The lights are on... is anybody home?

I think there's something a lot of us do, whether is conscious or subconscious, and that's to try to figure out what others believe, as far as religion goes. I tend to do that at the beginning of the school year with new teachers. Within the first week or two, I tend to have a generally good idea with some, others my perception changes throughout the year, and some I guess I'll never know.

I just came home from my English teacher's house after an evening of babysitting. She, her husband, and I sat on the couch and talked about the public education taboo - religion. I've learned that her family is very religious, and that seems to be a comfort to me. There's something about school that makes me think that religion cannot be anywhere near it - probably the way I've been conditioned. Now that doesn't mean I don't try to incorperate it.

I went to a God First Always meeting today with a friend during lunch. It was the first time I had ever heard a group prayer on a school campus. To me, it was very strange. Sure, I've prayed during school (often... I got REAL close to God in chemistry...), but I think there's something in a lot of Christian students that makes us turn off our lights before we even step in the door. There's a fear in us that makes us unsure of how to approach people who we don't understand their beliefs, like a class full of students. Maybe that's why there's some sort of nature in us that makes us evaluate people before we really dive into religious discussions, or sometimes even comments. We have a constant fear of offending people, of being confronted and not knowing how to respond.

We're not too bad at being religious before 7am and after 3pm Monday through Friday. A lot of us read our bibles before bed a few days a week. We're pretty good about praying during the day. Our devotionals are half done. We have an unblemished church attendence record. We hang out with each other and support each other. But Charles Francis Potter did a good job of fulfilling his goal of making sure we are all forced to spend most of our waking hours in a humanistic environment.

I try to share God as much as I can during school, and home, or wherever I am, whether it's passively or directly. For me at least, it's almost easier to do this when I'm in my "youth group" setting in town. It's a total security blanket to have those kids and leaders around me, supporting me. They're trying to accomplish the same goals I am, and we're teaching each other every day how to run this race. So when I'm taken out of that setting, by either being placed at home or at school, it becomes ten times harder. It's kinda like actually taking the test. You've studied. You've gone to review sessions. The teacher's held your hand through the lecture and some of the assignments. But when the training wheels are taken off and it's all you, you finally start to realize just how hard the material is - especically if you haven't had mnuch practice. Except this time it's not the difference between an A and a B, it's life and death.

Maybe part of the problem is that because we all share this same awkwardness; we never truly figure out who our brothers and sisters are. Our lights may be on, but there's a big lamp shade covering them. I wonder how our campuses would look today if all the Christians knew about each other. I wonder how we would step up to create an army of God.

So my goal for tomorrow is to make a whole-hearted comment about God to somebody who I'm not so sure about their faith, or who I know isn't a believer.