"You Say You Want a Revolution..."

Whatever happened to the days when Universities were the hotbeds of political and social change? I'm not going to rant about the institution, but it needs to be said- somewhere along the road, we went astray.

Don't misunderstand- Houghton does regularly hold forums on the subject of social justice- just take Global Conflict Week for example, or the recent ROTC discussion on the subject of "Just War". However, that's all there is- talk. As we have seen, there is plenty of debate and discussion, but we have yet to witness any action. Aside from a casual mentioning in the opening Chapel prayer, Houghton sticks its hands in its pockets and hums the Beatles' mantra of "Don't you know, its going to be all right, all right, all right...".

It isn't.

Prayer is all good and well, but it isn't the answer. Seeing a mugging and simply praying for the man getting mugged makes a travesty of all that prayer is meant to be. Reminds me of a famous story.
The boat of man out at sea suddenly sinks, leaving the man treading water hundreds of miles off the coast. He prays for deliverance and when he sees a small motorboat pull up beside him. The pilot looks over the edge and tells him to climb aboard, upon which the man shakes his head and responds "I've prayed- God'll save me". Next comes a yacht, and the scenario repeats itself, the man in the water adamantly stating that God will save him. It happens once more, this time with an ocean liner, however the man still refuses to climb aboard. At last he drowns and at the gates of heaven he meets God and demands "God, I prayed three times- why didn't you save me?" God sadly shakes his head and replies "You idiot, I sent you three boats!".

Essentially, what this story's stating is that God isn't a cosmic babysitter. We can't expect that we can sit back and let God take care of it. Taking a quote of Galileo out of context, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." God has given us the ability to change the world- to spread equality and peace and justice. So again the question is raised, what's with Houghton? Why is a college that by all rights should be spearheading activism so inactive?

I myself have searched for the answers, and I've yet to be satisfied with one of them. Is it because there aren't as many disasters and injustices now as there once were? If anything the world has become worse. Is it because the Houghtians simply aren't exposed to the hell that the rest of the world has to live in? We're isolated but we're not blind- Houghton is exposed the suffering that millions have to go through. Again, I am at a loss to explain, left only with the resounding "Why?".

So even if I am unable to find a cause, perhaps I'll be able to find a cure. I have to be the change that I want to see in Houghton. From now on, I intend to dedicate a portion of my week to open protest and activism.

Join the Revolution.

The War against Boredom

Houghton's a great college.
We have decently warm dorms, good-looking buildings, superb professors, and great meals.

Despite all of this, Houghton is a stullifyingly dull place. Effectively isolated from society by miles of barren, snowy wasteland, boredom is more prevalent than even the common cold, and far more dangerous. Some Houghtians attempt to combat boredom by engaging in pointless relationships, screwing around on Facebook, or attempting to throw cards into upside-down hats. Still others will listlessly haunt the library's scant video section in a vain attempt to find a movie that was made after the late sixties. In more serious cases, students, desperate for any release possible, will attempt to blog or create replicas of famous paintings, using only toothpicks, shredded newspaper, and their own tears.

Solutions have been tried, by both students and by the College administration, with no sucess. Everywhere are the remains of experiments, still living on in agony. SPOT, Cloak and Dagger, the Shakespear plays, Babbette's Feast, the endless line of lectures and forums- the list goes on and on. Somehow, enough desperate students show up to these to keep them alive (despite the fact that the only humane thing to do would be to put these sorry excuses for asumesment and diversion out of their misery). There's not a whole lot one can do, really. Sure, there's a small movie theater several towns over, but unless you have a car (and most of us don't) then you can't actually go (and even if you did, the chances that they'd be playing something other than the 1980s travesty War Games II are virtually nihl).

"So what?", you might ask. "Sure its not exactly an exciting place, but we came here to study- not to party". That's absolutely correct, we did come here for the excellent academics. But at some point, you must ask yourself, "What have I become? I'm sitting here writing a blog! A FREAKING BLOG!". If youstep back and look at ourselves, you see how pathetic we're becomming. Yousit in our rooms staring blankly at a computer screen- do you really care what your freind just changed his status to? We sit in Java listening to our boy/girlfreind drone on about something insignificant- do you even give a flying puke about this idiot? We sit listening to our Ipods for hours- isn't this the fifth time that song played?

So what's the answer?
I honestly don't know. Perhaps one day someone will find the solution. Until then, I say that we must keep fighting boredom (lest it overwhelm us and we wake up one day to find that we're teaching Western Civ at Houghton Academy) however, let us also keep our dignity. What's the point of being entertained if we lose all our pride and honor (which in all honesty is the only thing that lets me get out of bed in the mornings). Unlike Bush's America and its "War on Terror", let us not sacrifice our self-respect for temporary personal gain. So I say this to you: As you sit alone at your cafeteria table, attempting to chuck a crumpled-up tissue into your plastic cup- do it proudly! Sit straight and throw it like the fate of your soul is hanging in the balance...

Because it is....

The Sound And Our Fury

You know what it's like.

After slaving away at some paper deep into the night, you finally stumble into bed. You toss and turn and draw your blankets around you in an attempt to fight off the feeling that you've forgotten something important. Finally, just as the sweet release of sleep is about to come to you, it happens. The sirens go off. An agonized, inhuman wail that rips the night apart. Nearly deafened, you leap out of bed, nearly tripping over your shoes and cracking your skull open on the edge of your desk.

Air raid? Flash flood warning? The Second Coming? No.

Lambein.

Yes, someone in Lambein has somehow managed to set off a smoke-detector at three in the morning.

Granted, there are other possible reasons for the alarms going off- someone at the nearby rest home may have been injured, or someone might have gotten into an accident. However, since the beginning of this semester, the sirens have gone off at least once a day without fail- even if all the old folks were having at each other with chainsaws and the parking lot below Roth was turned into a demolition derby the sirens wouldn't be going off with such frequency.

It is also granted that the smoke-detectors in Lambein are located directly over the stoves, however a siren going off every day, often three or four times a day, is simply inexcusable no matter where the dectectors are. Seriously, they either take some basic cooking lessons or stop using the stoves. If theycan't cook some basic food without burning it, maybe it would be best if they didn't cook it at all (for the love of heaven, we've got a dining hall that serves three meals a day, and countless places around campus where you can buy food), let alone at three in the morning.

Do we care?

Recently I was hanging out in the campus center and, being the nasty little eavesdropper I am, overheard an interesting conversation which I will relate for you here:
“What’s Praxis week?”
“I dunno. I’m pretty sure it’s another one of those, ‘let’s pretend we care about an issue for a week’ things.”
Is that what Praxis week is, just a chance for us to make ourselves look good? A time when we “pretend” that we care? Well, that depends. There’s a difference between what it is, and what it’s supposed to be. I believe Praxis week will be what we make it. What it is intended to be is a week when we focus on the importance of hospitality. But it is what we make it. Quite often we are so stuck in our feeling of everything being all right that we don’t let ourselves be challenged. Since we believe everything is right with us we think that these are just times to pretend we care, because we don’t need to, so we think, but we should pretend we care so that we look good. But honestly everyone, as James 2:20 says, faith without works is dead. So let’s care, and really care. Because we have these times to focus on issues for a reason, and as followers of Christ it is our duty to act on this, if we really love God we should care about what he does.

I personally didn’t attend many of the Praxis week lectures, only a couple. But I did listen, and try to pay attention and take it to heart. When thinking back on listening to Marva Dawn’s wonderful speaking about caring for those who are, “differently abled” another big Houghton issue pops into my mind, the issue of a coed, or so called, “Shared lounge”, Lambein. The problem is that we need a men’s dorm that is accessible to those who are differently abled, and both Rothenbuhler and Shenawana have hills that, especially in winter, make them rather treacherous. Now, I’ll be completely honest with you, I am dead set against Lambein being half a guy’s dorm. I believe it will be bad in many different ways, but that’s a whole different post in itself. Just keep in mind that I am very much against a coed Lambein, but despite that Marva Dawn really made me think. Mrs. Dawn, in her wonderfully eloquent way, spoke about how we treat the differently abled, and pointed out the importance of caring for them. Ever since I first heard about the idea of Lambein becoming coed I have been almost militant in my opposition of it. “That’s crazy!” I say, “You’ll ruin Lambein!” I say. People would try to bring up the argument of the differently abled guys needing a place to live, and I would just dismiss it. I love Lambein, and I didn’t really care too much about my differently abled brothers. But listening to Marva Dawn I realized I need to care about them. I might not like the idea of Houghton having to change to accommodate them, but Houghton needs to be for everyone. If God doesn’t love them any less than anyone else, why should I be able to? I just felt convicted about this. I still am opposed to a coed dorm, but I now care about this. We need to be willing to change and care for our differently abled brothers, because they are just as much loved by God, and just as much his children as us.

Well, these were just some of my thoughts from Praxis week. Please comment and tell me what you thought. This blog is meant to cause dialogue about issues and life at Houghton, so please, share your thoughts and ideas.

Chris

Praxis Week

Well, last week was Praxis week, and we here at the Houghton Independent Writer’s Community have decided to all write about it. I’m hoping we’ll cover several different perspectives and angles, and maybe even raise some controversial issues!

Thanks for reading,
Chris

A Place You Can Love

Alright I'm kicking things off with this Houghton writing project. If you were looking for something deeply spiritual I'm sorry I'm all thought out for today. Today I'm just going to tell you about places I love. Starting of with Java 101 and why it is pretty much fantastic, amazing, and twenty other synonyms of awesome that I don't know.

There is a huge list and so many reasons why I love Java and neither are expressed or felt every time I visit; it's a different experience each time. The one constant is that Java's is always comfortable. It's homey and peaceful to me. I doesn't matter if there are two couples sitting at a table and one person on the couch, or if the place is jammed packed because of some art expo. Salsa night, or live music. It isn't about the design or the feel of it (though I love the ambiance). There is no real identifiable characteristic why I love it, it just is a sort of sanctuary for me. A place where I can enjoy so many things like friends, a good cup of coffee, or a meaningful conversation. I can do homework, write, and concentrate well. I always seem to get my best thinking done in Java. I've had so many positive experiences in their that I just love it I guess. Even though coffee shops kill me in general, (I'm a complete sucker for them). Java isn't awesome merely because it is a place where they serve all drinks associated with coffee, play poppy, enjoyable music, and is relaxing. It is just a place I love, which makes it special. However it is not the only coffee shop I love.

Back home where I live there is a coffee shop, tucked in the corner of a building that houses a bunch of different businesses. It has rough red brick walls, and you can see part of the village through the windows, and there's lots of comfy well worn furniture. Live music is frequented there along with all sorts of delicious cakes and sweets. There are cool posters behind the counter and chalkboards colorfully depicting the desert or dinner specials. If you sit in one corner you can see down into the foyer or where the counter is and where coffee shop starts, and if you look outside the lift bridge sits there like a dull giant waiting to the command of to raise or lower. This is my favorite spot, I can see everything, it is the Fairport Village Coffee shop, or among my peers FVC. I've been to plenty of coffee shops because it always struck me in some way other coffee shops haven't. Again it is a place I love.

Though I love both Java 101, and FVC and I spend a lot of time there how much time you spend somewhere doesn't determine if you love a place or not. Heck I've stayed a week in Ghiroda and Ibalcia Romania each and I love both of those places. I didn't spend the majority of my time there during those weeks, but I love them anyway. If you love a place it is special, it does something more for you than just house you or provide some service. Starbucks provides me with some good coffee; Java 101 and FVC give me a way to enjoy my evening even though I do nothing more than drink coffee or talk with friends. There is some enhancement of my life in these places.

I love Java 101 be it quiet or loud. It serves excellent drinks, and is awesome for a good pondering sessions, but that is only one gem in Houghton. Houghton has many gems, but I love Houghton in it entirety. I could write pages about that, but we will leave it the fact that I love it and I belong here. Nothing is perfect, and every places has its downfalls, but at the end of every day Houghton is a beautiful place. If you love Houghton like me I don't think you need to realize why you love Houghton, but analyze away is you wish. The important thing is a place you love is more than a building, it the existence of it as a whole, made up of many parts. A place is the people there, the physical building(s), the ambiance or mood it gives, the community it creates, and much more. The part I love most about Houghton is the people. Loving people doesn't make me love Houghton, but because my friends are here, because they interact, experience, and contribute to what Houghton is they are part of Houghton. Whether you love one part of Houghton, or many parts you get something back, it enhances your life.

So I hope that it is more than an academic institution with a good Music or Biology program. That is a place you love, that enhances your life and make your time here worth it. And if you haven't fallen in love with Houghton or have fallen out of it I urge you to look as to why, and that looking makes a difference. Whether it be realizing Houghton isn't the right place, or that it is. My ultimate wish and hope is that if you are here you can love Houghton, and enjoy your life here to the fullest, and if you can't (because Houghton doesn't fit everyone), then you find a college you can love.