My Own Little World

I was raised in a conservative evangelical Christian household in a suburb-like small city. Currently, I am pursuing a degree at a moderate Christian university for the purpose of pursuing a career in full-time church work and have worked in churches for this summer and the previous two. In the past couple years since going to school, I have experienced several crises of juxtaposition in my faith, pitting beliefs I have had since I was a child against a more “liberal” or “secular” understanding and being surprised when realizing that the two were not contrary but could be complementary. The juxtaposition at the crux of this wrestling has been that between faith and doubt, how the opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty (or, more damningly, self-sufficiency). I say this to show why a film like First Reformed resonated with every fiber of my being. It is a treatise on the difference between facades of authenticity and the real thing, and it uses the supposed tension between...

A little over a week ago, I finished my sophomore year at Olivet Nazarene University. To be honest, that statement really doesn't mean much (and those of you at Olivet who aren't in a science major can back me up there). A lot of my time so far has been focused on adjusting to life away from home, finding new friends, and figuring out what to actually pursue in my four-year program there. Difficult schoolwork? Not so much. The toughest part of classes this semester has been waking up for my 8 AM class three days a week. So, what's happened? Did I hit a sophomore slump in any areas? Not really. This has actually been one of the best years of my life. Between a lot of excellent classes, making some new friends, and finding romance, it's been really incredible. I have no complaints and very few regrets going into the summer. Here's some notes about stuff going on: My grades ended up pretty good, even in the classes I hated. The best thing about this semester...