Response to Friday's Class

I saved this blog post for today (Sunday) mostly because I was gone all weekend, but also so I would have more time to reflect on what happened in class.  Honestly, I can't remember much except how excited I am about the Scholar's service trip.  I've never been on a trip solely based on service.  I have, however, had my fair share of mission trip experiences.  Mission trips are basically service trips plus God.

For the past three summers, the most meaningful experiences have been the mission trips I've been on.  I didn't go with the church I am a member of, because, well, it's a long story.  Ask me in person if you have a super strong desire to know.  Anyways, the moral of the story is that I was a Lutheran amongst a sea of Presbyterians, which also has no real effect on anyone's life.  (Just try to fit "those who trespass against us" into "our debtors" and you'll see my main problem).

The blending of service and God created the strongest bond I've ever had with a group of people.  Furthermore, it is the strangest bond I have with anyone.  There's my best friend, the hipster, the druggie, the horseback rider, the popular girl, the jock, the bossy twins, and the girl who got pregnant at 14; just to name a few.  Those are the best people I have ever met in my whole life, and I know I could call them up right now and they would sit and talk to me, about anything.  They know more about me than anyone else in the world, both faith-related and not.  We know we are all different, but through service we know we can all make a difference.

The idea that the Scholars do a service trip makes me both nervous and excited.  To quote the Linn-Mar Marching Lions saxophone section:  "no expectations."    I don't mean that quite in the same way though.  The altos needed an excuse to not march well, whereas I need an excuse not to let my imagination run wild.  I know the Scholars won't sit around in a circle on a church floor at three in the morning eating Ritz crackers and talking about how God works through sexual assault.  But I am fairly confident that we can grow closer through service to others.

And that's how I felt about class on Friday.  Though we didn't really talk about it.  Aight.