isn’t even always related just to those who aren’t Christians, but also other denominations. Every denomination believes everything they hold as doctrine is 100% right and will fight to the death with the others for the right to call their opinions supreme. Why do we feel the need to know we possess all the truth? Why is it so hard to accept that possibly someone may believe something different and it is ok?

In America we are very prideful, and whether people like it, or want to admit it, this pride influences our entire outlook on life and religion to the point where we feel the need to be better than other countries and to show our superiority. Why do you think America so often meddles in other countries affairs? We think that we know everything and want everyone to conform to our political systems and beliefs, when we don’t even know anything about their culture. I feel like the church, especially the fundamentalists of yesterday, feels this same way. We try to reach people from our white-middle class perspective instead of caring about their struggles and their sub-culture and reaching them through that.

It all comes back to the belief that once we think we’ve found the black and white on sometimes obviously gray issues, we inscribe these beliefs in stone, like our own personal 500 Commandments, and if someone wants to follow Jesus they must meet these criteria. Jesus never did this, he ate with the tax collectors and prostitutes something the church always preaches about but rarely does in any capacity. The bible says in John 8:32, “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” The truth has set us free, but why do we use it to capture people in our own dogmatic views? Before we were set free we were no better off than those that we now think we are better than.

People are intrinsically equal. God did not create some people better than others, in fact, it is quite the opposite. It says in the Bible that God is no respecter of persons, meaning he doesn’t care if know everything about the Bible and do nothing with it or if one person knows a lone verse of scripture and with that verse does great things. Who will God said has done more with what they’ve been given?

So clearly this truth elitism is something that is not only dangerous to the Christian’s view of the lost world, but also between other Christians who may not hold exactly the same views. How many times has one denomination refused to work with another one simply over things such as predestination and eternal security? What’s the point of that? News flash: we are all Christians and we should be united. Sadly this is not often the case.

So how do we remove this truth elitism from our lives? The simple answer is to recognize it and attempt to stop doing it. Some people don’t notice it and even if they do they enjoy the elevated feeling it creates over others. This view is damaging as well as not in keeping with the Christian walk. Everyone is equal and has the same chance to find the truth, so let’s start acting like it.

North Coast '07

It's 5:55 am.

"Can you hear the sky turn red?"

That's my cellphone alarm alerting me that I need to wake up. You may be asking, why do I need to wake up at 5:55 am? Actually, I was asking myself that very same question as I rolled out of bed, stumbled down the hallway into the bathroom and gathered my stuff for North Coast, an Ultimate tournament in Cleveland. Yes indeed, that is why I was awake, to go play ultimate with the Grove City College club team.

So there I sat waiting for Jimmy Pang, a good friend and frisbee phenom. He finally walked down the stairs and we headed for the SAC. It was freezing, and remained about the same temperature throughout the entire day. Needless to say we met up with the guys and boarded the bus and set off for Ohio.

As we powered eastward, the sun began to rise behind us. Now if you know me a decent amount, you know there is nothing more I love than sunrises and sunsets. I get to see a lot more of the latter than the former, mainly because I don't often find myself awake at 5:55 in the am. This one was beautiful, the soft gentle pinks contrasting with the bold orange as we rumbled past the outstretched trees lining the highway.

Despite getting lost a couple times we arrived on time at the Polo Grounds, the curious place where the tournament was being held. We collected the food that they gave us, and set out for our first game. We handily defeated Kent State 15-7, and I actually caught a goal, courtesy of Hunter Stewart, which basically made my day. But it was still freezing out.

We lost our next game to Bowling Green 14-13, and then beat Case Western B 15-8. I caught another goal in that one courtesy of the amazing Mark Lyon-Vaiden. We entered the final game, spirits high, and lost to Ohio Wesleyan 15-13. We retreated back to the warmth of the bus, took some more food, and headed back for the Grove. Of course, we managed to get lost again, and made a two hour ride at least a half hour, if not more, longer.

So there is my first real experience with Ultimate tournaments. I can't wait til I'm the one one the field the whole game, making those crucial throws. I love to play disc and I think today confirmed it. So if you'll excuse me I'm off to sleep....

Fun in the Grove

Today began like any other typical day in Grove City. Getting up a shade before 10:30 I decided to forgo Homecoming chapel, mainly because I felt really tired, and it was starting in ten minutes. So I went about waking up, and then was about to listen to a Rob Bell sermon when Draya called. I talked to her for about a hour and then decided to just do nothing for a little while. However during the course of waking up and doing nothing I decided that I was not going to eat at the cafeteria for dinner and was going to go to get some Taco Bell. This entailed a 45 minute walk, but it was well worth it for the wellspring of deliciousness on the other side.

So at about 5:30 Adam and I embarked on our journey to Taco Bell/Walmart/Sheetz. Sharing beautiful memories of days gone by, or should I say video games gone by, the walk passed quickly as we shared stories of excitement and despair relating to the digital realm. As we neared Taco Bell I espied that it was 49 cent taco day, a fact that made my night automatically better. So we ate, all the while continuing our discussion, and eating some of the best Taco Bell ever.

Then we finally entered Walmart. I had one mission: find Zoolander and purchase it. I quickly realized that I was about to fail in this endeavor as there was nary a copy to be found. However, there was a five dollar movie bin which Adam and I searched through for a good fifteen minutes leaving no stone unturned. I picked up Tears of the Sun and Adam found a couple himself. Then I debated about buying a few different computer games before deciding to buy none of them. During this time Adam decided not to buy his movies, and so I approached the cash register with one movie in my hand. As I drew close to buying it Adam trying to convince me to not buy it. Now I had a dilemma on my hands and needed some time to think about it. So I did what any good man would do when faced with this decision: go look at hats.

Now I found no hats, but we browsed the tie selection and then I decided I needed some new boxers. So as we viewed the odd array of men's underwear(string bikini style?) Adam decided he might want some moccasins. I finally found some less than scandalous undergarments and we moved to the shoe department. One thing I gained from the shoe department is that they make really awesome slippers for girls and not for guys. Our trip was in vain as Adam decided against purchasing his foot apparel, and I thought hey we already walked around half the store, why not make a night of it and go around the whole thing?

So we debated on the usage of a extremely small bunkbed, decided that it would be cool to deck out our eventual homes in amazing lamps and such as we moved into the toys section. Now, I forgot to mention that while we were browsing the clothing section we picked up some do-rags. I myself chose the orange flames, and Adam picked the skulls to show off his bad self. I figured flames were appropriate for some one as hot as me. (totally kidding!) These are not your ordinary do-rags mind you, but wal-mart specials, and like anything at wal-mart totally worth the price of 1.44 we paid. As we walk through the toy section praising the merits of various toys our eyes alight on some lightsabers.

As some of you know I am a self-proclaimed Star Wars geek. It used to be much worse back in junior high. Let's see there was the card game, video games, and endless trivia battles to see who was the "true" Jedi Master. Then there was the summer I basically read the entire library of Star Wars books. So when Adam suggested we buy them...I tried really hard to resist, but it was only inevitable that I would give in. Especially because these new lightsabers have spring activated blades, which may be the sweetest innovation next to the computer chip. Needless to say I was very close to walking out of wal-mart with a five dollar movie and instead I spent 35 dollars. But I figure how many other chances does one get to purchase a do-rag and lightsaber at the same time?

So we began the long trek back to college, except now we were no longer Adam and Carl, students of Grove City College. We were Master C-dizzle and Knight Bog-shizzle, Jedi of the hood. I mean after all I am from Springfield. We fast approached the college, making a momentary stop at the sketchiest, yet possibly most well-equipped small town movie store I've ever seen. So much better than Movie Gallery in Monson...at least I think they had new releases on the shelf, one that actually just came out, not last year's blockbusters. And they had some super nintendo and sega genesis games for sale...priceless.

Anyway, we finally made it back into our dorm. The first person to see me in both do-rag and lightsaber was Jack, as I made my way to the RA's room to secure a screwdriver to fully equip our sabers with batteries. I think he enjoyed my ghetto mastery if his laughter was any barometer. And there the night basically ended...and God knew I needed something like that. I needed to be crazy and just get my mind of things. God works everything out for those who love Him...and its awesome.

P.S. You need to read my friend/roommates take on this incident as well. check out blogspot.theempyrealwordsmith.com. NOW!

Liberty vs. Stupidity

Well I felt it was time to unleash a new blog upon the world, or at least the few people that read this thing. Anyway, tonight me and Adam went out with our RA, his family, and some of his friends for dinner. This was my recompense for winning assassins, and an opportunity to get off campus and away from cafeteria food, something always worthwhile. So we made it to Rachel's Roadhouse, and we ate and everything was good. After that we went and hung out in this open-air type room which featured table-top shuffleboard, many loud voices, and plenty of drinking.

Now I have nothing against anyone drinking in moderation, but as soon as alcohol intake begins to impair your mind or wallet, I would think it wise to stay away from. This is not simply my opinion, as God also warns against being drunk, as it leads down many bad paths. I also grew up in a very conservative household and church as far as alcohol consumption goes. Therefore I am totally unaccustomed to people in general drinking, not to mention Christians drinking. That is if most of those people were Christians. Now I'm not here to judge by any means, and I have to be careful of doing just that, but it seems to me that a large number of the people there tonight were either students at the college or alumni. It left me wondering who were the true Christians on this campus, and how many there actually are.

Once again, I think that if you drink and enjoy it in moderation, more power to you, but at least as far as I have ever known, I've never heard of drinking making something more fun or entertaining. I just can't understand the allure. Why pay more money for a beverage that after you've downed 3 or 4 slows down your reactions and mental capabilities? Not to mention most people cannot enjoy alcohol in moderation, and once you cross that line, its hard to go back.

So you won't catch me drinking after I turn 21. You might see me hanging out with friends in bars or places that serve alcohol, but I don't feel the need to touch the stuff. It seems like there can be a lot of peer pressure sometimes or just a belief that drinking makes you more of an adult. It's true I felt a little younger there tonight, but I don't think it had anything to do with me not having a beer bottle in my hand. I just don't think I could ever get used to almost it seems needing to have a beer to have a good time, and I pray I never will think in that way. Just because one has liberty to do so does not mean they need to exercise it.

Happy Birthdays

Last night a bunch of us amazing studly guys from 1HP went out to serenade our good friend Sadie on her 17th birthday. We met in our hall, and after a hastily arranged practice, which involved Kevin attempting to learn Happy Birthday on the guitar we ventured forth into the night. Our mission was clear: to be as stealthy as possible in order to avoid the campus sfety patroling outside. As we embarked into the clear, cool night we noticed a lot of couple saying goodbye to each other before bed. And by goodbye I mean about 4 minute hugs...hey couples you are going to see each other again in the morning! I'm 8 hours away from my girlfriend, and if I'm doing pretty well with that I don't need to see you hugging your girlfriend like its the last time you are going to see her in 3 months every night...

Anyway, excuse the rant. We finally made it to MAP North side, and began our serenade. Launching into it at full breath, we let our glorious voices raise to the sky. They weren't very glorious but they rose, and we sang. Unfortunately I was the loudest and most off-key, but nevertheless we sang not to sound good, but to bring joy. And this we accomplished...so anyway, that was a good time and I felt I should blog about it.

Like a Child

Right now I'm listening to a sermon by Rob Bell. It is basically serving as my sermon for Sunday because I'm not getting out to church this morning. Oddly enough it seems to be the exact thing that I need to hear at this point in time. The message is called "Like a Child", and Rob is speaking on how children do things that God loves, and as adults we don't do those things as often as we should now. Some of these things are:

1)Don't worry.
2)Forgive and forget.
3)Don't live in a cycle of despair.
4)Not worried about what others thinks.

Now I'm sure different people struggle with different things on that list, but at least for myself I know that other than forgiving people, those other three gang up on me from time to time.

Take worrying for example. Being at college, I'm worried about school and grades. I'm also worried about trying to fit in and find people who really understand me. Then, in a different sense of worry, I think about finishing school and life in the real world. When am I going to get married? Where am I going to have a job? Why does it take so long? All these things combined with trying to balance a long distance relationship with Andraya, not to mention trying to stay in contact with all my other friends, while trying to forge new friendships here, it all adds up. So about once or twice a week I find myself either enormously stressed or really depressed from missing home. The missing home normally goes away when I actually hang out with other people and have stuff to do, but stress tends to stay with me. But kids don't have stress, and if they do it's about what kind of juice they have, not if they are going to get all their homework done and also manage to wake up for class.

Now I don't often live in a cycle of despair, but occasionally I find myself thinking very pessimistic thoughts, and these I realize are not what God wants me to think, and during the summer I was doing very good at recognizing that and shooting those thoughts down. In everything going on here I seem to have lost this skill a small bit. I don't have to fail, and everything will work out for good if I continue to love and seek God. And for all those people who say long-distance relationships don't work...with God nothing is impossible. I need to remind myself of that a little more than I do.

And then we arrive on being worried of what other think, of being afraid to fail. Yes, I am a perfectionist, but back home everyone knew me and to them I could never fail. Here, I'm scared to turn something into the paper for fear that it is going to suck, and people are going to say its crap. I don't know where this came from, but I know its a lie from Satan, and whenever I believe it I cease to trust God and the abilities He's given me, and then I am sinning. So if you guys could pray for me in these certain circumstances thanks...and thank God that I'm starting to pick up on this stuff. I can see the corner I need to turn, and I'm doing my best to speed as fast as I can toward it.