Life of the Mind

I do not believe that attending a Christian college automatically makes you apply life of the mind.  Through attending a Christian college we are given many unique privileges.  We constantly have faith integrated into the classroom and other various activities.  Our campus enforces rules that reflect Christian morals, we attend chapel twice a week, and we are taught by professor who seek to educate us about finding our rule in the kingdom and not just a job.  However, even though we have all this available to us, the reality is life of the mind is not something that can be forced upon you.  It is something you must decide to apply for yourself.  That is certainly not to say that the things listed above can’t aid you in the process, but still we must make a personal decision to see the world around us in a different way.

Over the course of our semester I have often heard the term JBU bubble.  It is an accurate description, we are protected here.  We have so many tools available to us, but I think sometimes we get caught up in our checklist and lose sight of our personal relationship with God.  Our minds may say went to chapel to day(check), talked about God in class(check), our professor prayed for us (check),  I sang the songs, I sat through the service, I guess I’m good right?  Wrong.  Once again all those things are great and important, but if your personal relationship with God isn’t okay than none of the other stuff matters.  Likewise if you don’t make a personal choice to apply life of the mind, than none of the stuff the Christian institution does is going to matter. 

How can we evaluate ourselves to make sure we are not just going through the motions and our heart is truly in the right place?

How can we ensure that we use this knowledge of life of the mind in our lives?

Intrinsically Good

I think intrinsically good means good for the sake of being good, no ulterior motive. 

Things that are intrinsically good:

1.       Sleep

2.       Relationships

3.       Love

4.       Service

5.       Chocolate

6.       Popcorn

7.       Affirmation

8.       Quality Time

9.       Nature

10.   Sex

11.   Sanctity of marriage

12.   Parenthood

13.   Tea

14.   Water

15.   Patience

16.   Confidence

17.   Integrity

18.   Music

19.   Art

20.   Snow

There have been so many times in my life that I see love as being intrinsically good.  I see it in the love that was shown to me especially when I didn’t deserve it, or wasn’t the most willing recipient.  The example that sticks out in my mind is my freshman year when I was taking algebra.  Let me tell you I was not an easy person to love when I was doing algebra homework, but my mom would stay up until the wee hours of the morning while I worked on my horrific algebra homework.  She would make me hot cocoa, or hold my hand when I was on the verge of tears.  She loved me unconditionally. Love is definitely intrinsically good.  Of course Christ is the ultimate example of this unconditional love, without which I question whether any thing would be intrinsically good.

Can anything be intrinsically good since the fall has cast a negative shadow on everything?

Can we define certain things as intrinsically good, or does it depend on individual views

Banked!

One time I felt banked in my educational experience was in my American Government I took my senior year of High School.  This class was taught over IDL (inter distance learning) and the teacher had some interesting philosophies.  He was of the opinion that if you showed up to his class even if you slept through it you would retain enough information to pass the class.  In this class there was very little homework assigned.  The only means for a grade were tests and quizzes where all you needed to do was reproduce memorized facts.  We spent little to no time learning about concepts, or how to apply them to our lives.  Our text was also outdated, so the facts we were supposed to reproduce were no longer even accurate. 

I think I felt banked in this class because I wasn’t challenged to apply concepts to my life.  I was asked to reproduce facts, but I never made a connection between the facts and how they applied to my life.  Though I was able to recall information for tests and quizzes, I no longer retain that information.  However, if I had been challenged to apply concepts to my life and or forced to evaluate some of my previous views or thought processes, the class would have shaped me into a better developed person.  Therefore, I am of the opinion that education should be more than just a simple replication of facts.  It should be a process that challenges students’ ways of thinking, and forces them to think about how what they’re learning applies to their lives.

Working for tuition?

I researched Berea College it focused on learning, working, and serving.  The students each get a full ride, but ate required to work a minimum of 10 hours a week.  I have mixed feelings about these ideas.  I do think learning, working, and service can be very important aspects of college.  However, I do not think working a minimum of 10 hours a week is feasible for all students.  I work 8 hours each week and because of my job I have to get my hours in during the week.  I find myself getting overwhelmed sometimes, and I often stress out over assignments.  I think working upwards of 10 hours every week could affect your school work.  On the other hand, I love my work study job.  I am on grounds crew.  I get to work outside doing physical tasks.  I really enjoy the break from the academic setting, I find it refreshes me and clears my head.  I think working also teaches you many important skills including a good work ethic.

            I think that the work study program is better than the Berea College method because work study is more flexible.  You can work between 2 and 8 hours a week.  The problem with work study is since it is government founded not everyone qualifies.   The other issue is you are only able to make between 850 and 900 dollars.  Therefore, I think it really depends on the person.  If you are able to work 10 or more hours a week without your school work suffering then perhaps it would be a good college for you.  But if you would not be able to handle such a schedule, then perhaps you should try a school with a work study program where your schedule can be lighter.

Audience of One

I think as college students we feel pressured to perform for a variety of people.  We feel that we need to meet certain standards that our parents would approve of.  We need to perform academically to meet the standards of our professors.  We even feel driven to perform a certain way in the social atmosphere to gain the approval of our peers.  It seems we spend our whole life seeking approval.  We need to be affirmed and we often look to our “audience” for that affirmation.  Likewise when we feel we don’t meet the standards of our “audience”, it can be devastating.  In other words our life is like a rollercoaster the ups and downs brought on by the approval and disproval of others.

            Because we have become accustom to this pressure to perform for our worldly audience, I think it can be a hard transition to perform only for Jesus.  That being said, there is so much peace in only needing to perform for Christ.  When we look to Jesus for love and acceptance we will never be disappointed.  Making the shift from a worldly audience to our Heavenly one can be a challenge, because even though we know it is better for us to perform for Christ and not the world, we still find ourselves caring about the world’s opinion and wondering if we measure up.  I felt this chapter was calling us to fully commit to only performing for God.  Desiring to please Him and seeking affirmation from Him. 

            If we are striving to perform for an audience of one, what are some ways we can deal with the opinions of the world?

            How can an audience of one relieve some of the pressure of performing?

Service vs. Relationship

I definitely agree that service can get in the way of our relationship with God.  I believe this is because we get caught up in the act of doing something good.  We may recognize that something is important and it may be a really great thing, but if we do it in a way that distracts us from our relationship with Jesus, or we do it for the wrong reasons it ceases to be a good thing. 

An example of when that line is crossed could be a worship leader.  They may get so caught up in the act of leading worship and all the responsibilities that it entails that they don’t take the time to worship God.  Another example could be organizing an event.  It is so easy to get caught up in the details or results that we lose sight of why we started something in the first place (to please God).

I think sometimes we just want to check something off our check list and don’t evaluate the reason behind it, or where our heart is.  It seems we often justify putting our relationship with Jesus on hold by saying, “We’re serving the kingdom and ultimately that’s what God wants right?”  Wrong.  God desires a personal relationship with us; that’s why He sent His son to die on the cross.  So while I believe acts of service are a very important part of serving God, if we don’t have the right attitude and priorities it loses its value.  But more importantly, if it causes our relationship with God to struggle then there’s no point.  We need to strive to serve the Lord yes, but we need to keep our eyes on Him through it all.

What are some good ways to balance serving God and maintaining a good relationship with Him?

How do we recognize when our spiritual life becomes a check list?  And when we do, how do we get back on track?

The Importance of Stories

I have changed a lot since getting to JBU.  I mean, it’s a big deal leaving the security of your parent’s home to enter the vast unknown.  I am on my own for the first time.  I am responsible for laundry, food, homework, getting up, and working out my schedule.  If I tried to survive college without changing and adapting I would fail.  The truth is we can’t survive change by acting exactly the same as we did in our previous circumstance.  Life throws us changes; we have to change with it.  That’s really what life is, we face different circumstances and challenges and are forced to adapt.  If we recognize the necessity of change in our life we can prepare ourselves and things will be a lot easier. 

I believe we all need a story because we need to have purpose in our life.  Everyone is looking for some reason why they’re here and what their role in society is.  We can’t just sit back and watch our lives go by, because if we do, not only will we never find our purpose, we will also miss out on many opportunities.  As Christians we have found our purpose in Jesus Christ and serving His kingdom.  I feel like a big part of my story is figuring out how I am meant to serve Him.  It seems like I am starting this journey with an obstacle (not knowing what to do), but that’s the great thing about having Jesus in my life.  I don’t need to have it figured out, because He does.  I don’t need to feel overwhelmed by an obstacle, because He never will be.  As long as I keep Jesus the focus in my story it will be a success.

How do you portray the importance of having a story to someone who doesn’t believe in God?

Why do we fight the author of our story when He always knows what is best for us?