Keep Singing

So, a funny thing about this blogging world is that it affects how I hear conversations in class. While in-class conversations happen, I'm running a parallel conversation in my head... "Well, Cliff would probably say this..." or "Yeah, Jeff/Tripp/Jane posted about that last week...." So, its no suprise that after my post on voice, it affected how I engaged in a discussion in Ethics class. Heres my post for that.

What Sidelines? – An Ethics Post

A line from Thursday’s Bruce Cockburn Moment stuck out to me No adult of sound mind can be an innocent bystander. Obviously, it struck some other folks, as our conversation on the hazing in Glenbrook went on for quite awhile. Before that conversation, it reminded me of my old job doing teambuilding. We used to tell our groups (mostly junior and senior high kids) that sitting out was a form of group participation. They always looked at us like we were nuts, which is partly what we were going for. We would then explain that the choices they made affected the entire group, and they should not give themselves the luxury of thinking that choosing to sit off on the sidelines wasnt going to affect the group interaction and development. This is true in life as well – our choices affect the people around us and the world we live. That includes our choices to act, and our choice not to act, our choices to speak up and our choices to be silent, our choice to engage or our choice to sit out. Our voices are gifts from God, and we are expected to use them. Our liturgy recognizes this - in the Confession of Sin, we confess that we have sinned by thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. Living a Christian life means not having the luxury of saying ‘Its not my problem’. But it does mean having the luxury of knowing that when we mess up, we can ask for and receive forgiveness, then get up and jump right back into the game of life.