I had a pretty uneventful weekend/week/month. I have been coasting through recently, partially because my schedule has been so light (the semester is finished after today and most of my major obligations have been finished for a while) and also because I have been distracted by Brian's upcoming visit. I teach, eat, and sleep - with a little bit of tv time in between.
Last night I finally got off my butt and went out to Yao to see Johanna and to meet her replacement, Jen. Honestly, every time we hang out I can't believe we don't hang out more. We get along so well and talk a mile a minute with each other (unbelievable, I know). Maybe it's just that we've found someone else to reminisce with about America - but there seems to be more than just that (I mean, I don't especially like most Americans I've come across in Japan). It's too bad she is leaving in March. I feel like there was a lot of time wasted and very little chance we'll hang out back in America. However, she and I had a great talk about friends that drift in and out of your life - how valuable they can be despite their temporary nature (of course we weren't talking about each other, but it applies).
That was about the extent of my January adventures. Good Italian food with friends. I did have an interesting few weeks at church. The pastor is growing on me, as are his messages. He has been discussing Creation and the corresponding theories. He has done an excellent job (in my opinion) of objectively presenting conflicting theories about a 7-day creation. It really made me question my own beliefs (as unstable and vague as they already are) and challenged me to see the good in the others. However, I noticed something interesting. Over the past two weeks, I saw someone taking notes on the messages. However, they were really just copying down verses from Genesis along with notes - a mile ahead of the pastor. Why? Because they already knew what the answer was, and their opinion - written in ink - was not going to change simply by hearing a 30-minute sermon by some liberal guy. Ugh. I found myself really angry watching this person scribble notes to her own sermon in her head - clearly drowning out the pastor's words. There's absolutely no chance of learning something new. There's no room left on the page if we have the outline filled in before we hear the other side of the story. I guess I do the same all the time - I'm just too lazy to write it down.
1 comment:
That's a really good point, about drowning out the pastor's words before even listening to what she/he has to say. I've definitely done it before. Or I expect I know what she/he will say before it's even said. and then when it's different, I'm surprised, like every person is the same and every viewpoint is the same. You'd think after worldview it would have changed, but it hasn't as much as I wanted it to...
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