Proud of a Pupil

This reflection is about an article I read that struck a chord with the way I approach controversial topics.

A few weeks ago as I was scrolling through Facebook, I ran across an article that was written by one of my freshman in PREP last year. It was about a controversy that I had seen and heard quite a bit especially at A&M. It was about the sustainability and impact of short terms mission trips. I had been on a mission the year before and had learned more about my God, the world, and myself. The controversy is whether or not any help is really brought or whether people use these trips as “vacations for God”. I know that my trip was not this case but it is one of those things that I feel people at school have strong opinions about while it seemingly seems like an accepted thing to do. I developed a kind of uneasy feeling that I know to look for and make memorable moment to reflect on.

One there was a huge sense of pride in the reflective writing that one of my freshmen was showing because it was wonderfully constructed and she was very vulnerable. Beyond my proud mom moment it was nice to see a point of view that was full of opinion yet also full of grace. I often struggle with having strong opinions in fear that people will think of them as barriers to our friendship. In reality I also see both viewpoint to a lot of issues and sometimes it is hard to pick one to side with. Her article showed me that having an opinion while addressing others as not wrong but just simply her thought process through the controversy was a new way to think about it.

I have learned that there is a way to present opinions in a way that also shows grace. I think addressing all viewpoints is a good first step as to avoid any arrogance and also to just bring focus that there are other people with other opinions and that they are not some sort of evil for having a different thought process. Also that there is no reason to not be vulnerable whether it is in writing or conversation to open up about the things you believe in that might be controversial. I think I always knew this because talking about faith is one of my favorite things to talk about with people, but for some reason other issues seemed to take less of an importance to me. I am continually amazed on how the people I have led teach me more than I imagined, especially this woman’s vulnerability.

#CommLabSummerReflections