This image is from my walk to school. It's a little hard to see in this picture (I was at risk of being run over by renegade motocyclists), but what you're looking at is actually a bridge between two buildings. I've noticed it a number of times because it's rather unique. Most of the buildings here are block-sized buildings, meaning people or stores might own or rent sections, but they are all part of one big building. Usually you don't see these connections built BETWEEN buildings, though, especially over the top of roadways. I think it would be really cool to have an apartment that spanned both sides!
Tonight was supposed to be a student forum meeting focusing on how to get degree-seeking students and study abroad students to BOTH feel included at JCU. Typically both groups feel that the other is getting more attention than they are: at the beginning of the semester the study abroads are catered to quite a bit, and by the end of the semester they feel like they're being cast off because they're going home and nobody cares how they feel about things. I guess it's challenging to balance both sides.
It's been challenging for me to balance different aspects of my life too. Going back to Jason's sermon on Sunday, Christians are described as living here on earth, but being citizens and belonging to the realm of heaven. I've been trying to figure out how one does that. How does one live IN the world, but not be OF the world? How does one balance being as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove? How does one build relationships with people who have nothing in common with one spiritually, yet manage to not compromise one's beliefs? And on even another note, how does one stand up for and claim to be part of a belief that is seen as being manipulative, treacherous, dangerous, self-seeking, and destroying? How do I claim, "I'm a Christian" when we're studying literature and discussing how the church exploited the illiterate? Or, on the other side of things, how do I claim, "I'm a Christian" when other people claim to be Christians too... whilst getting wasted on Thursday night with their friends or being rude in class or being ignorant of Biblical theology?
And in another sense, what IS my part in bridging the gap between the study abroads and the degree-seekers? I still feel strongly that God brought me here, to Rome, to this school, for a purpose. But what are the fine details of that purpose? Where should I be concentrating my efforts? School versus church involvement versus Christian fellowship versus reaching out to people versus being a good friend to my roommates versus traveling versus spending money wisely...
I think the real bummer is that I'm pretty sure life never gets much easier... so, for anyone who is reading this, you can skip right over the comments about, "Wait until you have a mortage"... or a job or a husband or kids or whatever other complicating factors come in as we age. I'd really rather just try to handle one stress at a time, 'K? :-)
