Googling My Future

Ok, so I know this is going to sound kind of strange and nerdy and slightly stalkeresk, but this evening I was googling some of the people who will be my professors at Fuller. And I got really excited again! I am super pumped and just thought I would share that tidbit of info.

In other news, last Wednesday I went to the Smithsonian American History Exam. I hitched a ride on the metro to Smithsonian station (which happened to be open this time...see previous post!) and arrived shortly before the doors opened at 10 am. After a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner during which some elderly men stood and took off their hats, the doors opened and began the journey of learning about American history and trying to remember what I learned in school (its been 5 years since I took an class in American history). I saw the first American flag, Kermit the frog, Dolly Madison's dress, and some boots worn by the first person to hike the entire Appalachian trail. It seems that American History is made up of a lot of random stuff. But, it appears that the American public loves to look at this stuff. There were tons of people gawking and taking pictures (hint: they don't come out very well if you use a flash and are taking a picture of something behind glass!). It made me begin to think about identity and what it means to be American (or anything else for that matter...what does it mean to be Christian or a woman). Perhaps our identity is rapped up with a cassette playing boom box (this made me feel old- a cassette player in a museum!) or a beautiful sparkly dress. But other pieces appeared that perhaps weren't as happy-go-lucky. The lunch counter from a sit-in during the civil rights movement or photos of the Vietnam war....of course, all of these past dark spots have seemingly been triumphed over according to the museum. I am not sure I want to buy into the museum's story about who I am and who we are. Perhaps we live in relation to something bigger than Oscar the Groach or a steam powered locomotive.

And so, I come to the thought that I want to live my life following the calling to live faithfully for God, serving God's people and our purpose in the world. This requires me to realize that although I love Kermit and the rest of the muppets, my life is not bound by the meaning of being American but rather I should find purpose and meaning in my calling to serve and follow Christ. Now, this does not mean that I always succeed at not chasing after the American Dream, but I'm working on it.

Since Wednesday, I have been working lots of hours here at the WP House. This afternoon I took a lovely nap and made brownies. It is only slightly over a month until I move to CA and I am excited about starting seminary (with all those people I googled)!