The Graduate

Lately, i've been feeling a little bit like Dustin Hoffman's character in "The Graduate," minus of course the illicit sexual affair. I can relate with Benjamin's inner turmoil as he questions "what's next" and wonders where he fits in with the world changing around him. Everyone else is moving and shifting and yet, he feels like he's just staring into a fishtank wondering how to make sense of it all. I know my comments may seem a bit cynical, but can anyone else relate?






As I look at this post I drafted the morning after, i'm struck by something: the sheer irony of it all in light of the hardship many in the world around me face. I might feel a sense of disallusionment with dreams not realized, confusion over the future, etc., but such a reality is a gift. Even having the freedom and ability to consider different paths for my future and different places I might live is a gift. Today, I awoke to an email previewing a film that a guy from my church is working on called "The Redemption of General Butt Naked" and another quoting an article that has crossed my periphery quite a few times recently by an atheist on "Why Africa Needs God" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece). As I read these things, I am stung by my own cynicism. What a freedom it is to live in a place where I can even wonder what the future might hold, where murderers don't stand at my doorstep, and it's pretty likely i'll make it through the day unscathed. And yet, how unfortunate at the same time that i've totally missed the joy that could be mine today. I'm reminded in the midst of this time of questioning of the Mocha Club video I posted a few weeks back (https://www.mochaclub.org/mochaclub/welcome). The joy that the redeemed in Africa are experiencing is the exact same joy that we in America need. We're starving for it, and don't even realize it. I'll close with a few lines written out in the video, which get to the heart of the matter:

my new reality...
my joy should have no regard for my circumstances
i want what i have learned to trickle down from my head into my heart
i no longer want to need the "next thing" to have joy

They get it...