Lauren Erath

            A track and field event took place on May 2, 2012 at Concordia Saint Paul's Sea Foam Stadium. The weather was excellent for the competition. Several colleges competed, including Saint Thomas. The meet consisted of a combination of races and field events. Some of the events included the 100 meter dash, a stable run (which is similar to a hurtle race) nearly two miles long, and pole vaulting.

            The pole vaulting competition represented the Honors Program's topic of Christian vocation. It did this through how the competitors prepare for each vault, symbolizing how preparation and conditioning is needed for people to fulfill their calling. Pole vaulting also represented Christians' vocations in that it showed how seemingly impossible feats could be attained with hard work and concentration. It also exhibited how fulfilling a vocation consists of successes and failures, for just as competitors failed to clear the bar on occasion, Christians fail to rise to their callings. One other way pole vaulting represents Christian vocation is how the competitors have to rely on their poles to clear the bar, for it is impossible for them to jump to such heights on their own. This is similar to how Christians cannot fulfill their vocations without God's help and have to rely on him for victory.

            The event re-emphasized how even though events in life seem impossible, they are accomplishable with God. It also reminded me that failure is imminent to some extent because people are fallible. However, it also reminded me that although a task may be difficult and require multiple attempts, one can still succeed in the task with enough practice and determination. I enjoyed how the event illustrated people's reliance on God, and found it fitting that participants fell the moment the separated themselves from the pole. This is just like how Christians fail to fulfill their vocations when they separate themselves from God's guidance.

            The Equine Assisted Learning convocation took place on Concordia Saint Paul's knoll on May 2, 2012. It was led by Dr. Michele Pickel, who brought two of her horses to the knoll. The convocation was unique in that the audience participated in the event. A team of six students and a team of six professors were selected from the audience to complete a course representing their struggles to surpass the challenges of finals week. Each team was given a horse and told to pack its saddle with labeled objects representing what they needed to succeed. Some of these items included eating, sleeping, spiritual life, social life, and exercise. Once the teams had their saddles packed, each team member placed themselves by cones located throughout the knoll, representing the lengths they would have to go to complete finals week. Then, each team member took turns guiding their team's horse to the next team member's cone, all the while balancing an egg on a spoon to represent something each team member considered precious and had to protect as they traversed the course. Both teams completed the course and then talked about what they learned from the experience, demonstrating how Equine Assisted Learning provides people with insights.

            The convocation related to the Honors Program's topic of vocation by representing each person's struggle to complete steps required for their vocation while protecting the purpose behind their struggle: serving God and others in response to God's love. The horse represented the unpredictable things in life that may confuse, deter, or distract people as they try fulfilling their vocation. This made it easy for people's concentration to turn from the egg to the unexpected event, sometimes causing them to drop it. This represents how the unpredictable events in life can distract people from their vocation, engrossing them in minor details that defer them from their vocation. Each person's individual trek across the knoll represented different callings being fulfilled. The relay aspect of the competition represented how in each calling, people have a limited duty and at times need to pass tasks off to people of with different vocations to ensure that all needs are met.

            Since I participated in the challenge, I experienced the convocation's metaphor for vocation in a unique manner. Thus, I learned about the struggles concerning my vocation. I was the last team member in the relay order, so I had to rely on all of my team members to complete their challenges before I could finish my own. This represented how I need to trust fellow Christians to fulfill their vocations so that I can fulfill my own. I cannot take someone else's responsibilities upon myself, nor can anyone take mine. Through the experience, I realized that the best way to complete the challenge, my vocation, was by remaining calm yet determined with an eye set on my goal and its purpose.

One of the Callings readings concerned Dorothy Day, a woman known for her kindness and charity. This reading is from the post-Christian period when society began focusing on secular beliefs and other religions. During this time, society was constructing itself in a new way, focusing on the emphasis of the individual and the American dream. Capitalism thrived, making a greater gap between the wealthy and poor. Dorothy Day recognized the needs of the poor and noted how everyone should be cared for and loved. She also stated that when one loves another person one sees Christ in them.

            This reading related to scholarship and service for the sake of the world because it discussed how people should love and help those in need. The reading was significant because it related to modern issues brought about by America's economic system, providing insight for Honors students as they look to serve God and the community. However, the reading was socialist in nature, suggesting a society where everyone was the same. This destroys creativity, motivation, and originality, leaving life bland. There must be a way for society to cherish both the individual and the collective, for the collective is made of individuals.

            The reading reinforced my belief that loving someone means seeing Christ in them. However, it indirectly challenged my belief that each individual has a uniqueness that draws others to them because the reading suggested that loving a person is seeing the same thing in them as in other people that one loves. I contemplated this and came to the conclusion that people have different aspects of Christ in them, or express Him in unique ways. This strengthens my belief that because the world is multi-faceted, people have different viewpoints so they can see aspects of life that others cannot so that combining perspectives brings about a clearer knowledge of the truth. However, since people are sinful and limited I doubt that their concept of truth (regardless of all perspectives and angles) is as great as a pebble in an ocean.

            A production of the musical, Pippin, took place in the Pearson Theater at 2 pm on April 29, 2012. The musical consisted of two acts and lasted for approximately two hours and fifteen minutes. The set for Pippin was simple, making the show rely more on the actors and actresses than the scenery to engage the audience. The stage's simplicity echoed the musicals theme concerning how life does not need to be spectacular to be significant. At the same time, it conflicted with the actors' and actresses' statements promising the audience a fantastic climax full of aesthetic intrigue. This emphasized how promises of the extraordinary are deceptive and empty. The main character, Pippin, represented people who strive for a purposeful (to the point of magical) lives. Meanwhile, the narrator represented the sinful desire that rests in everyone, changing their purposes from service of others to the glorification of self.

            The musical resonated with the Honors Program's topic of vocation, showing people's struggles as they search for their vocation while fighting their selfish desires to uplift themselves above God and others. It did this by having Pippin switch from career to career, never finding fulfillment because he was trying to quench his sinful desires. When Pippin realizes that striving for oneself is a trap leading only to death, he rejects his past intentions and begins a new life focused on loving his new family. This depicts how people's vocations can be ruined by their selfishness and sinful nature, leading to eternal damnation apart from faith in Jesus Christ. At the musical's end, Pippin's son falls into the trap of self-glorification, representing how people stray from their callings from generation to generation.

            The musical reminded me to be careful of my intentions concerning my vocation and reinforced how I should regard worldly recognition (should I receive such). Because I am selfish and love attention, I strive for the spectacular in life, trying to improve my skills more to impress others than to help them. I then become discouraged when I produce good work instead of superior work, allowing my desire to gnaw into my heart. The musical helped me realize the severity of my selfish ambition. This helped me refine my goals so they were centered more on service to God and others rather than my self. Although I cannot perfect my intentions, I can redirect them to better paths through faith in God and His love.

            The Poehler Lecture occurred in the Buetow Auditorium on April 24, 2012 at 7 pm. Dr. Thomas Trapp and Dr. Dale Trapp led the lecture, combining scientific and theological professions to demonstrate how people serve and learn about God in different fields. The brothers began the oration with childhood photos, likening the relationship between science and theology to brotherhood. Then they took turns lecturing on their professions, emphasizing the fields' unity by switching speeches throughout the oration rather than using the first hour for one lecture and the second for the other. During their lectures, the Trapp Doctors focused on how their fields reveal aspects of God, science answering questions concerning what creation is and how it works while theology explains why creation is imperfect and how people may respond to it.

            The lecture related to the Honors Program's focus on faith and learning. It related to faith and learning because the professors discussed how they gained knowledge about God through their professions and used the information to reinforce their faith. For example, Dr. Dale Trapp used the insights science gave him about creation to further understand God. Similarly, Dr. Thomas Trapp utilized the insights theology gave him to increasingly comprehend the human condition, providing him with a clearer view of reality as well as how people relate to God and each other. The combination of science and theology added to the theme of faith and learning because it exhibited how the two do not conflict while using the metaphor of brotherhood to explain this.

            I did not gain new insights through this experience. However, it reinforced ones from last year that I learned in Old Testament and the Honors Program. One insight includes the way people act in response to God's love. Dr. Thomas Trapp emphasized this by saying people do not have to do good things for salvation, which is teleological, but Christians do good deeds because they are saved and want to share God's love with others. Another insight that was reinforced was how science and theology do not conflict. This was a major theme in the Honors Program for the fall of 2010. The insight was emphasized by the metaphor of brotherhood, which gave me a clearer perception of how science and theology relate to each other.

            The Callings reading concerning Walter Rauchenbusch is the perfect example of people's struggles in the post-Christian period, which extends from the 1800's to the present. Since this period came after the Reformation, Christians believed that one's calling could extend to any occupation. However, they were plagued by a new problem: finding one's calling in a mundane, repetitive, and empty occupation. This included jobs like working in an assembly line. Rauchenbusch confronted this issue, declaring that since products were made in a deceitful manner (created more for the benefit of the seller than the consumer) and because people could not improve their craftsmanship in assembly-line-like jobs, that people lost interest in their occupations and began seeing solely as a means to earn a living rather than serving their neighbor. Rauchenbusch also addressed the increasing gap of income between the rich and the poor. He then declared that the industry itself is not evil and will improve if Christians work not for selfish gain but for the benefit of their neighbors in need.

            The text relates to the issue of the Christian vocation in that in it focuses on modern issues and provides solutions to aid people as they strive to fulfill their vocations. It is simple to conclude that any occupation can be a vocation, especially if one has a job that is enjoyable, but Rauchenbusch points out that not all jobs are fulfilling and instead deprive people of satisfaction with their work. People often overlook this aspect of vocation, especially if they never toiled in such occupations. Since people can be ignorant, the text is relevant because it exposes people to other aspects of life, calling them to take action through service to their neighbor. Also, the text is significant because the solution it proposes: that Christians work through self-sacrifice to serve others rather than accumulate money for their selves. This helps drown out the popular belief that gaining wealth will solve one's problems, untwisting people's paradigms so that they can see reality as it is and respond accordingly.

            The reading provided me with insights regarding the identity of one's calling. It did this by reminding me that not all jobs are pleasant, yet they can still be meaningful if one uses them to serve God and others. This lead to another insight regarding personal perspectives by showing that how one can change the effect a job has on them based on one's intentions and responses to one's situation. I then realized that although some jobs may seem very meaningless or dull, that does not excuse people from making it a calling. Sometimes, people have mundane callings that can be enriched by a change of perspective and purpose. Every task can be fulfilling and beautiful if people offer it as a service to God and their neighbor, even if that job is stuffing envelopes for six hours or scanning documents into a computer to provide an office with space for recent files. I will keep this in mind whenever I face a mundane task so that I can serve my neighbor without succumbing to the misery that haunts such withered tasks.

On April 19, 2012, the Jubilate choir led an Easter Vespers Service called "When in our Music God is Glorified". The service took place in the Graebner Memorial Chapel. The service included songs, like Psalmody #141, sung at the Holden Evening Prayer service which takes place in the Graebner Memorial Chapel on Thursday nights. The audience sang along with the choir for several songs, uniting everyone in worship. This made everyone feel that the service was Christ-centered, rather than focused on showcasing the choir's talents. Therefore, the service was meaningful and spiritually enriching.  

The activity relates to the Honor's class's topic regarding Christian vocation because it depicted one way people use their abilities to glorify God rather than themselves. This showed through the service's manner of uniting the choir and audience, making it evident that the event's purpose was not to focus on the choir. This indicated that one does not have to be a talented singer to praise God with one's voice, while exhibiting how talented singers can also praise God. Thus, the service provided all participants with an encouraging message, indirectly stating, "Everyone, praise God with your all in areas of strength and weakness." The statement was later expanded in the service by the song "Earth and all Stars", which called everything in creation to praise God "with a new song." This reminded people that the rest of creation praises God.

The concert provided me with a new thought to ponder regarding whether callings extend to all parts of creation rather than humans alone. It is difficult to understand how this might be possible, yet biblical texts state if people stop proclaiming God's Word, rocks will cry out in their stead. It is reasonable to think everything on earth has a purpose, yet one cannot decipher the defining line between purpose and calling. Do animals have callings or simply purposes? What differentiates callings from purposes? I think that free will is paramount in distinguishing the difference between purpose and calling, which makes it hard to reason how inanimate things could have a calling. However, this provides the possibility that animals have callings. Although I have not reached a conclusion, I value the thought and appreciate the Easter Vespers Service for giving it to me.

            On Thursday, March 22, 2012, an activity called Star Power was held in Concordia University Saint Paul's LTC in room 218. The activity consisted of a game meant to increase awareness about the struggles in and between different economic classes. Participants selected five chips from a bag to represent their income. The value of each chip was based of its color. The chips value system, going from highest to least value, was gold, green, white red, and blue. Certain combinations of chips increased one's points. Thus, after selecting chips, people walked around and traded with one another to try and increase their points. The people with the lowest initial points were put in the lowest class and given tags with green triangles. People with green triangles were treated poorly by the game's host, under the assumption that they were inferior because of their class. The people with the highest initial points were given tags with a red circle. People with red circles were revered and respected the most of all groups. Those in between were given tags with blue squares. They were neither praised nor criticized. After the first round, people gathered into groups based on their economic standing and proceeded through a bonus round where people were given the opportunity to earn chips that boosted their scores by three points. Next, while still in their class groups, people selected five new chips and traded to try and reach the next class. However, the host gave bags full of chips with the lowest value to the triangle group, bags with a reasonable mix of chip values to the square group, and handed bags loaded with the most valuable chips to the circle group, making it difficult for the lower classes to reach the higher classes while making it simple for the highest class to maintain their position.

            This event relates to the Honors Program's focus of scholarship and service for the sake of others in that people were given opportunities to help one another increase their points through fair or gracious trades. Thus, anyone who wanted to help someone in the triangle group rise to the square or circle group could do so. Acting in this manner meant that people sacrificed their own chances of reaching a higher class standing for the sake of those around them. This relates to how people can serve each other in the world. People who make a fair or great amount of money can give some money to others in who need it so they can live better lives. However, doing so costs one's pleasures like prestige and pride, which people often connect to one's economic standing. It is important for people to realize that earthly prestige is fleeting and that riches are futile because they are socially constructed values which people can live without.

            I found the event to be very insightful and significant. Since the activity was a game, I became extremely competitive and rose from the triangle group to the circle group by tricking others and taking advantage of opportunistic situations to increase my prestige among my peers and prove to myself that I can be a challenging and ruthless opponent should I desire to be one. I began the game with chips of little value, but increased my points by trading with others for chip combinations that would grant me the highest point increases. Then, when I was in the blue square group and everyone in the group was flipping the bonus chips to see who would get the points, I noticed that the chips tended to land face up, due to the difference in weight on one side and based on the number of flips one allowed for the chip, if one flipped them when they were face down and allowed the correct amount of flips the chip would land face up, ensuring that one received a bonus chip. Thus, I secured a bonus chip, which gave me enough points to rise to the class of red circles. The people in the red circle group were a tightly knit community and had made a plan to ensure they remained at the top by voting out (by majority vote) anyone who reached their class level after the first round. They were about to vote me out, but I persuaded them that it would be in their best interest to keep me in the group because if they voted me out I would avenge myself by leading a revolt in the lower classes and overthrowing them from their positions. Thus, they agreed to keep me in their group, and at the game's end I was in the red circle group, being to only person to have climbed all the way from the lowest class to the highest class. Once the game ended, I realized that I had been a foul in my endeavors, for my actions had threatened and intimidated others, making them think themselves inferior to me based on their point status and point increasing strategies. Thus, only I benefited from my actions, which I realized were insignificant because they would not have a positive effect on the people around me. I was given the opportunity to love and help others, yet instead I used them for my own desires, which when I obtained them they were worthless to me and left me feeling cruel and disgusted. This made me realize that in any situation, even a game, I have the opportunity to love and serve others for their benefit, as long as I do not succumb to my lusts for power, reverence, and prestige. There is no reason for one to use others for one's own benefit, whether it is in a game or any other situation. Christians are not on earth to follow their own desires, but to follow God's and love their neighbor in every situation, even if it means giving up the prestige and reverence they seek.

            One of the Callings readings, concerning Ignatious, focused on how one makes proper decisions as a Christian. This took place within the context of the period of the Reformation, when Christians were unsure how to act in a proper manner. This is because this period followed the monastic period when people believed that they had to work hard to be a Christian. This thought eventually led to the belief that salvation had to be earned by some extent. Then, when Martin Luther revealed that salvation came solely through faith, people became confused regarding how they should act. During this time, many intellectuals stepped forward to instruct people regarding how they should act. In the text, Ignatious explains that when making decisions people tend to use means of their own desires in an attempt to reach God's ends, trying to make God come to them rather than them come to God. Ignatious explains that this should be the other way around and people should rely on reason and self-examination when they make decisions so they do not choose solely for their own benefit.

            This text is relevant to the issue of Christian vocation in that it helps people recognize when they are deceiving themselves into thinking the means of their actions are made to serve God. This helps people re-evaluate the decisions they make in the daily actions their vocation so they make decisions that serve God. In addition, this also helps people discover which vocation is right for them, ensuring that people are not following their own plans but instead are following God's plans. However, Ignatious puts relies too high on human reason, not considering that people can convince themselves that their actions are serving God and are justified when they are not. Therefore, although Ignatious was right in that people should choose means that will lead to God's ends, he does not provide the reader with proper means to achieve these ends. Thus, one should reconsider the means in which to reach the proper ends, which would involve much prayer and relying on God rather than one's self.

            The reading caused me to re-evaluate myself and whether the pieces I have been writing serve God or are solely for my benefit. The main thing I struggle with is how one is supposed to write about life as it is without having characters that swear, think impure thoughts, and act like real people. Too often, I have found that Christian books undermine people's sinful nature and try to sugarcoat everything. This, however, makes the books unbelievable and irritating. Therefore, in order for me to write well, I need to write realistically. Although this may be true, the text helped me consider whether my concern is for my own pride or for God's means. With the text, I came to the conclusion that it is alright to portray people as they are as long as I refrain from heavy details and ensure that the reason I am portraying people in such a manner is to show the reader that people are sinful and need God while I point to God through the story and its imperfect characters.

            One of the Callings readings detailed how the definition of Christian vocation changed after the Reformation, initiated by a monk named Martin Luther. Luther realized that scripture taught salvation came from grace and not by doing good works or following the law. This led him to understand that a person does not have to serve in a monastery or convent in order to serve God, but rather can do it through any occupation including business and army jobs. However, Luther said that this does not mean one can carry on any profession in whatever manner they wish. For example, regarding business occupations, Luther stated that merchants should not sell their goods at as high of a price as possible (feeding off the desires of one's neighbors and possibly leading them to harm) but sell their wares at a price that is reasonable and fair. This allows people to serve their neighbor by providing for their needs. It also allows people to support themselves on their income. In a similar manner, Luther explained that killing in itself is evil unless it is done to protect others from evil and bring about justice. Thus, soldiers in an army who fight to defend their loved ones are not committing evil, but rather preventing it through their service and sacrifices.

            This text is relevant concerning Christian vocation because it reveals that people can serve God and others in all types of occupations. This helps people find their calling without assuming they have to work in the church to serve God. It is extremely important for Christians to realize this because Christians are needed to shine in all arenas of life, leading others to God through their examples. If Christians do not do this, people who are not involved with the church will miss opportunities to come to faith in Christ. In addition to this, the people Christians reach out to (through their vocations) will realize that serving God does not mean giving up innocent pleasures and gifts like artistry or athletics. Also, this realization is significant for Christians because it helps them learn how to use their talents to bring glory to God and serve their neighbor. That way, people who are not gifted in church-work will not get trapped into thinking they have to work in the church to be a servant of God, but will locate their true calling and be able to serve God to their fullest ability with joy and peace.

            The text caused me to consider the manner in which I perform my calling. This is because my reason for becoming a writer tends to be more self-centered than God-centered. Although I long to lead others to God through my novels and poems, I also want to gain recognition for my work because of my pride and desire for positive attention. Despite my desire to serve God, I also want to serve myself and do things my own way because I am stubborn and sinful. I have always known that fulfilling a vocation is more about service to God and others than one's self, yet have shoved this fact into my subconscious in order to fulfill my own intentions without feeling guilty like I should. In many cases, I think people purposely forget truth in order to follow their own will without suffering any evident consequences. However, one cannot escape from the results of sinning and disobeying God, for this world was created to function in a certain way and any distortion a person makes to it will harm them in some manner. People might not realize this is happening to them or will try denying it for as long as they can. However, one reaps what one sows. Thus sinful actions lead to evil outcomes. This does not mean that one is not forgiven, for faith provides one with forgiveness of every sin. Rather, this means that one should refrain from sin because even though faith saves one from damnation it does not always keep one from experiencing earthly punishment for their misdoings.