I don’t know how things are going in the world “out there”, beyond my blog, beyond this computer screen, in the lives of my readers (aside from my mom), but I hope that you all are well and life’s peachy. For now, however, I think I’ll take a moment and talk about what’s going on in my life. Selfish, I know, right?
Last semester, the Junior class at CVA had something incredible begin to happen. Derek Timms, beloved ex-student teacher at our school began implanting something into the minds of his students. An idea, a philosophy to live by and to always remember in daily life. He told them to “Live by principles, not circumstances”. What does this mean, might you ask? Principles: the rules you set for yourself, based on ideas and virtues and so on. Such as, deciding not to kill, because God says not to in the 10 Commandments. Circumstances: Things that happen in life, situations you’re placed in, etc. The point being made was that no matter what happens to you in life, love, family, or anything, NEVER stray from those values. Stay true to God, obey what He says, don’t bend under the pressure. It was a simple concept. One that we had no idea would begin to change our school…
It began, for me, one Thursday, back in September (if my poor memory serves me well for once…). The Junior class was ballin’, and I don’t mean doing amazingly at basketball. They were sobbing and crying, and the rest of the school was quite unsure of how to react. Some members of their class even skipped the next period to go sit in the Senior Room (decked out with couches) with our Religion teacher, Mr. Louie Roehl, and Mr. Timms. None of the rest of the school knew what was going on.
I learned later that day from my Junior buddy, Michael, about what had happened. “We’re trying to change CVA,” he told me. “And we know that if we want the school to change towards a focus on Christ, that it has to start with us.” What they’d begun to do during that class period was to open up to each other and share everything about themselves. Struggles, heartaches, pain, addiction, substance abuse, and things they’d gone through. They had started the process of removing their masks and showing everyone who they were underneath. This is one of the fundamental aspects of this whole project. Revealing who we are. Letting people inside our minds and hearts. When we let go of our pride and show people the dark corners of our beings, something incredible happens…
