The moment of my arrival in St. Louis, Missouri cannot come fast enough. The two women who inhabit the title of this blog post may be the reasons why.
My life isn't full of many people who have known "Duration-Annie." Many people know "Little kid-Annie," "Westminster-Annie," "Sophomore-year Annie," "Homeschool-Annie," and "Taylor University-Annie," which are all, arguably, highly interesting and influential parts of "Duration-Annie," though, each "Section-Annie" loses some of its importance without experience of the other "Section-Annie's."
All this to say, the dear girls I am about to see over break know more than one "Section-Annie," and Miss Stipanovich knows just about all of them.
These are important people to have in our lives, I think. Personal history, like other history, is hard to make real to people without their having experienced it firsthand.
See you tomorrow my lovies.
11.23.2009
11.21.2009
WHAT IS GOING ON?
I am currently writing a paper about the sociological effects of the evolution of communication technology, culminating with a discussion on online social networking (of which i am, currently, partaking in, as i write down my thoughts on this blog to help create a sense of interconnectedness of ideas and communal consciousness). So, I was doing some "research" on facebook a couple minutes ago (no really, it was research), and I was looking, sick to my stomach, at old high school friends' pages. Keep in mind that I went to a private Christian school.
I have come to two alternative, but not mutually exclusive, conclusions from today's research:
1) Something needs to change about the system in which these students were educated. Someone needs to give youth the understanding of a metanarrative that will allow for some meta-perspective to reduce rationalization of the silliness in which they are STILL engaging.
and/or
2) Something needs to change about the way communication technology is used. Because, and this is possible, the things written on their facebook walls may not really reflect the actual occurrences and perspectives in their life. However, what else are we to assume? We can, at least, feel certain that what is written and communicated via their facebook pages is an accurate reflection of the extent to which they use facebook and their views on what can and should be communicated via said medium. True to life or not, it is obvious that many believe that sex, drugs, alcohol, and their less than desirable effects are, at least, appropriate things to be joked about, if not abused in the most dehumanizing of ways. If, and this is what I really think, these things are true, then the former applies much more than the latter, as the latter is simply a way of speaking about what is really going on, and, in my opinion, a way to make it less real so as not to deal with it.
And, from these two things, I avow that this is a part of my mission in life: to help youth understand, clarify, gain perspective, and create coherent paradigms in which to understand and cope with the reality of life, as well as help provide a way to speak clearly and creatively about it, so as to help others do the same. Christian schools are doing nothing if they do not do this, Christian people are doing nothing if they are not doing this--sharing real life found in Christ and its relevance to dulled lives devoid of purpose and clarity, advancing the Kingdom of God, not the rules of religion. Rules are not a compelling way to live, but they are a way to categorize the things we do and don't to as a result of where life is most fully found. Rules? Yes. Rules first? No. Lots of tangential thoughts at the end of this paragraph? Yes. Do I mind? No. Have I finished my aforementioned paper yet? No. Will I stop writing now so that I can? Yes.
I have come to two alternative, but not mutually exclusive, conclusions from today's research:
1) Something needs to change about the system in which these students were educated. Someone needs to give youth the understanding of a metanarrative that will allow for some meta-perspective to reduce rationalization of the silliness in which they are STILL engaging.
and/or
2) Something needs to change about the way communication technology is used. Because, and this is possible, the things written on their facebook walls may not really reflect the actual occurrences and perspectives in their life. However, what else are we to assume? We can, at least, feel certain that what is written and communicated via their facebook pages is an accurate reflection of the extent to which they use facebook and their views on what can and should be communicated via said medium. True to life or not, it is obvious that many believe that sex, drugs, alcohol, and their less than desirable effects are, at least, appropriate things to be joked about, if not abused in the most dehumanizing of ways. If, and this is what I really think, these things are true, then the former applies much more than the latter, as the latter is simply a way of speaking about what is really going on, and, in my opinion, a way to make it less real so as not to deal with it.
And, from these two things, I avow that this is a part of my mission in life: to help youth understand, clarify, gain perspective, and create coherent paradigms in which to understand and cope with the reality of life, as well as help provide a way to speak clearly and creatively about it, so as to help others do the same. Christian schools are doing nothing if they do not do this, Christian people are doing nothing if they are not doing this--sharing real life found in Christ and its relevance to dulled lives devoid of purpose and clarity, advancing the Kingdom of God, not the rules of religion. Rules are not a compelling way to live, but they are a way to categorize the things we do and don't to as a result of where life is most fully found. Rules? Yes. Rules first? No. Lots of tangential thoughts at the end of this paragraph? Yes. Do I mind? No. Have I finished my aforementioned paper yet? No. Will I stop writing now so that I can? Yes.
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