Figuring out DC.

Since I last posted I've chopped cucumbers, onions and celery, seen pictures of the some of the worst crimes committed against humanity and experienced my first professional hockey game.

Getting the whole package here in D.C.

So I'll explain. The chopping business was part of my service project that students in the WJC are required to participate in. Required, yes, but I was quite happy and excited to do it. I served at the "DC Central Kitchen," which prepares and distributes 5,000 meals a day for various homeless shelters in the D.C. area. I met some pretty interesting people, including a woman named "Mrs. Dot," who, despite her drill-sergeant of the kitchen like ways and almost undecipherable accent, was all too lovable.

Today I went to the Holocaust Museum, which was simply amazing. A very powerful place that definitely will affect anyone who visits it (maybe the Iranian president should visit it). There were thousands of pictures, hundreds of artifacts and many videos in the museum that served to show the incredible plight of European Jews under the Nazi regime during World War II. I wouldn't do it justice trying to describe it in words, so I won't.

On Thursday I went to see the Washington Capitals play the Toronto Maple Leafs. (yes, Leafs.) One of the students here is from Minnesota, where hockey is like the state sport. I had a good time, even though we definitely got the nose-bleeder seats. (Hey, it was $10.)

Classes have been going pretty well. Our last session gave me a lot to think about. We had our director, who is an Orthodox Christian, explain to us how Catholic and Orthodox believers view the world in comparison to Wesleyan Christians (of which many evangelicals can be described as). Our popular Protestant culture in America has tended to encourage people to make Christian versions of whatever it is they do in life (eg. Christian music, Christian books, Christian radio stations).

Our director said this is very different from the typical ancient church view, which simply said you should just be the best at what you do--that is how you honor God. I definitely have been thinking about that the past few years, but the way he presented it was even more powerful.

There has been other stuff lectured on that has shaken my mind up a bit, but I'll just leave it at that; a lot of it is still processing.

Tomorrow we're visiting a new church: Capitol Baptist Church, which apparently is pretty well-known even outside D.C.

You all can be praying that I stay resolute in the midst of difficulties and doubt. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of frustration and stress when I enter my internship, and I don't want to get into a stage of self-pity. Rather, I want to push myself all the harder--learn and grow from my mistakes and short-comings. Also pray that I not draw back from the people around me. I've been really happy with how part of this WJC group I feel. For all you who know me and read my blogs, you know I have a lot of inner-turmoil around my social life and where I fit in sometimes. So it has been good that I feel so accepted and liked here. I just don't want to unintentionally lose that because I got lazy.

Love. Faith.

--mjf.