It's up to you -- New York, New York

One World Trade Center

     I am riding back from New York this evening. It really was a sacred pilgrimage for me. New York is a tough city, and I feel empathy for those who live there. I can see why mother wanted us to leave. I imagine I would have become a strangely different person, perhaps more intimate with the streets and the darker side of life. I don't know if I would possess the knowledge I have now, or if I would be spiritual at all.
I wonder what it is like to be in active ministry in the city. I imagine it must be very challenging, but I wouldn't mind. If it's not challenging, it's not the work of God.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

     I've been thinking about education, and how I could be in a state school right now. I don't like how Adventist institutions are so far away from the city. People become superficial and complacent. I hate that. As a minister and educator in training, I need to be where the dirt is. I'm not upset that I haven't been able to experience the tougher side of life, but I'm upset I've been oblivious to the reality of life. In most cases, Adventist Education does not prepare one for real ministry. People will keep living in their white washed worlds but they are not aware of the social problems people face. We address gay marriage and abortion, but what about poverty and homelessness and hunger? Surely I know this isn't the first time Christianity has been called out for forgetting the men and women with whom Jesus lived.

— ✈ —

The Occupy Wall Street gang 

Rockefeller Center

New York Times Building

Jackson Heights Adventist Church

     I've always longed to be a part of New York at night. I've always held a premonition about city night life -- that it is some great and fun concept, that I can soak up the energy of the city at night. But all I could feel was emptiness. You think you'll meet somebody, you'll hook up, or something like that; all I felt was a void. You can't enjoy this city if you're alone, and many people here are. So as I thought about life and where I am, while I was in New York, I realized just how lost I am. 
     And the city seems like it'd be so much more lovelier if you're in love. I mean, you start thinking about a person you want to be with and

New York Public Library

Times Square

I'll stop there with that.