April 2007 Archives

Tonight Dr. Stohlmann spoke to the Concordia community about what comes after Easter. During his presentation he spoke about the changes that Concordia has undergone and is undergoing and how some of them are helping the Concordia community, while others are hurting it. He also talked about the fact that Christians, especially Lutherans are a dying breed. And, how some aspects of Concordia are falling away from the original mission statement, "To prepare students for thoughtful and informed living, for dedicated service to God and humanity, and for the enlightened care of God's creation, all within the context of the Christian Gospel." Concordia needs to make God the center of the University again.

Dr. Stohlmann's presentation follows what Honors is trying to do. Bring God, and Christian living back into the community. We need to integrate faith, learning, and action. He also pointed out that there is a community right in our campus that needs witnessing too, which is another thing we have been talking about.

Hearing Dr. Stohlmann speak was a very good experience. Furthermore, it is great to see that some professors see a need for change within Concordia to bring God back to the center of it all. I know that throughout the year some students have been talking about how this campus is not always on top of the Christian aspect. Some of it comes from professors, students, and faculty. Other parts come from the lack of advertisement that this is a Christian campus. Throughout the years of knowing this University, I have heard that people had no clue that this was a Christian University until they saw the chapel. It is great to see that there are things being done to bring Concordia back to its roots.

The Monday and Tuesday before Easter break Dr. Chatman taught honors and brought Tyrone Terrill with her as a guest speaker. We talked about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that he did with civil rights and the poor. The main thing we talked about is how far we still have to go, because we really have not changed all that much since King died. King only had thirteen short years in his campaign for the poor and marginalized, but he used everything that he had traveling over 6,000,000 miles and making over 25,000 speeches. His most well know words were “I have a dream,” but his best words were, “In the end we will remember not the words of our friends, but the silence of our friends.” Furthermore, King was a preacher, and his faith can not be taken away from his campaign. Without his faith he would have never been the “great” Martin Luther King Jr. that he is today. Talking about Martin Luther King Jr. applies to the whole honors program this semester because it is faith in action to end poverty and injustice for the marginalized. King should be one of out examples on how to live out our faith. He stood for everything we want to accomplish in this class. It was really good to talk about King, and I learned so much about his life. I think that one of the most important things that is missing in the world is people living out their faith and showing it in the public. King was a great example even though many people forget that it was because of his faith that he preached. Also, King did not just preach giving to the poor, but he lived in poverty. He went without so that others could have what they needed. He stood up for what he believed in and did not back down when suffering was set upon him. I believe that King should be the example for ALL Christians to join together against poverty. No separation needs to be made because we all want to see poverty end in America and in the world.