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April 15, 2019 | By Bradley Yam SY ’21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics and Economics.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
I am more blessed than I dare imagine. I am blessed with a loving family. I am blessed with generous, kind, and understanding friends. I am blessed with a place of privilege at Yale. I am blessed with many good things. It is possible that I am blessed with so many things I could hardly list them here even if I wanted to. And yet, why do I still anxiously scramble from place to place, why do I constantly fret and worry about the future, and why am I often dissatisfied with what I have?
March 9, 2019 | By Bradley Yam SY' 21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics and Economics.
"in thought, in word, in deed,through negligence, through weakness,through our own deliberate fault."
When the time for confession comes in our Church service, a weighty silence hangs over the congregation. I close my eyes, and bow my head. Within seconds, I feel displaced, I feel my alienation. It was a sense that I have not done what I was supposed to do, I did not say what I should have said or even meant to say, I did not even think what I ought to have thought. I am assaulted by the knowledge that I am not the man I could be, not the man I should be.
March 17, 2019 | By Bradley Yam SY ’21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics and Economics.
Proverbs 6:17 Here are six things God hates,and one more that he loathes with a passion:eyes that are arrogant,a tongue that lies,hands that murder the innocent,a heart that hatches evil plots,feet that race down a wicked track,a mouth that lies under oath,a troublemaker in the family.
By Bradley Yam, SY ‘21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics & Economics.
By Lauren Spohn ’20. Lauren is a junior in Currier studying English.
We have reached the end of our prayerful walk through this Lenten season, and we have come, at long last, to the empty tomb. Rejoice! He has risen; he has risen, indeed.
Thank you for taking this journey with us. We leave the final word to St. Matthew.
By Aidan Luke Stoddart ’21. Aidan is a sophomore in Eliot concentrating in the Comparative Study of Religion.
Jesus was reviled, oppressed, and afflicted. We led him like a lamb to the slaughter, to crush him with pain. He who had done no violence himself became an innocent victim of our own violence, and in spite of that, we call this Friday good.
By John Daoud, Pauli Murray College ‘21.
Glory be unto God, for it is unto Him we give thanks for having brought us to this blessed Holy Week, in which we commemorate the Passion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. What follows are just a few short reflections I have on the orders of the week, per the tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The translation used is NRSV.
By Trey Kinison, BR '20.
The reality is that it is much harder to picture treasure as the things that are close to my heart. The two numbers that define my academic performance, the one-page Word document that summarizes my achievements, and the 5-year plan built in my mind are much closer to my heart than any physical treasures I own. And when I attach my heart to something that does not completely fulfill, something that can always be topped or improved, then I will always be left desiring for more.
By Sam Oh ’20. Sam is a senior in Quincy studying Philosophy and Computer Science.
One of the most important endeavors in our spiritual journey is to pursue an understanding of a God too holy for our full understanding. To constantly learn more and more about the character and nature of our God, and to experience the truth of who He is.
By Bella Gamboa, JE '22. Bella is majoring in Humanities.
In this clamor, I regrettably have found myself distracted from the deeper significance and proper focus of the next few weeks — not the pile of readings or pages of writings I must tackle, but a man, at first glance a remarkably ordinary one, who died on a cross two millennia ago.
By Serena Puang, DC '22. Serena is majoring in Linguistics.
All this time I thought I was struggling to give a gift to God, but it turns out that He was trying to give a gift to me.
Bryce McDonald ’21 is a Classics concentrator in Leverett House.
Whether we are aware of it or not, we naturally discern between proper and improper ways of dreaming.
By Audrey Huang, BR '21.
“When he received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30, NIV)
What did You mean Jesus, when You said that it is finished, it is done?
By Angela Eichhorst ’22. Angela is a freshman living in Canaday.
I have a quiet confidence. It is still but certain and based upon God’s love and words of truth. It is a confidence that my God loves to give me good things. He turns towards me relentlessly. He “answers me”, “defends me”, “sends me help”, “strengthens me” and “accepts me”.
By Lillian Yuan, Pierson College '21. Lillian is majoring in Economics and Cognitive Science.
I violate my fast; I fall short.
I shower others with affectations; I fall short.
I lash out in pride; I fall short.
I chase after security; I fall short.
I lust; I fall short.I crave imperfect love; I fall short.I am human; I fall short.
This is part of a syndicated series for Lent 2019 with Harvard’s Christian Journal Ichthus. Visit Ichthus at http://www.harvardichthus.org | By Daniel Sutton, visiting student and recent Oxford graduate.
For a number of years, I thought Christianity was just this – it was a set of rules, through which God told me how to do the right thing and how be a good, respectable person, or at least look like one to the outside world. It seems that many of the crowd, or many of the people Luke was writing to, thought likewise.
By Raquel Sequeira, TD ’21. Raquel is majoring in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry.
Repeated failures during Lent are merciful reminders to fall to our knees, the posture that is required of us when we take communion and say: “we do not presume to come to this your table, oh merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.”
By Lauren Spohn ’20. Lauren is a junior in Currier concentrating in English.
Now that we’re privileged with the chance to choose, we’re paranoid about making the wrong decision. The more options we have, the higher the opportunity cost of choosing one option. Call it the paradox of choice, existential FOMO, the bigger utility loss incurred when I choose between a Snickers Bar and a Twix than when I choose between a Twix and nothing.
By Keniel Yao, MY ’19. Keniel is majoring in Statistics and Data Science.
Personally, I have too often failed to engage in dialogue. In spaces where I am of the majority, I have failed to advocate for your presence, to listen to your voice and concerns, to ensure your right to worship in safety. I have been content with generalizations rather than intent to see you, the individual, in all your uniqueness and common humanity. Whilst I did not shoot, I did not ensure that you would be safe in my home, our home.
By Jason Lee, TD '22. Jason in majoring in Global Affairs.
First, that the visible reality of the power of God is as much a function of our belief in it as it is lightning bolts and quail flying low, and that even what feels like projection or pretending to see is not pretending at all. That we would even try to turn to God is testament to an unrecorded, unworldly strength that we can claim through Him. Second, that even if, in our hubris or our earnestness, we fail, this world and its challenges are shadows of the won war, and its consequences are not eternal, not real to our souls.
By Allen Lai ’20. Allen is a junior in Quincy concentrating in Chemistry and Physics.
Sin crushes. Sin makes us act in shame and guilt, crippling our ability to live out fully the freedom of our human identities as the image of God on earth. It takes away our focus from the service of God, and moves us away from being attentive to his voice. It diminishes our quality of life in every way, and living with sin is truly akin to a slow, wasting death. How can we be free from its tyrannous rule?
By Bradley Yam, SY ‘21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics & Economics.
I remember when I walked in knowledge that you love me, I remember when I thought of you and felt only joy, I remember when I was sure that you were so near to me, I could almost reach out and touch you.
By Vienna Scott, BF '21. Vienna is majoring in Religious Studies and Political Science.
In this Lenten season we intentionally commit small acts, acts which will never come close to Christ’s sacrifice, because God loves us in spite of ourselves. In light of this, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—as our true and proper worship. We strive to break the patterns of this world, and are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Ana Yee ’21 is a History & Science concentrator living in Kirkland House.
When we recognize that our physical needs are a means to understanding our spiritual need, we give our experiences value while keeping them properly submitted to the grander process of spiritual growth. Lent is a time to intentionally put ourselves in a place of physical need through fasting or forgoing pleasure so that we can better understand and express our spiritual longing for God.
By Titilayo Mabogunje, GH '20.
However, in a culture where there is so much emphasis on what “I” can do and how “I” should control my time and how “I” need to look out for my best interest, the gospel message seems extremely radical. It says it’s not about what “I” can do; it’s not about or how awesome “I” am; it’s not even about how sinful “I” am. Rather, it’s all about what God has done and who He is.
By Allen Lai ’20. Allen is a junior in Quincy House concentrating in Chemistry and Physics.
So too, today, we can look in the past at Christ’s death and resurrection, and remember the Lord in all of our ways, and seek him with all our heart. As we do so, he promises that he will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6), and that we will find him (Jeremiah 29:13).
By Daniel Tokarz, MC ’20. Daniel is majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
Lent is a time for prayer and personal reflection, to observe the places in our lives, both big and small, where we have turned our backs to God. Through fasting and the giving up some of the personal indulgences we typically enjoy, we can train ourselves to be more reliant on his Bread of Life, so that we may fulfill his calling of reorienting ourselves towards the Lord our God and continuing our walk towards Heaven.
By Bryce McDonald ’21. Bryce is a philosophy concentrator in Leverett House.
Nevertheless, like the Israelites, we are a stiff-necked people. At every stage in the Old Testament, we are deceiving ourselves if we read about the evil of the Israelites and believe that we would do otherwise in that situation. We must read ourselves into the story, and usually into the worst characters, in order to accurately apply Scripture to our lives. Thus, if we could approach God only by the merit of our actions, he would have to destroy us too, before we could see him face-to-face.
April 20, 2019 | By Bradley Yam, SY ’21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics & Economics and Computer Science.
YOSEF: Greetings! What is a young woman like yourself doing on a road such as this outside the city almost at the tenth hour?
SALOME: I am travelling to my master’s house.