somewhere under the sky

life.

this is what i experienced between 1 pm and 3:45 pm today:
in religion class we watched two videos, one was a documentary on the Women's March in Wash DC that was esteemed for presenting both sides of the issue (abortion/women's rights) but was clearly biased toward the women who were marching; the second video was called "Abortion Diaries" and presented in a very real way the stories of 10 or so different women who had all had abortions.
after class i walked by the central part of campus where i observed for 5 minutes an evangelical preacher and the crowd of students that were gathered around him.
walking home, i passed by the following: a man with wild hair and beard, head down searching the sidewalk for what i assumed were nickels and dimes; a girl who for unknown reasons has never been friendly toward me, i smiled and waved as usual, and was pleased that she actually acknowledged my presence by saying hi; a guy who 4 years ago asked me out on a date, even though i didn't realize that's what he was doing at the time and he has creeped me out ever since; a display in somebody's yard that included a sign with "Earth (does-not-equal symbol) Ash Tray" and various giant cigarette butts lying in front; and finally, a caterpillar that i saw alive this morning and had somehow gotten smashed during the day.
then, i voted. and thought it ironic that i was doing it in a church.

if i were to write a book, each of these events could be a chapter. that is why i am overwhelmed with life, or maybe i just think too much. women's rights deserve its own post(s); i will comment on the preacher.
the preacher had attracted a crowd to him. i later realized that while some middle-aged persons were there, it was only students who were engaging with him. no children or older persons were there (i assume they are both too wise to care). what i thought was sad was that while it seemed like these people were engaging in dialogue, we all know that the preacher is not really listening to what the students are saying, and the students are not really listening to the preacher. i wanted to gather them all, invite them over for tea, and say "so, what is the argument?" and once they realized they didn't even know what the argument is, i would say "well, we are all human beings who love and care about the people in our lives, right? let's go from there."
if the preacher saw the man that was scrounging the sidewalk for change, in what way would he be more acting like Jesus?
1. by opening his Bible and reading to him in a very animated and loud voice how all of his sins are forgiven and he now has eternal life through Jesus being raised from the dead -or-
2. by ushering him into the restaurant nearby and giving him a good meal, company, and a pair of ears to listen to his story.

posted by leah v @ 1:03 PM