Free Food

This post has been edited per request :)

Yeah, it doesn't take much to get me at least interested in attending some meeting or other. All you really need to do is mention "free food" in the flyer, and you've got my interest . I know, pathetic. Well, when cash is tight and you've got the time, free food looks good. So this evening, I went to an Ice Cream Social held by the Christian Students Association (CSA). The ice cream was quite good. I had some mint chocolate chip and strawberry something. Topped with chocolate and Three Musketeer Syrups and of course... sprinkles! I haven't had sprinkles on ice cream since I was a kid. It was nice to indulge. Then after that I went to the Asian Pacific Islander Students Association (APISA)'s first general meeting. Where after some brief announcements they served more free food! yay! lol. I actually wasn't very hungry since I had just eaten dinner about an hour prior, but I took a box of it back to my dorm for a later time.

For the CSA thing, all I did was go there, get ice cream, leave, and eat ice cream. I actually listened and stayed for the entirety of the APISA meeting. Their president, one of the biggest, buffest Asians I have ever seen, Mike, got up and made his schpeel (sp?). He just looked like a "muscle-head".. no offense. But yeah, I found out about a volunteer project called Project Vietnam that's in conjunction with a Pediatric Association in Cali (CA). Basically, students can go to Vietnam for a period of time with persons from this association and they can get involved with hands on primary and pediatric care. This I found quite intriguing and signed up for more information. Oh and the food was decently okay. Not quite like Chinese back home, but a decent substitute for the time being.

This afternoon in Substance Abuse class, my prof, who shall not be named, was talking about how he had not yet come to a decision about what he believed in spiritually. He said that he was raised in a very conservative religious home, and was a pastor at the age of 17. But for reasons he did not say, or that I fail to remember, he no longer holds to those beliefs. He now refers to God in prayer (when asked by his mother, who is still very religious, to pray) as "Father, Mother, God." He found it interesting that his mother found this offensive. He said he was intrigued his acknowledging that God may have female attributes would cause someone of the female gender to be so upset. He does though seem to believe the world was created, or at least there was intelligence behind how the world came to be. Then he said that he was open to any of us students who wanted to try and enlighten him more about God and spiritual matters, and asked if any of us would like to come by his office and do so... I had the urge to say something, but remained quite as did the rest of the class. He then asked if we were like him then, not sure yet what we believed spiritually. He asked if there was anyone who... knew what we believed. Here the urge to say something was very strong and in my mind I thought of the story about the student who dared to defy an atheistic university professor and say he was a Christian and believed in God when no one else dared. But somehow, I never did say anything and my professor asked if perhaps none of us just wished to say... I must say, I questioned myself as he returned to the subject at hand and continued to lecture. What was it that kept me from taking a stand? Was it fear? Was it shame or embarrassment? No, I don't think it was the later, because I had just the day before voiced somewhat of my beliefs and how I was named for the grace of God. But fear? I don't know if it was quite that. I think it may have been more of an uncertainty I had that if he were to ask me deep probing questions about my faith I would not have an answer to give, or not one that I felt I could... well defend, even though I stood by it. I feared more my hesitancy, stuttering, and lack of knowledge. This was foolish I know. Part of me was struggling to say something because he needs the truth, while another was saying to me, well, you don't know it well enough to convey it clearly to him. And my silence saddened me, because I had not the confidence or boldness to speak when given such willing and open opportunity. I must needs address these issues in myself...