Friday, September 25, 2009

Learning is Incarnational


In my last semester of College I took a class called Integrative Seminar. The purpose of this class was to look back on the many topics that we have discussed in previous years and re-examine our thoughts towards them. It is Socrates who said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” How necessary it is to not simply buy into culture but to be courageous enough to examine who we are, why we think the way we do, and if our culture is functioning in a right and truthful manner. Facing ourselves is neither easy nor pretty, but in order to become whole we must!

If I could pick an overall thesis for a liberal arts education at Eston College it would be to, “learn how to incarnate Truth by weaving together one’s belief and behavior into a consistent whole, whereby one’s life engenders a humble openness, a worldview sufficient to answer the questions of life, and an ability to engage a broken world.”

So. Where does that leave me now?

I am finishing the degree that I have started by embarking on another adventure with LifeFORCE Teams UK. Meditating on this idea of an integrated life makes me wonder, how does this actually work? Our intentions can be so fragmented from our actions; we are broken humans. Spending this year in Walsall, England is not a year allotted to finally “figure out” how to become an integrated whole. It is a year of beginnings. The nature of fusing the most important things together with how this shapes one’s life is a long process of challenges to one’s current worldview and relationships with people who will help embody this integration.

Most of the things I am doing for my internship are new things. I do not know if I was designed to do them or not, but this is the time to find out. I will be working mostly with students ranging from the ages of 4-18. Assemblies, RE classes, enrichment courses promoting a holistic lifestyle, dance, art, networking, community development. Fun, vulnerability, humility, failure, learning, reading, interacting, sllooownesssss.

Here's to weaving. Cheers.

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