Four Thoughts

Wow, it's been one month since my last entry. Things got a bit busy and the thoughts I have today were written over the past few weeks.

1. Lunch meetings. We tend to have free lunch meetings where they bring in speakers, but for one of these meetings, the group leaders got only two big plates of Jimmy John's sandwiches (probably around 60 half-sandwiches) but there were definitely more than 60 people there for the meeting. So while the usual omnivore would consume two half-sandwiches each, people were considerate and took only one half-sandwich.

So this made me question: Which is better? To feed everyone (thus thinning out the food supply) and have everyone still hungry by the end of the talk or to have first-come, first-serve, where half of the people who showed up would take two, not one, half-sandwich and thus NOT be hungry at the end while the other half would be still hungry at the end?

2. We just got done with our Neuroanatomy unit, and the Eye was one of the most frustrating and fascinating subjects to me (frustrating in the beginning, more fascinating when I started getting it). Well, during this unit, I went to a controversial talk by a local Christian seminary professor. He was controversial because he, in his religious convictions, had talked before on how the Judeo-Christian God is the only true god and some other not-so-politically-correct topics and my friend at the university claimed he clearly violated some of the principals of diversity that the university supposedly valued. (I think that's pretty ironic about "liberal" institutions that embrace post-modern thought - if an institution is so "open-minded," they should allow someone who has firm convictions about his faith and perspective on life to express his views, rather than condemning him for what it thinks is a narrow-minded interpretation of the world. An absolute claim of one True God is something that this controversial speaker should have been allowed to express without so much controversy).

Well, going back to the Eye, I realized that everyone has a lens through which they see the world - people call this "worldview" and it's not a novel idea that I made up. But one thing I realized is that everyone thinks they have the right lens through which they view the world, but ultimately our visions are clouded, be it presbyopic (lens clouded), myopic (near sighted), hyperopic (far sighted), or blind. Only God has true 20/20 vision in this world and we are all in need of his grace to see as he does in the midst of our imperfect vision.

3. Ever since my 21st birthday, I've forgotten what age I am - I just don't keep track of it anymore because it's not that important to me. I've also been in denial that I'm getting older, instead saying things like "wow, the freshmen are getting younger and younger every year." Well, reality's starting to hit and I'm the one that's growing older. I just hope I am growing in wisdom and experience through this unique time of the 20's when anything goes.

4. I have learned more about myself in the past 2 years than I have ever before, leading me to believe that in some ways I am growing and maturing (admittedly, there's still much work to be done). This self-realization and greater awareness of who I am as a person (preferences, predilections, strenghts, weaknesses, etc.) is I believe a common grace that is shown to us by God. You don't have to be a Christian to realize that you are growing as a person and that you are learning more about yourself every day. However, what makes the Christian different from the non-Christian (i.e. special grace) is the slow but sure transformation and renewal in spirit (spiritual maturity) and in truth (the Word) that is supposed to happen with the mysterious process of sanctification. For both the common grace and special grace aspects of growing up I am grateful.