wrestling with eternal questions...with friends!

Recently, several of my favorite college friends have stumbled upon this blog, and I am so excited. I didn't realize that many other people at my school were interested in thinking about these kind of things, talking about these kind of things. Though we come from all over the country, from all sorts of backgrounds and even different faiths, we're all on some sort of similar spiritual quest, a search for understanding the divine and what that understanding means to us and to our lives.

I knew there were other people out there, but that this blog has been able to forge this connection is a powerful thing. I'm really hoping to get to discuss some of this stuff with them and just bounce our ideas around and hangout and talk. Right now, the internet and phones are serving as means of connecting with each other about this kind of stuff. So, welcome friends!

There's just something amazing about discussing religion with other people who believe. Discussing with non-believers can be thought-provoking, but when you make connections with other people, when you find you have somebody to just sit around and go "What the heck is up with prayer?" or "I don't understand this!," I find I can open up my mind on a whole new level, which sounds a little ridiculous, but it's true.

In other news, I really loved taking my 3 religion related classes this semester. I plunged into the Bible like I've never had an opportunity to before. I find that I've developed new opinions (like that consolidating the Synoptic gospels and claiming they're all part of one story=BS though that's another post for another day!). We had a big debate one day about the academic study of scripture as opposed to the spiritual study, and a bunch of people were claiming that they were mutually exclusive. In my opinion, that's ridiculous. I know I've mentioned this before, but I consider my academic journey a part of my spiritual journey, and I feel like declaring my religion major next year will just be one more step on said journey.

Ugh. The journey metaphor is so painfully cliche. Note to self: think about a new spiritual metaphor.

I'm also really excited about getting involved with the Episcopal student thing at my school. I have a friend who helps run stuff, and I've talked to her about joining in. I think it'll be really great to be connected with a faith community at school.

And again, welcome friends!