It is a strange moment in history--or maybe it won't be at all. Let me capture some thoughts, so that in later years, when I wonder why I didn't write about _______, maybe I can reconstruct.
--It's been a week where more campuses across the nation join the protests that have been happening at Ivy League campuses. From what I can tell from a distance, these protests are pro-Palestinian, but some of the protestors have tipped into ugly, ugly antisemitism, some of it tinged with misogyny (and some of it dripping with misogyny).
--I think of anti-apartheid protests on campuses during my student days. No college commencements had to be cancelled, not any that I remember. The demand to divest from South Africa seems more doable than the demands that today's students are making. I do realize that I'm biased.
--I think of my history of teaching, and how few radicalized students I've had. Far more common was the discussion that we had during the Iraq war in 2004, where a few male students decided to join legitimate companies that would send them abroad as mercenaries--what did we call them then? Why can't I remember? They didn't want to join the military because the pay as a mercenary was much, much better, and the time period required to commit was far less. They were aware of the danger, and they were aware that their ability to earn really good money in a short period of time was very limited. They saw it as an opportunity, and some of them took it; I have no idea if they survived.
--As I heard about various administrators at campuses making a variety of decisions, I have been so glad that I am not an administrator anymore, even though I've never been an administrator at a college where students were going to demonstrate and shut down parts of campus life. As with the students who went off to be mercenaries, most of the students I've known have had to work multiple jobs and juggle family commitments.
--Last night, as I saw the news that USC (the USC in California, not my alma mater) had cancelled graduation, I was attending my last class meeting of Systematic Theology. We were all on Zoom, and I thought about the fact that we were talking about the doctrine of Eschatology and all the ways we've interpreted the End Times both as Church and as individuals as the U.S. seems to be inching closer to all sorts of End Times.
--I was already expecting this summer to be full of bad news, but I was expecting hurricanes and other types of bad weather. We've had about 420 days (13 months) of record breaking ocean temperatures, with 2023 being off the charts, and 2024 being even higher. I am so glad that I don't own a home in a hurricane or flood zone anymore.
--I am also glad that I don't live in Chicago. I am glad that I'm not going to be at the Democratic National Convention this summer. Will it be a repeat of 1968? Or by then, will we have issues with China taking all of our attention?
--Perhaps I have China on the brain because I just finished 2034, a book which has a confrontation with China as the apocalyptic trigger.
--My spouse wanted to experiment with glass etching paste and the tiles that we're using in our bathroom. So yesterday we went to Michaels, got supplies, and spent a fun afternoon seeing what the supplies can do. We did some experimenting with strawberries, creating a sauce for our grilled chicken. It was delightful to have some creativity time on a sunny, Spring afternoon before my last Systematic Theology class in the evening.
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