Jarett Weiler

The life of Antony really struck a chord with me as I read it. Written by Athanasius, it outlines the solitary life of Antony, who as a hermit denied the pleasures of the flesh. It seems that God is trying to teach me a lesson about humilty this week. On Wednesday at Fish, Lauren Awe talked about humility and said a line that really struck a chord with me: "Humility doesn't mean thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." Couple that quote with this extreme example of humility, and I really think that that is my lesson for the week.

Now, onto the role models part. Antony definitely modeled his life after many Biblical heroes. He sought to live his life by the Scriptures and this is evident in the reading. Early in his life, he heard Matthew 6:34 (Be not anxious for tomorrow), 2 Thess. 3:10 (He who is idle let him not eat), and he was reminded to pray in secret without ceasing. He also looked to Paul and Elijah for guidance. Antony took character traits from even the most random people that he met - sincerity, graciousness, loving-kindness, fasting, among many others. Because of this life that he lived, people were in awe of him. When they found him, they couldn't believe that he was just as healthy, if not in better shape, than when they had left him. It was his example that led many other people to embrace a life of solitude and righteousness similar to how he lived.

In my own life, I have had a large number of role models in trying to figure out my own vocation. One of the first role models I had in this area was my pastor. He showed to me that a man did not have to be perfect to serve God, especially in ministry; he willingly expresses his flaws and often in his sermans he admits that he has his "favorite sins" that he has to work extra hard to resist. Also, he really is just a normal guy. We talk about politics, sports, and life. Around the community, many people know him as the announcer at high school sporting events, which gives him a large platform to share the Gospel. Perhaps the biggest role model that I have is my father. He attended college and got his degree, but somehow ended up back in the family concrete business. He had been working there for over 20 years when my grandpa (the owner) got really sick and was unable to work. My dad had to literally learn how to run the business from scratch and by himself, with only his basic knowledge to help him. Perhaps it was God's plan for him to take over and keep the business running when my grandpa got sick. If my dad wasn't there, a number of people would be out of work. Even now, my dad puts in 14 hour days to run the business to ensure that everyone has a job, instead of closing it down entirely, which would definitely be a lot easier. I'm sure that my dad did not plan to end up where he is today, but God led him there for a reason, even if that reason is not so clear. When I am older, I want to be a role model for my own children. I want to be seen by them that character and hard work are more important than the values of this world.

For my first Honors blog of the semester, I chose to write about Perpetua's martyrdom. I have read numerous stories about martrydoms throughout the years, but it always strikes a chord with me when it is an actual account of the story. There's something different about reading "Christians were killed" than reading "Shortly after he was thrown unconscious with the rest in the usual spot to have his throat cut." These descriptions and vivid details give the account a real life feel and really make you understand the situation.

It is so impressive to read how the Christians under this amount of stress handled themselves. They all carried themself with so much dignity, no matter the situation. Perpetua especially would not sway from the faith. Her own father could not sway her; as long as she had her child in prison it became her "palace." An especially chilling account occurs on page 46. As the heifer threw her into the air, she landed on the ground and her clothes were ripped. Not wanting to appear as a mourner "in her hour of triumph," she covered her thighs and fixed her hair.

There is nothing that today's Christians have to face (at least in America) that is even close to this sort of persecution. In a way, Christians are spoiled with the 1st amendment and freedom of religion. It is interesting to re-read Shane Claiborne when he mentions that the Church is strongest when it is under attack, and weakest when it is allowed to be lazy. We must look to other countries to find actual persecution of Christians, where they are jailed and tortured for their beliefs. These Christians are so strong, and Christianity is thriving because of their example.

My experience at Wilder has already been very rewarding to me. The meetings that I have with the mentors is possibly my favorite day. It is a smaller group of students, and each person has such a distinct personality and they are so fun to be around. I have already developed relationships with a large majority of the students, and I feel that I am starting to actually know all of them. Right now, we are in the swing of creating different activities for the retreat in February. I was not planning on leading any activities, but Car and Kiki sure made sure that this wasnt the case! I went from leading no activities to leading three different ones. I look forward to these Wednesday night meetings so much.

Thursday nights are just a little more down to business. This night is the large group of students that are working together to create their own service projects. There is a little bit of overlap between Wednesday and Thursday night, so I still know a majority of the people. My specific project group that I am in is the human rights group. We decided last week that we still did not know each other well enough, so we spent most of the night playing get-to-know-you games. They were a blast! We also had to decide on a name for our group. Since we are going to be performing a play highlighting different human rights issues, we decided our name (which I thought of) should be the Human Rights ACTOR-vists. This name and our slogan which I cannot remember will be going on the shirts that are being created.

Tomorrow morning (actually in 9 hours) I have a staff meeting. Me, together with Nou, Nell, and Damon, will be planning the activities for the week.

Since my last post, my project has changed quite drastically. The meeting that I had with the Wilder Foundation worked about very well, but unfortunately I had to sacrifice my Kool Klub hours. At Wilder, I am part of the Youth Leadership Initiative program. The main goal of this program is to provide high school youths with the abilities and tools to effectively serve and lead in their community.

During my weekly routine, I average 7.5 hours at Wilder. On Mondays, I attend two-hour long staff meetings. These meetings are used to plan and organize the rest of the week's activities. On Wednesdays, the mentors meet. This group of 15 high school mentors meet to plan their curriculum that will be used at the retreat in February. My job during this meeting is to assist them in doing so. And on Thursdays, the action teams meet. These teams are groups of high school age youths that meet and are split in four groups: poverty, human rights, environment, and fitness. They get together to plan their own large-scale service projects to help each issue in their community. Once again, my job with this gorup of teens is to assist and guide them as they create their own projects.

Today was my first day working at Kool Klub! It was a great time. Kyle, David, and I arrived at Bethlehem Lutheran Church and met with Pastor Radtze (spelling?) and discussed what many of our responsibilities are going to be as helpers in Kool Klub. We actually have a lot of responsibility and power to change up the schedule and activities.

Tonight was a slow night. Pastor said that the average number of children ranges from 8-18 but we only had three girls tonight. Lydia was the first to show up. She is a 5 year old Hmong girl who was very shy at first. But after a game of Chutes and Ladders, she really started to open up! With a little bit of help, she showed me that she could count to 100. Second to show up was Julianne. She was 6 years old, and was fluent in French. Boy was she a handful! Easily the most rambunctious, she was was always running around and was super-competitive at the Chutes and Ladders. Last to arrive was Alma; she was 7 years old, and was Hispanic. The funniest thing was the Spanish-counting contests she had with David (he always lost).

Apart from Chutes and Ladders, we also did a lot of activities in the gym. We started with "Birds and Fishes" and went through about six other games. It was such a fun time and they all had energy to spare.

Tomorrow morning, I am meeting with Nou Yang of Wilder Foundation. Hopefully, this will be where the bulk of my hours come; I am hoping to get at least 6 hours a week here. The meeting tomorrow will hopefully let me know what I can do to also help out that organization.

A lot has changed with my project since my last entry. I have yet to hear from the organizations that I originally contacted, but another opportunity has fallen into my lap.

The two organizations I will be working with are Linc Twin Cities and the Kool Klub. Most of my hours will come from Linc, but will be supplimented by 3 hours a week at Kool Klub.

Kool Klub meets on Wednesday night. It is held at a local church, and reaches out mainly to Hmong and African-American children. The main goal of Kool Klub is to provide structure for these kids who do not have much in most aspects of their life. Some of the kids are very far behind socially, academically, and in other crucial areas. By working with them, even for just a few hours a week, I hope to make a difference.

Linc Twin Cities is another organization that I am very excited to work with. The main purpose of Linc to network local churches, especially in developmental areas. The work that I will be doing is traveling to different churches and talking about ways to better the community.

The details of both still need to be figured out. However, I met with Sue Hewitt of Linc and Pastor Radetz (spelling??) of Kool Klub, and we got a nice start. Hopefully, within the next week, I will actually be able to start my project.

With the project contracts due tomorrow, I am in danger of not having it done. Actually, let me rephrase that, I will not have it done.

I actually made a little progress these past two weeks. While I was in high school, I volunteered a large amount of hours at my local hospital. I went and talked to Concordia's nurse to see if she could help me find a place to volunteer at. She gave me a large number of places to investigate.

The three places that I took and ran with are St. Joseph's Hospital, Gillette Children's Hospital, and the Wilder Foundation. I have applied to and contacted each of these organizations in hopes that I will be contacted back. Ideally, I would love to work at Gillette's. This would combine my prior volunteer experience, with my love of working with children. Hopefully I will be contacted sometime this week, and I can actually get a start on my project.

The first time I heard about this project, it seemed like a daunting task. As I thought about it more, it still seemed like a daunting task.

Currently, I'm still in the searching stage. The only thing that I really have so far is a general idea of what I would like to do. One thing that I really enjoy doing, and also something that I feel is very important, is working at an after-school program. I would really want to work with middle-school or high school students. The older ages of the students would definitely allow me to feel more of a connection between myself and the students. I feel as if I will be able to have a direct impact on the lives of the students that I am helping.

As far as actually finding a place to volunteer my time at, I'm lost. I don't know any places in the area. Hopefully, my meeting with Dr. Rock will help me shed some light on my situation, and I will be able to find something that I will enjoy doing, as well as make a difference.

Well, since it appears that I am the last Delta to blog on Shane's book, there's no better time than now to do it. I might be behind, but there were a few things that I have witnessed this week that have really shaped the way I think of this book. Since I am a big fan of lists, my thoughts will be arranged in list form.

1) Charity and College

Fact: The large majority of the people reading this blog are college students.

Fact: As college students, we owe tens of thousands of dollars for tuition.

It was ironic to me that, over the summer, I was reading a book that preached (this word is an understatement) the Simple Way. We are told that we are "stealing" if we have two shirts and our neighbor has one. This frugality, on paper, makes sense. I am not denying that helping the less fortunate should be a priority for many people. It kills me inside to think that there are people who do not have the simple, everyday things that I have. But, on the other hand, it is hard for me to focus on this when I have a mound of impending debt staring in my face. My point with this section is simple; it would unfair (and wrong) to call me unChristian because I do not give everything that I own away when I am not even supporting myself at the moment.

2. Earthquakes and Whispers

1 Kings 19:11 - 13     Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquke but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Truly, the Lord was in the whisper and not in the other wonderous and powerful events. This verse is referenced by Shane (at least indirectly) to explain how it is the small things in life where we find God and not in large cathedrals.

It is ironic then to find myself in St. Paul's cathedral on my second day on campus! To be honest, I found myself overwhelmed when I stepped into the sanctuary. This was the largest church I had ever been in. I definitely see how God can be found in the "whispers" but to me, all signs pointed to God in this cathedral. Yes, this building was large, but was not Soloman's Temple even more ornate? (read 1 Kings 6 for reference)

In my eyes, God can be found in all places. His prescence can be felt everywhere, whether that be in the small and seemingly insignificant "whispers" or a large and decorative cathedral, except in...

3. Armani, Gucci, and Chanel

A little backstory is needed for this one: in the rush to pack for college, I obviously forgot a few things handy for college life (a lamp, my spare car key, etc.). My uncle was coming up to the cities for his fantasy football draft, so he said that he would drop these items off for me. We then went over to the Mall of America for lunch and to pick up a few things he needed. Talk about excess!

While we were in Nordstroms, I sneaked a peak at a (cleverly hidden) price tag on a (seemingly normal) tie. The price: $175! Being the curious person I am, I decided to look at more price tags. $200 for a shirt! $750 for a sport coat!! $5000 for a purse!!! (I apologize for the excessive exclamation points but my head was spinning.)

I looked around the store; men in expensive suits were trying on pricey cologne, women in flashy outfits wearing gaudy jewelry. Where was God in this place? I certainly didn't find him among the suits.

Perhaps this is where I most agree with Shane. Who knows how many natural resources were destroyed in creating the things in this store? Who know the names of the countless over-worked and under-paid people that created these items? And all to create something that will be over-priced and will probably sit in the back of some person's closet.

To recap: Shane makes some good points in his book, but I disagree with a lot of them. It is not neccessarily the things that he brings up, but in the way that he says them. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of the God. Shane comes off as very self-righteous in his quest to be closer to God.