You don’t have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body.
—C.S. Lewis
(Source: jonforeman)
You cannot really have the world and hold onto it. It is all too temporary and the more you try to hold onto it, the more it actually holds you. By contrast, the more you hold onto the true and the good, the more you are free to really live.
—Ravi Zacharias
I’m still very sure about my choice, but am dreading the risk of feeling displaced!
Somebody That I Used to Know (Gotye) Acapella
A week ago I found out I got into grad school in Paris
and I’ve been reeling ever since
A year from now we’ll all be gone
All our friends will move away
And they’re going to better places
But our friends will be gone away
Nothing is as it has been
And I miss your face like hell
And I guess it’s just as well
But I miss your face like hell
Been talking ‘bout the way things change
And my family lives in a different state
If you don’t know what to make of this
Then we will not relate
So if you don’t know what to make of this
Then we will not relate
Rivers and roads,
Rivers and roads,
Rivers till I reach you
Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.
—St. Augustine
Feelings
Does anyone else feel intensely burdened by the state of our world? By the fact that slavery, war, famine, poverty are nothing but abstractions to me and many of you, when they are routine for most of the world? I understand that sounds cliche.
But is anyone else disgusting by the fact that we have an enormous amount of freedom & we choose to complain about reading for a class, when a substantial portion of the global population is illiterate & has not had the privilege of stepping foot in a school?
Or what about the fact that we choose to use our freedom and efforts to prioritize the empty pursuit of things that inevitably become obsolete- looks, technology, money, etc.- when a large portion of the world will never have the concept of “luxury” and will die without ever encountering the reality of Basic Human Rights.
Or about the fact that we have the freedom to do anything we want, but we spend our time soaking up mindless entertainment that glorifies scandal, drama, materialism, glamor, and sometimes straight up immorality. And that- almost subconsciously at this point- we choose to turn our attention to a media-saturated consumer culture characterized by excess which will actually never satisfy, and turn a blind eye to our fellow humans whose very existence consists of suffering.
Or even the fact that I choose to spend my liberty critiquing my country’s system- even rightfully so- when it was fundamentally built with me in mind. We spend our time biting the hand that feeds us & pointing the finger (albeit legitimately), and wait to be spoon-fed more rights, more satisfaction, so much so that one could very well classify the nature of our government-people dynamic as one driven by consumerism. On the whole, we wait to be served by our country, when the fact that the option & space & right to challenge the system even exists is more than enough to be thankful for, and goes far beyond what many nations currently have in place. Am I the only one who forgot?
I am not belittling the plight of any American, or the pressing issues facing our country. I am not neglecting the reality of inequality and injustice in the United States. Because it is there, and it is real. Nor am I suggesting that we stop pushing America forward to better things. But simply put, there are more important things in the world than what you think you’re entitled to.
I forgot that the biggest injustice of all is that I was born into a free world & someone else was born a slave, that I can choose how I spend my freedom, and that so often I make the petty choice. And that millions like me undoubtedly do the same. I believe we can be an effective generation domestically and globally, but we need to remember: We have, so that we can do.
For those who believe— It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free, Galatians 5:1
