Worlds of Meaning

Saint Michael's College had a rainy weekend, but that isn't to say it was a bad one! Almost, Maine is finally over and with just one more play this school year, I finally have a chance to relax (just in time for finals!) I have to say, there is nowhere I'd rather be than here. Despite the thin walls of the dorm rooms, crappy class selection process, and food that is "mehh" at best, I know this is where I belong. Where else in the world could I feel safe, feel close to nature, as I was raised, and yet feel close to the city? And yes, Burlington is a pretty big city by my book :) I always feel that once my weekends free up from all these shows, there is so much to do with friends and family and my boyfriend here. We could walk to the waterfront; window shop on Church Street; go bowling; go to Pizza Putt; go to the movies; go see a show... But we don't have to. My thought for Saint Mike's right now, as my sophomore year comes to an end, is that every experience is what you make it.

Take, for example, my Christianity class. Yes, the liberal studies requirements at SMC include two religious classes, and yes, they are Christianity classes. Most people try to finish them up as early as possible, thinking since it is a Catholic college, priests will be teaching about sin and reading from the Bible. I was pleasantly suprised to find a class called Christianity, Past & Present, where we spent half the semester studying the history and myth presented in the Bible, and then departed from the Bible to study how Christianity has evolved into what it is today. Right now we're looking at what, exactly, Christianity is today with a book by Marcus Borg called The Heart of Christianity. Writing a reflection last night from Borg's theories about how the world looks at God, I realized I was really into it and enjoying the concepts presented about panentheism vs. a supernaturaltheism in what many people call God.

It's all about your personal journey, whether it be spiritual growth while volunteering with MOVE, academic changes of mind as the liberal studies requirements force you to open up to new subjects, or a whole new way of looking the world through the SMC lense. I love Saint Mike's for making me think, even when I don't necessarily want to. I love it because anything is possible.