Personal: Let me tell you some stories

One of the incredible parts of my job is the chance to speak to college students about faith, spirituality, and experience--and the chance to ask them deep questions and genuinely listen to their responses.

One of the tools I love to use that can strike up this kind of conversation is Soularium, and I really enjoy using it in tons of different ways to spark different kinds of responses.

For the next 50 days, I'm going to attempt something ambitious that I've never done before. I'm going to blog my personal responses to each of the 50 images in the Soularium survey. My prayer is that this will not only mean that there's something new for you to read here daily, but that it will generate some interesting discussion.

The first image is of sunlight streaming through a razor-wire fence.

Obstacles are always before us, or inside us, or surrounding us. Situations never seem ideal. It would be foolishness or a lie to say that I'm not afraid of lots of uncertainties these days. Will all of the support come in by August 1? What will happen to my academic career if I really put it on hold right now? What about my personal life?

Everyone wrestles with feelings of unknownness; it's part and parcel of the human experience.

When I think about the future--from what's going to happen on August 1 to what's going to happen in a year--I feel like there's a lot to be hopeful about. Despite the culture of fear that dominates all discussion about economy and society, I consistently find light and life in very dark places. It isn't that I'm naively hiding from the painful truth that life isn't always sunny. It isn't a blind, superficial attitude of blissful ignorance.

It is simply (and that's not often simple) trust. I don't have to know everything, I don't have to stick to a plan, and I certainly don't have to have it all together to have confidence that the God who created the world and the human heart is still at work right here with us. Nothing on earth can overpower that, I hear.