DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY By Sarah Grimes 10

God gave me an amazing gift when He allowed me to participate in and witness the message of the recent Men’s/Women’s Ministry Symposium Event, Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Reconciling our Dysfunctional Family. The experience made me sit up and take notice of how I treat my brothers in Christ and forced me to re-evaluate how I relate to people. More than that, though, it has prompted me to think about the ways in which our relationships are dysfunctional, and how they might be repaired. How often do we actually examine our motives in our friendships or dating relationships? Do we have a genuine interest in the other person’s well-being, or are we involved with him or her because we can get something in return or boost our own self-esteem?

It is apparent that there are many divisions between humans that exist because of the sin that has stained this world for so long. It was never God’s intention that we should be divided by misunderstandings of one another, that there should be thick walls of dishonesty, pride, and mistrust keeping us apart. God designed us to be in harmony with Creation, with the plant and animal kingdoms as well as in relationship with other humans: male, female, rich, poor, young, old, Eastern, Western, and everything in between.

It breaks my heart that we’ve lost part of what we were made to be—a united people attuned to one another’s hopes and needs and committed to worshipping the Lord together all the days of our lives—as a result of those divisions. Yet lately I’ve been stirred by this idea: maybe what’s lost can be found again. We may never experience the fullest reconciliation of our relationships until we reach Heaven, but there is hope for us now. Christ and his example are the targets to aim for, our sign post, the perfect model of how we ought to be treating our fellow believers.

During His ministry on earth, Jesus laid aside prejudices by walking with those labeled “losers” by society. He broke the traditional mold by being in relationship with the marginalized, the weak and suffering, and the despised, using their meekness for His glory. Every so often in a stranger’s kind word or a friend’s selfless sacrifice I’ll catch a glimpse into the window of eternity and what this amazing unity between believers will someday look like.

What does reconciling our dysfunctional human family look like on a daily basis? We must learn to see each other the way God does, adopting a view of others as children of God so precious and so loved that Christ would die for them. Looking past outward appearance and social status—things that fade—we will find souls just like us crying out for love and friendship. While reconciliation isn’t simple, the first, and most important step, is seeing God and others as more important than ourselves, and then treating others with the respect that every member of God’s family equally deserves.

FRESHMAN FOUNDS NGO by Maggie Terp 08

While recently attending the 2008 Lobby Days for Northern Uganda in Washington, DC with Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda, freshman political studies major Wesley Carter met Northeastern students Kay Beach and Amy Scheffler and Emerson College student Steph Costa. Little did the four students know that their relationship as fellow group members at the conference would evolve into co-founders of the NGO One Beat. However, when Carter returned to Gordon from the conference he was soon in contact with Beach, who was organizing a benefit concert at Northeastern. The four students began planning the concert together, but realizing their own potential, the group abandoned the plans for the concert in exchange for a different goal: the creation of the social justice group One Beat.

One Beat’s goal is to create a support system for social justice groups in the Boston area. Carter expressed that “Even if someone is working with Invisible Children, a huge organization, they can still feel very alone if they, or only a very small group in their community or school, is trying to make an impact. We realize that this can be very discouraging and disheartening.” Thus Carter and his fellow students created One Beat to help groups and individuals find the support they need in the community and “not only encourage them to keep fighting, but provide them with greater resources to make the change they wish to see in the world.” One Beat is about making connections.

Currently the group is involved predominantly in the peace process and reconstruction in Northern Uganda, but their long-term goals are nothing short of ambitious. While they have made contact with several social justice groups in the Boston area, the group hopes to help people be connected not only to national and international efforts, but within their own cities so they are supported within a smaller community. The group is working to become a 501c3 nonprofit and hopes that in the future One Beat will not just be One Beat Boston, but a One Beat Houston, One Beat New York City, etc.

Are you interested in being involved? One Beat is currently hoping to assist the homeless ministry to connect with the Haley House in Boston and Advocates for a Sustainable Future to learn how to compost leftovers from Lane by connecting them with a similar, successful program at Northeastern. Carter invites anyone who is interested in becoming involved with One Beat to get in touch with him. He can be reached at wesley.carter@gordon.edu

I AM A SOUTHERNER by Paul Miller 08

I am a Southerner.
I am from the Deep South. If you order tea at a restaurant and have to request it unsweetened, you are in the Deep South. If your waitress speaks to you with more concern and compassion than your Aunt Mildred, you’re there. The Deep South is not found in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, most of Florida, the city of Charlotte, North Carolina or the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Some then ask, “Where is it?” My instinct is to say that you can smell it in the air, see it in the people, feel it when you are there, but I know that is not all helpful. All I can say is that within me, there is a resonance with a place, a concept, a collective identity that few who exist outside of it know well.

Regardless of what Forrest Gump showed you, I am like you. I did grow up wearing shoes. I have never considered marrying a cousin, though I do have a couple pretty ones. I love my momma but not any more than any momma should be loved. I and the stock I am from are not simple-minded. We may not be able to conjugate Portuguese irregular verbs or tell you much about quantum mechanics, but that does not mean we are stupid or rely on “folksy” ideas. I use colorful phrases not to be cute or because “that’s what my momma always said,” but because if you are going to talk, you might as well make what you say memorable. Southern accents and vocabulary may be a bit strange to your ears, but maybe it’s your hearing that is the problem and not our way of speaking.

I do not drive a truck. I only watch the Superbowl for the commercials. My idea of a good time has little to do with a recent rain, mud tires, and an open field. I do not think that if everyone owned a gun, the world would be a better place; nor is someone’s right to do whatever they want with their land their birthright. I don’t go hunting. I don’t think that a woman’s place is in the kitchen because I quite enjoy being there. Yet, who I am is not opposed to my identity as a son of the South. Our best writers are those who are most like us and also most different. Our social activists often represent the best of who we are and our most colorful politicians are those we sometimes would most like to forget. They are united by a place and in an idea that is greater than any notion of those outside of it. I am a Southerner that recognizes that being Southern is more than just fulfilling someone’s stereotype.

Gump was right in one thing, we love food, ’specially food with a story. From roadside stands and city squares to backyard gardens and unattended tables in someone’s front yard, it’s not just about the food but what comes with it. “I only tend my garden in the moonlight,” “…won a local pie bake-off with those peaches,” “…got those tomato plants from my grandpa’s garden when he passed on.” With every purchase comes a story. Most gatherings in the Deep South are simply an excuse to talk and eat. Funerals and weddings are always so. Yes, Southerners love their food and just about anybody they run into who is willing to sit a spell and listen. It seems I get it “honest,” or for those unfamiliar with the local tongue, I am the same way.

Every Southern family and every Southern town has that person that on our best day, we would wish not to claim; however, they are just as part of us as we are part of them. I rest in that fact. Beyond the food I eat at dinner, the sports I don’t watch on TV, and the deer I will never kill, I am Southern through and through. ◊

ALL THINGS By Michael Ingram 08

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

- Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

I have learned a great deal by meditating on the context surrounding this favorite (mis)quote from one of Paul’s prison letters. In verse 11 we read, “For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” The word content sometimes makes me think of sitting in a waiting room with my hands folded in my lap, but let’s substitute the word satisfied for content. “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be satisfied.” Think of reclining by the fire with a good book after a second helping of your favorite meal, or watching a sunset on the beach with your significant other, or cradling a newborn baby. Can you conjure up that feeling of utter satisfaction, of undisturbed rest and delight? That’s what Paul is talking about. He says, “Reclining by the fire or reclining in the stocks, I am satisfied. Resting under a sunset or wandering the earth like a nomad, I am satisfied. Experiencing the wonder of a newborn infant or fleeing by night in a basket, I am satisfied.”

Imagine feeling the exact same satisfaction in every circumstance of life. Just think about that for a minute. Paul experienced far greater things than most of us. He says so himself in verse 12: “I know how to abound.” In other words, “I know what it’s like to ascend into the third heaven and hear the audible voice of the Lord and see the unapproachable light. Believe me—I know how to abound.” And he also experienced far worse things than most of us. He reminds his readers, “I know how to be abased as well.” When you see that word abased, think facedown in the dirt with people trampling you underfoot. He is saying, “I’ve been initiated into the mud-faced life, and I’m learning it by heart.” This man knows suffering inside and out, yet he says, “I am satisfied in prison just like I’m satisfied in the third heaven.” What a state of being!

Then we read, “Everywhere,” at home or in a basket, lying on a bed or lying under a pile of bloody stones, “everywhere and in all things”—catch that phrase—“in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” And now the final puzzle piece: “I can do all things”—catch that—“all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Do you see it now? This verse has little to do with money or job or stuff or half court shots; it has everything to do with suffering. Paul is saying, “Through Christ who strengthens me, who continuously infuses me with His own power as if through an IV unit, I am enabled to
suffer all things as He did, to live the mud-faced life and be homeless and despised much of the time with the same inner satisfaction that I experience in my most ecstatic moments.” Doesn’t that make beautiful sense? Honestly, unbelievers can abound and be satisfied for a time without the strength of Christ. All it takes is a job promotion, a Christmas bonus, a healthy baby, a healthy tax return, a cloudless sky. But it takes a truly other-worldly might to carry your satisfaction with you—just like Paul—into seasons of shadow and aloneness and pain. That is something the world simply cannot do without the strength of Christ.

You probably have this Scripture verse filed away in your brain already, but don’t pull it up anymore when you feel like asking God for a million bucks or a miraculous home run. Instead, cling to these words—and to the weather-proof satisfaction of Christ—when you find yourself in the school of abasement. ◊

PRODIGAL SON By Dave Kelly 08

I'm sure you've heard the story about the Prodigal Son. Whether you grew up going to church or not, you've heard the tale of the wayward youth who took his inheritance, left home, and began leading a life of self-gratifying behavior, went broke, returned home, and was welcomed with open arms by his father.

Now, if you've read the story carefully, you'll recognize a third character in the story: the older son. This son stuck by the father through thick and thin. He worked the farm with everyone else just as he was supposed to, and never turned his back on good ol' Dad.

Without tooting my own horn too much, I'll admit that I've been a Christian my whole life, and a pretty good kid at that. But that's not to say I haven't sinned. I've told a few lies. Okay. I've told a lot of them. I've lost my temper. I've neglected to treat other people with the dignity and respect that are befitting the image of God. But when you compare that to being a Christian my whole life, it never seemed like anything. I empathized with that older brother! It wasn't fair! He was obedient his whole life, and he got no extra reward for it. For years, this never made any sense, and I struggled with the story because of it. Then I had a professor explain this to me:

The idea of Grace made me uncomfortable.

I know. It sounds really stupid. But it's true. You see, we understand justice. We grow up being taught justice. But grace? Grace changes everything.

Grace, to our human understanding, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. We like knowing that we are going to be forgiven for all the mistakes we've made and will make. It's the fact that God forgives everyone else too that makes us uncomfortable.

They hurt us. They need to be punished for it, and God is just going to forgive them for it?

It wasn't until college that I realized an important truth: even though I thought I was

the older son, I wasn’t. Nobody's the older son. We're all the Prodigal Son, and to consider ourselves any different is utter foolishness and arrogance on our part. To assume that our depravity does not run as deep because we sit in a pew on Sunday or sing a few praise and worship songs at a youth rally on Friday night is wrong. Thinking this way underestimates the twistedness and corruption of sin, and underestimating sin sells short the redemptive nature and miracle that is the Death and Resurrection of Christ. Have you ever thought about how evil sin is? Sin is so evil and so powerful, it took death on a cross by God himself in order to purify us and make us holy so that we could spend eternity with him.

The story isn’t even about us—it’s not about the sons at all. The story is about the father. What the younger son did is of little consequence. The fact is he left. He walked away. He high-tailed it out of there. The only reason the story tells anything of what he did on his self-exile is to highlight the grace of the father. The story isn't about the shame of the son; it's about how the shame of the son cannot stand up to the awesome power of the love of the Father. ◊

REC-IM ADDS NEW LEAGUE by Josh Vanada 08

As you may have noticed as you have passed by Ferrin, there is a new Ultimate Frisbee league on campus. Games take place from 5-7 p.m. on the Ferrin Field. Individuals from every hall affiliation are taking part in the first-year league.

The league was formed in response to last year’s REC-IM survey. As the REC-IM staff reviewed the results of the survey, it was clear that students were in agreement that Ultimate Frisbee was a necessary sport for REC-IM to host. After consultation with the incoming staff, REC-IM felt that it would in fact enhance the program here on campus. Though REC-IM usually first incorporates a new event as a tournament, it was unanimously decided that due to the demand from students, it would be best if it were immediately turned into a league. There was no surprise to the REC-IM staff, then, when the league attracted 15 teams.

The league opened on April 7, and teams will continue regular season play until Thursday, May 1. The following week, all of those teams qualifying for playoffs will make their run at the championship, an event tentatively scheduled for May 8.

Indoor Soccer along with Ultimate Frisbee are the two main events currently being hosted by REC-IM. For all of the latest information on REC-IM, stay tuned to the REC-IM website, http://www.gordon.edu/intramurals. ◊

ON RETREATS, LEADERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP RETREATS By Joe Guidi 09

Recently, the 21^st annual Gordon College LEAD conference was held at Brookwoods Conference Center in Alton, NH. Those not involved in the leadership of a club, organization or ministry on campus may not have a clear picture of what LEAD is, or why Gordon College requests the presence of next year’s campus leaders at the conference.

LEAD is, at heart, a time set aside for fellowship, sharing vision, and developing skills and philosophies that will be important to our community as a whole next year. This year, as GCSA Executive President, I was the one expected to lay out the vision for campus leaders for next year, with the help of the Executive Cabinet.

The opportunity to speak with campus leaders, both to share our vision with them and to get their feedback, was an invaluable opportunity, helping to set the stage for a year we hope will be marked by cooperation and unity, both among students, and between students and the administration.

In our campaign, James Williams and I focused on stewardship of student funds. Our vision is about more than just careful administration of the budget. It is about coming alongside organizations to help them be successful, being accessible to the campus, integrating organizations to work toward shared goals, and helping students take ownership of their Gordon experience. From my perspective, LEAD has been a first and crucial step to seeing this vision realized.

Finding a time and space where the college leadership can join together for the sake of community development and unification is a difficult, but necessary task, and we are thankful to all those who have poured their energy into LEAD over the past year in order that it would be a fruitful experience.

SIMPLE ACTION by Jeff Boucher

It was a simple action.
I picked up the apple hiding behind
semi-see-through bags everyone can get
at the grocery. My other hand pulled out
a metallic table knife for spreading
peanut butter; this time it is crunchy
(though I prefer it smooth). The lid spins with
ease and the knife stabs the viscous substance.
Brown and lumpy, it spreads on the surface
of the apple. I laid it on too thick,
as evidenced by the remnants upon
my lips. After the loud crunch of my teeth
searing through the skin of a ripe Fuji,
I always loved them. Something in the name
suggested Asia and White-Man’s obsession
with what he thought exotic. My own
obsession mirrored in colonials
out for exploitation. A desire
to rend you of all resources and in
that way make you mine, but in the end I
am the one left desolate and hungry,
a fact incurable from this apple.
Chewed to the core, I find no resting place
from the nourishing, bitten guilt.

WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY by Suzanne Loughry

Give me cruel stipulations,

                 but listen to my defense!

my guilt – their suspicion – until

                 the grins of wicked men pinned

your sin

                 on me.

My will meant nothing – your tricks

                 tore my purity from my form

                 as lions rip skin off their prey.

They interrupted, caught me in shame,

                 lit a fire at midnight

                 to sit in a circle,

 mock my shivering,

 and judge:  kill her.

I want to live!  But you did not care.

 The test they devised would condemn

 my sinful life

 and an innocent – 

your trick kiss is catching a man

 kinder than you,

 but I am afraid:

Will he save himself or me?

SHIVER by Suzanne Loughry

I watch the ice creeping

                 across my path

and laugh at the wind’s 

                 taunting breath.

I am armored against

                 the cold,

cautious and ready

                 for the harshest blast.

Odd glances darting past me

                 as I walk

slip through my unconscious

                 as through a sieve.

I grin at the hidden sun,

                 warm in my cocoon,

unbothered by strangers

 or grey skies.

Then I am caught by two eyes  

 watching me tenderly,

and all my layered preparations

 peel away,

and I 

 shiver.

Top 10 Things Not to Say on a Blind Date by Nate Harrison 09

10. Do you have any cash on you?

9. My parents should be here in 10 minutes.

8. I must be at the wrong Starbucks.

7. I have to go. I have another date in 20 minutes

6. I'm excited about trying more blind dates.

5. U-G-L-Y.

4. We're going to have the cutest kids on the block!

3. I'm sorry, in Europe we kiss to say hello.

2. I love silver and my ring size is 4.5.

1. Am I on Punk'd?

OVERHEARD AT GORDON

Overheard at Gordon is a new humor column formed by YOUR submissions. Overhear something funny in Lane? On the sidewalk? Send them in! voxpop@gordon (please, no names of persons overheard.)

Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." Genesis 21:6

The following quotes have had eaves shamelessly dropped on them.

Girl's got issues
Girl 1: Shouts across lane: I love you!
Girls 2: Shouts back: I love you to!
Girl 1: does that cause psychological issues?

Wetting the bed on the sunny side

Guy 1: he spilled coffee on me

Girl 1: what?

Guy 1: while I was sleeping, he spilled coffee on me. And it kind of woke me up, and I asked him what was going on but he said to go back to sleep so I did and it soaked into my sheets. I’m too lazy to wash them.

Can I get a bulk discount if I buy all 30?

(Back of Lane)

Guy 1: I don’t understand why they can’t sell chapel credit.

Guy 2: $30 and I am done.

Guy 1: I would sell it for more than that. Like “$300 for a chapel credit.”

Guy 2: Did you get extra chapel credit last semester?

Guy 1: No I missed it by 5.

Go Get Your Lead On.

(Walking down the hill)

Guy 1: Where are you going?

Guy 2: Lead conference.

Guy 1: Ohhhhh! So you gonna go LEAD some people huh? Well have fun “LEADING.” Go get your LEAD on. LEAD those people.

Guy 2: Well…uh, yeah… thanks… I will.