Koinonia

Today was a great Koinonia. This Thursday we are going to serve at City of Refuge.

• We will be leaving right after school @ 2:20
• City of Refuge is located in West Atlanta.
• We Will be home by 4:45.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Peace, Kaycee

This school year the continued focus in Koinonia is “Making a Difference”.  The first gathering we discussed the common concept of asking questions and the importance that this practice holds.  It by inquiring and seeking answers that we are able to grow as people and expand our minds and abilities.  However, two things should be noted when asking questions:

1) Do not be alone in finding answers.  We were made for community and are gregarious creatures. This is a vital role in our make-up as human beings.  We also need to ask people who have wisdom and experience.  What good is it to ask questions to people who only know as much as you do.  Inquisitiveness is important . . . you might be surprised how much you learn!
2) Be apart of the answers! At Koinonia, we specifically talked about the question of “Why is there suffering in the world”? I noted that this generation (the Mosaic generation) desires to not only ask questions, but to be apart of the action.  Let us be a people who see what is unjust, not being ignorant, and choose to use our lives to make the world a better place.This semester we will put that into action. We are going to be making monthly visits to City of Refuge to play with inner-city kids that don’t have the opportunities that most of us do.  We are going to help impact their life by giving them our time, actively declaring that they are worth it!

Keep updated. See you Tuesday.

One of the many classes I am taking at college is Humanities: the modern world.  If any of you are interested in learning about art, literature, philosophy and history, I really encourage you to study Humanities.  It captures my mind, challenges my intellect and creates a thirst to know more about…well, everything! Our recent topic of study was “Dadaism.”  Those of you unfamiliar (which was me as of a few days ago), it was an international movement after WW1 which the primary purpose was to mock artistic ideals and social conventions, claiming that everything in life is ultimately purpose-less and absurd.  This mindset still permeates through the youth of our nation.  Perhaps not with some philosophical explanation, but the idea, like those in the 1900’s leads many to go through the motion of life without really ever living. So much of our society calls for selfish living, like the Dadaists.  Through their belief in a meaningless world, in essence, they are alluding to the idea that ‘life is meaningless, therefore it is pointless to help those in need.’  This is a selfish way of living, robbing many hurting people of rescue and love.One of my favorite albums is “Do You Feel” by The Rocket Summer.  This upbeat, pop-punk band sings out against this selfish kind of living.  Their music and lyrics portray the purpose of life, making difference. They stand out in a collaboration of other musical artists who encourage their listeners to only please their selfish desires.  Bryce Avary, the lead singer, honestly admits the dilemma of living in a world that is consumed with self-interest, yet wanting to make a difference:”Do you feel/the weight of the world singing sorrow/or do you is it just not real/cause you’ve got your own things/ yeah, we all have our things Koinonia does not wish to separate students from the “weight of this world” (the global crises) and claim it as meaningless, but rather calls for people to really feel the sufferings of this world and seek to change them.If you do heed this call, many will question your actions. Why raise money for people you don’t know? Why be kind to those who are not? Why spend your Saturday feeding the homeless? Isn’t this all meaningless? But you will know, there is hope and purpose in this Dada world…it is found in making a difference.   

As a new semester begins at The Campus, new changes occur in the world of Capitol Hill, Hollywood, the Middle East and so on.  It is easy to get lost in the news and the latest magazines.  This drama causes us to believe that change can only occur through the glamorous and famous, raising their voices and degrading the common individual.    It is clear that we all want to be heard and admired.  What is the point of Facebook if this is not the case?  We are obsessed with “status” and updating people on our life wanting to make it look as interesting as possible, like those on T.V. and in movies.  However, this fascination of wanting to display our lives creates distance from who we think ourselves to be and who we really want to be.  The desire to be significant is not wrong, only it must be targeted in the right direction.  You want to do something that counts and matters? That is good! Do you see problems in the world and want them to change? That is possible!  Gandhi says, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  There is so much to be done and we are the ones to do it.  The role of Koinonia is to highlight the crises in the world and then introduce people who are trying to make a difference with hope that they will inspire students to want to make a difference as well.  I guess that is our theme for this semester: Making a Difference.    Last semester we travelled all over the world, from Turkey to China to Africa to Azerbaijan and to our hometown of Atlanta, meeting people who have made or are making a significant difference in those places. These people are not any different or extraordinary, just common folks willing to help be the change they want to see. This semester, we continue our journey around the world.  We continue to fight apathy and speak out against injustice. I encourage you all to get involved. There is so much happening. Choose to make a difference using your talent, time and/or energy and you will see you status is not so focused on yourself but found when putting others first.   The first Koinonia of this semester will be on Tuesday, January 13.

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