WORDS MATTER By Jan Carlberg

Words matter: those written or whispered as well as those heard, read or thought.

When my Mama was a young girl, her Papa reached into the family’s emergency savings jar to draw out coins to purchase streetcar tokens. Only change made it into that small container. The emergency? My grandfather needed the fare so his daughter could go with him to hear one of the famous orators holding revival meetings in Chicago. This time it was Gypsy Smith.

As they raced to catch the streetcar, Papa preached to his audience of one.

“Margaret, you must learn to pay attention to words. There are artists who make works of art with oil and brush, but there are others who paint pictures with words. Learn to use words well.”

She did. Mama spoke to thousands and wrote 15 books after the age of sixty-five, when most folks are retiring. To her the greatest sin was sitting still. The Margaret Jensen Theatre is named in her honor. So I think of her when I sit, uncomfortably, on black boxes. Hard reminders that, by nature, I’m a wiggler.

But this is not about Mama or me. It’s about you and what you do with the words you’ll hear or use in these last days of the school year and after you’ve left Gordon to follow God’s call on your life in fresh directions. Consider these simple phrases: “ I love you,” “ please forgive me,” “thank you so much,” “I forgive you,” or “I’m listening.” Do you need to hear or speak any of these words?

When you pack up to head away from campus, think about a place for words. Hosea wrote to the children of Israel, “Take words with you, and return to the Lord. Say to Him, ‘Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.’” (Hosea 14:2)

Recently we were privileged to experience the power and joy of community in the AJ Gordon chapel through WE ARE GORDON. Hopefully, being part of Gordon means that we are people of our word. We keep our commitments. We guard our speech. We use words to build not to tear down. We learn to listen, not just speak.

My grandmother completed just eight years of formal education in Norway before coming to this country to work as a maid in New York City. She was just fifteen years old. The Jewish women she worked for taught her to speak English and showed her how to use the New York Public Library. My grandmother loved to read and memorize poetry. She became wise and a life-long learner.

One day, when I was a young girl, she took me aside to teach me the power of words through a poem she’d memorized.

“Boys flying kites haul in their white winged birds
You can’t do that when you’re flying words.
Once spoken, though you wish them left unsaid,
God, Himself, can’t kill them, make them dead.”

Not the best poetry, but great wisdom. I cherish memories of sneaking peeks at my grandmother cradling her Bible...reciting, not reading page after page. It reminded me of the old prophet Jeremiah who wrote, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.” (Jeremiah 15:16)

In a short while the seniors will graduate and most of you will leave to go home or travel and work all over this country and the world. Remember the privilege and responsibility that you bear His Name and have within easy reach the Word of God. I challenge you to take words with you. Words that heal and reconcile. Words that challenge people to think. Words that infect the world you’re in with love and joy and peace. Words filled with hope. It won’t be easy but it will be easier when you remember to fill up on God’s Word.

Eugene Peterson writes in THE MESSAGE his paraphrase of Colossians 3:16 “Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”

Words matter. God’s and yours.

CALLING & COMMUNITY By Prashan De Visser

It’s been an absolute honor and privilege to serve as the student body president through GCSA this year. I stepped into the office with very little experience with GCSA, though I had been blessed with some awesome opportunities to lead and serve the community in other ways. From the beginning, Megan Thompson and I were deeply committed to serving the community to the best of our ability, and knew that this would only be possible through the strength and grace of God. A trademark of this year’s GCSA administration was an utter dependence on God and asking Him to use our humble effort to glorify His name and bless the community. From huge undertakings such as WE ARE GORDON to dorm visits to Homecoming—all were a success purely as a result of God’s goodness to us and of our willingness to surrender it all to Him. Committing our humble effort to serve the community was not just logical, but as we can boldly testify, was the wisest thing we did all year.

We came into this year with a desire to pursue our vision of continuity, calling and community. These were the pillars of our activities and administration. Our commitment to enhance community manifested itself in programs and initiatives that ranged from GCSA weekends to Homecoming weekend to SPEAK. Our commitment to renew the desire to pursue our calling was manifested through the celebration of WE ARE GORDON and opportunities for underclassmen to interact with upper classmen in the context of events like “Bromley hosts freshmen.” By God’s grace, we were able to stick to our initial vision and use that to channel our efforts to serve the campus.

One of the most treasured experiences for me personally has been the people that we have had the honor to work with. This community is blessed with outstanding individuals who have a deep love for the Lord, incomparably proactive minds and godly attitudes towards others, without exception. This speaks volumes about the caliber and richness of our God-given community. We have never been denied when asking for help, wisdom, or support.

This year would not have been possible with out the outstanding team we have been blessed with in GCSA. Our advisor Chris Carlson blessed us throughout the year with priceless advice and wisdom. The GCSA Executive Cabinet consistently delivered the highest level of professionalism and work ethic. The class officers pulled off some of the best-attended and successful events organized in the recent past. The representatives passionately did their jobs, serving on multiple committees and giving leadership to numerous initiatives on campus. To work with such an amazing group has been the most enriching experience of my time here at Gordon.

THREE SENIORS REFLECT ON FINIISHING

Sarah Sweitzer
Chemistry

My four years at Gordon have been spent studying the sciences and dabbling in English Language and Literature long enough to attain a minor. Chemistry has been my particular passion. Beginning to understand the mechanisms constantly at work around me on a deeper-than-surface level has been one of the great blessings of my time here.
Before you get the wrong impression, I do have a personality, one that is not completely quirky; I do not wear a pocket protector, nor do I (completely) embody other cliché images of the science-minded. In fact, if I were to take you back to the beginning of my four years, you would be talking to a girl who had little to no interest in science, a girl who just wanted to make it to medical school and chose the science she found least excruciating as the route.
However, with each successive year I have grown to love and appreciate the department and the subject. We chemistry majors are few and far between at Gordon; however, it is not quantity that matters but quality. The small numbers create the opportunity to connect with one another and receive individual attention which at other schools is all too often impossible. I have consistently found the professors in the Chemistry Department to be interested in who we are as people, and not only in how much of the book we can reproduce. I hope one day the program will expand, both in terms of numbers and resources. But, mostly, what I hope is that the department never loses the close connection it has with its students.

Trevor Peterson
Economics

I was fortunate enough to have been in the last microeconomics class Dr. John Mason taught before his retirement. His focus on the poor and the need to think carefully about how we address issues of poverty attracted me to the economics major. Thinking about the two years I have spent as an economics major, I realize this is what will have the longest impact on my life. Any college can teach the analytical aspects of economics—supply and demand charts are the same everywhere—but the Economics Department here treats the discipline as more than a series of mathematical models. This spirit is best shown in the close attention Dr. Mason gave to issues surrounding poverty. Economics majors are sometimes accused of being heartless souls, but the importance of alleviating poverty and caring for the poor was impressed upon us from day one.
While poverty has not played as large of a role in most of my other classes as it did in Dr. Mason’s, one thing has remained the same: the desire not just to make a careful analysis, but also to use that analysis to engage important issues. Dr. Smith, the department chair, calls this Prudence. There are many important issues that we are faced with today, and economics has provided me a framework to examine them and how best to address them.

Christen Byrd
Education & Math

There are few teachers in this life as effective as experience. The journey of an education major is really an escort into the world of responsibility and into the understanding of what it means to pour into the upcoming generation. From the early classes on education theory to the final experience of student teaching, we are presented with the first long-term decisions about who we want to be as adults. We all have ideals about which person we will never be like or about something a teacher said to us that we will never repeat. We all form an ideal of who we want to be in that ever-elusive future. To those desires, the Education Department of Gordon College has said (without so many words), “Here is your chance. Find out if your idealism for the future can meet your reality in the present.”
I am delighted to say that, as I await graduation, I have already spent time forming, very specifically, who I will be in this world. I set my goals and my ideals (in theory); and with hard work, fantastic guidance, and a lot of refining, my ideals have become (and are becoming) my reality. Whether through the successful (or comical) moments of student teaching or the tearful nights of self-reflection, I have been refined and prepared for this new season that is now just around the corner. Thank you, Gordon College, it has been it has been an unforgettable journey.

In the Midst of Storms By Jeren Lanoue 08

“Take courage! It is I.” Matthew 14:27 (TNIV)

As we face the end of the year, it becomes increasingly easy to be like the disciples in this passage and focus on the storms around us. We battle the academic, athletic, or monetary storms that challenge us every day. However, it is important that we take courage and truly realize that we have been called to this juncture in life and that while the studying may be grueling, the competition stiff, and the job search dejecting, Christ is producing the ultimate achievement in us, character.

The storm itself should not warrant our attention nor should it stop us from seeing our goal: the face of Christ. Oswald Chambers says that God’s desire is for us to “see Him walking across the sea with no shore, no success, no goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is alright because [we] see Him walking across the sea.” Florence Chadwick, a famous swimmer of the 1950’s, stopped only one mile short in her attempt to cross a 26-mile stretch from Catalina Island to the shore of California because the fog was so thick that she could not see her goal. It took waiting two months, a clearer sky, and a second attempt to accomplish her goal.

Christ doesn’t promise clear skies, but what he does say is that He will strengthen us in the midst of storms.

Doubt Much? By Meg Lynch 10

I have noticed a trend in myself, and with other people at Gordon. In fact, I would say it is a common theme with many college-age students who have “grown-up” in a Christian home. Tell me if this sounds familiar: a kid lives in a comfortably-Christian home, grows up listening to Bible-stories, and goes off to college. There, he realizes that he can actually choose whether or not to attend church, begins to doubt the faith he has blindly believed since 1^st grade, and takes a step back. I’m not saying he turns and runs but that he begins to use his collegiately-crafted mind to wonder about these so-called truths.

Are doubts and questions an indication of weak Christianity? I don’t think so. A certain degree of questioning is necessary to achieve a personal faith—a faith that does not rest on the beliefs of those around us. “Does God truly answer prayer?” “Why would He allow so much pain?” “Is the risk of believing in something I’m not even sure of worthwhile and good?” These are all valid questions. If you have never wondered anything like this before, then I am incredibly jealous of you; you have been blessed with a trusting and steadfast spirit. For the rest of us, what does it all mean?

In my own life, there have been times when I’ve been frustrated by my doubts, and wondered why I couldn’t just believe. However, what is believing if there is nothing to question? God knows we don’t have it all together. Let’s just take a moment to stop and acknowledge that we never will. But that doesn’t mean we don’t or shouldn’t try.

One of the biggest problems with Christians our age is that we forget to try. We take the step back to evaluate our faith, but forget to follow-through. If you can sympathize with the questioning I have described, I urge you not to become so comfortable in your searching state that you cease to search. Ask the hard questions. But ask them with an open, willing heart and mind. Questioning God with a cynical heart will not produce answers.

The step back many of us take upon coming to Gordon is probably very healthy in order for any true spiritual growth to take place. However, I think there are variations of this stepping back that impede spiritual growth. While it is important for us to use our minds to question what has been preached, to discover a real faith, we must recognize that this has dire consequences if no actual effort towards a discovery is made.

Crazy by Colby Smidt 09

Three guys. One decrepit ‘91 Honda Civic. 9,000 miles. 14 days. This past summer, two of my younger brothers and I left New York for vacation in Michigan, then continued to San Diego, east to Virginia, and home to West Point. It was a blast. We beheld the Grand Canyon, hiked Half Dome in Yosemite, rafted in Colorado, and chilled at beaches on both coasts.

Tyler, Baker, and I spent most of the summer renovating a house—hard, dirty work, decent money, and great bonding. We knew a trip over the last weeks of break would complement the aching drudgery of digging out a basement floor. The job wasn’t actually miserable. In fact, shared sweat enabled laughter and learning. But there was something incredibly exciting about the idea of exploration, just the three of us cruising across the country. The roadtrip delivered a new self-made challenge of independence, discomfort, and adventure…plus more sweat and laughter.

The roadtrip stands for all the things we dream about and plan together. It fulfilled longings and aspirations. Instead of just talking and thinking about something, we did it. Now, we have a precedent. One dreamed-up adventure became a reality, so perhaps other ambitions can follow suit. Is this an overly romantic outlook? Perhaps. But that doesn’t make it any less valuable. This was a celebration of challenge, community, and love. Here’s my advice: insert something extraordinary into your life. Avoid the predictable “learn-earn-yearn” path through high school, college, grad school, internship, job, family, money-making, retirement, and The End. We plot our lives along paths paved with counterfeit securities that are a luxury afforded by our affluence. We must keep growing. Some script-defying adventure may be at once frightening and still vital to being and becoming our best. What’s stopping you? If you’re graduating with a dormant dream to do something crazy, do it. If there’s a lingering desire to backpack across Europe, hike the Appalachian Trail, or live in Africa, go. Now. There will be no better, more fitting time. College summers and that period after graduation are ideal. Live your dreams rather regret your over calculation.

Embrace challenge, identify and confront fear, and choose healthy aspirations even if they don’t fit a clear-cut career plan. At least once, we did. It meant so much that Tyler and I are going cross-country again this summer—on a tandem bicycle.

Gordon Senior Becomes Involved in Work to Aid Abused Women By Margaret Terp 08

Did you know that 28% of high school and college students experience dating violence? Or, did you know that 1 out of 3 women worldwide have been victims of some kind of abuse during their lifetime? What about that violence against women occurs in 20% of dating couples? I didn’t.

Maybe it’s a result of watching all together too many episodes of Cops with my father. I assumed that abuse only entailed Johnny Redneck beating his bride black and blue.

According to Salem-based group, Help for Abused Women and Children (HAWC) domestic abuse is a “system of coercive behavior used by adults or adolescents to establish and maintain power and control over a particular family member.” Abuse could be a boyfriend constantly yelling at his girlfriend or the possessive girlfriend coercing her boyfriend into only spending time with her.

Jasmine Houlette, a senior social work and sociology double major, has worked at HAWC this semester as her final practicum. HAWC provides a variety of services for abused women and children, from advocacy in court, one-on-one counseling and support groups to the shelter run by the organization for women in crisis. HAWC also educates the community about domestic violence and even runs a consignment store, Rerun, on Rantoul Street in Beverly to help fund its efforts.

Houlette has been involved in a little bit of everything during her practicum with HAWC. However, her time with HAWC meant more than completing academic requirements. “Domestic violence affects everyone,” Houlette said. Through working with abused women she has learned many life lessons. For instance, Houlette mentioned facilitating a support group in which she was inspired by watching women start taking control of their lives and end the feelings of isolation associated with their abusive relationships.

Houlette organized the first Gordon team to participate in the annual Walk for HAWC. Eight Gordon students raised $350 while participating with 1200 other walkers on April 27^th. HAWC has raised over $160,000 from the walk.

Houlette hopes Gordon students continue to become educated about abuse and how it affects everyone. To learn more, check out www.helpabusedwomen.org.

A Visiting Scholar’s Thoughts By Abigail Geer 08

This year, Gordon has hosted one of the country’s leading scholars on Adam Smith, Dr. Jeffrey Young, visiting scholar in the Economics Department. He has been on sabbatical from St. Lawrence University in upstate New York and chose to spend that time at Gordon for several reasons, among them his desire to be close to family and to experience teaching at a Christian college. While continuing his research of Adam Smith, Young taught a class in environmental economics during the fall semester, and gave a series of lectures about Smith during spring semester. When asked what he has enjoyed about his time at Gordon, Young stated that he has “enjoyed the students I have had the opportunity to work with as well as the time to work on my own research projects and interact with the Economics and Business faculty.” He says that the most striking difference he has observed between St. Lawrence and Gordon is the Christian environment. He states that he “really enjoyed being able to discuss matters of faith and share testimonies with the students in the class I taught last fall semester.” He goes on to say he has “enjoyed the time and believe[s] that Gordon is a wonderful place to be a student and to teach.”

Light Adjustments by Mat Schetne 08

I can’t sleep until noon.
There is no reason, other than
it is impossible. Life is born at
dawn. “Let there be light”
said God.
My inner Adam obeys,
everyday. Everyday Genesis 1, 2, 3
is played. The light is good. I am created.
Her shadows are long. I am loved.
I love. The light is brighter.
I betray.
I am indifferent. I am naked.
The light is blinding. I thought it was good.
I clothe, exit Eden,
the world considers me, under that light.
They like me. I stand on my shadow.
Everyone likes me, shadow smothered under shoe.
But they don’t know me, they sleep
right through me.
I am dead before 11,
and they sleep till noon.

Maundy Thursday by Lindsay Locke 10

I looked over the edge of the civilized, explainable world,
And I saw that people were lonely, even here.
A prisoner in the Gulag, a vicious echoing steppe:
A human nightmare found in novels—fantasy.
Then I saw that people come so finite, so few
only so many on the planet at all.
And even less that really know.
That really know a face—it’s easy to come to the end of that number.
I saw over the edge of the mountain, where isolation levels the ground under a big, big sky.
After apologizing shamefacedly
To all those depressed poets
I had laughed at all those years,
I fled, terrified, from the dark mystery of loneliness.
On earth, not a soul under heaven?
To be man forsaken— I asked the dust, who couldn’t be bothered.
…and we’re sorry, we apologize under our breath,
That when you were sweating blood under a lonely heaven
And praying your tired prayer into your own ground
We were sleeping and dreaming, proudly, you should NEVER have nobody...
…my God, my God—

April Fools by Darcy Halstead 11

in the fickle kiss of my lids,
in the hairline fracture of
a sloppy second,
once the calculating alphabet
of heaving, gritty sounds
passed through you (their
trembling utterance
pouring so kettle hot
my heart could only blister,
sputter-dazed and swollen),
in the briefest of
pendulum journeys,
at the hastiest of paces,
the remembering cupboards
of my mind were
robbed -
quick theft
by your thief tongue (the very
laughable warm
organ that lapped
milk lies my way)
so now,
i can't recall
a single moment
of your tenderness.

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.

You Know God Loves You When…

Walking up the Hill

Girl 1: (talking about her great day) “...and on top of all that, I got a hill spot!”

Girl 2: “…which is the first sign of Christ’s love, after the cross!”

No Free Lunch

In Frost Lobby

Professor 1: “Hey, how're you? Headed out to lunch?”
Prof. 2: “Yeah, I think I'm going to head over to Lane.”
Prof. 1: “You should just find a student, they have lots of extra points!”
Prof .2: “What?”
Prof .1: “Meal points. They have lots of extra meal points! Try it!”

It’s All Relative

Outside, during Lent

Guy 1 to Guy 2: “You want ME to feel bad for YOU when I can't play guitar hero for 40 days and you have to play on a smaller TV in a different room?!”

I think I’m Good

In Frost

Professor 1: “How are you?”

Prof. 2: “Good, I think... “

Prof 1: “‘I think therefore I am,’ right?”

Prof 2: “That's right. Only I don't think it works with being good... ‘I think I'm good, therefore I am good...’”

Top Ten People We’d Like to Thank

10 God the Father (and the Son, the Holy Spirit, the 12 Apostles, the fathers of the Church, AJ Gordon…)

9 The counseling center

8 Ken Olsen for building a sweet science center

7 Dan Tymann, for pretty much rocking

6 Whoever put the coffee machine in the library—genius!

5 Terry Charek for being totally cool

4 Jonathan Crawford and the SVC staff for making our late nights a latté better

3 Academic support center, for supplying free snacks during finals

2 Dr. Andrea Frankwitz—how do we even begin? She’s amazing.

1 Our readers—we wouldn’t be here without you

THANK YOU & see you in the fall!