One of the largest events to take place on the campus of Carnegie Mellon. Perhaps in my mind it felt that way. Maybe it wasn't really one of the biggest to hit the scene.
We had 2 hours to discuss, "THE MEANING OF WORK, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING".
Three professors would give mini-dissertations on their view of work and how it permeates the rest of their lives. How in the world could this be done?! As the saying is so often said, "So much to do. So little time."
On February 25, 2012 THE VERITAS FORUM was held on CMU's campus. As mentioned earlier, the topic of discussion was around work, the universe, and everything else that might come up. To provide a little bit of background on The Veritas Forum:
Supposedly a forum had been held on the campus on CMU before, but it was such a long time ago. The year prior in 2011 we had Mary Poplin come and present a talk entitled: Radical Marxist, Radical Womanist, Radical Love: What Mother Teresa Taught Me.
If you haven't picked up on a theme (i.e. My disgust with the extremeness of work in academia) from these last few posts, allow me to spell it out to you plainly. We live in a society that works itself to death. We work to be number one. We work to get things, sometimes things we don't need. We work because we think that it's one of the best ways to become better at life and for those in our future (e.g. Children, Grandchildren, Descendants) to have a better or more successful outlook based on their given position.
I'm not against work, hard work, or getting the best grades. I am against doing these things because they define you. For many of us this may not be true; however, for just as many if not more, it is.
Moving on from the soap box. I continued to learn more about CMU's fascination with hard work. I'm a hard worker and I like to work hard. The worse thing to happen to me during my time here was when I was physically not capable of working as hard as I wanted to because of a lack of superior health. Why? Here at CMU our motto is:
Now, I couldn't tell you exactly what Andy meant when he said that, but in my own personal way I came to understand what it meant for me beginning in the Fall of 2011. Veritas was an opportunity to show God exactly how special He was to me at the time. I put in much time, effort, patience, and prayer in ensuring I did work as if working for him (Ephesians 6:7-8). In all honesty I was trying to find God, much like Kelly Kullberg. I did find him...
So, "Christ doesn't need perfection". What does that have to do with Veritas???
I was the logistics director for this event, meaning I was in charge of everything that happened the day of. We had a publicity team, people who would pray, folks who made sure the speakers were taken care of...but for the duration of the event, from the moment the curtains went up, until the last person went home, the responsibility fell on me and my team.
I didn't even want to be the director, I only wanted to help. Fortunately God provided two freshmen who were "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed", as well as more than eager to do their part. Yet, "Christ doesn't need perfection".
Without going into too much detail, there were many things that "went wrong" the day of the event.
- We didn't start on time.
- We went beyond the "expected" times for each segment.
- A last minute addition to play "Remember the Name" for a professor, did not make its cue.
- The sound system wasn't the best.
- Some people left before we got halfway through the program.
- .....
- We didn't end on time.
I'm far from a perfectionist, but I do expect things to be done in a spirit of excellence. What do you do when you know things aren't going to be done the way you would do them? How do you handle the fact that a last minute addition has everyone in the audience saying, "What was that?!" Why continue to smile and enjoy the experience even though your plan is somewhat obsolete?! It's simple really...
Christ doesn't need perfection.
This was one of the few times I had worked with a group that had significant and noticeable differences within. Being the only graduate student I had to work with students who were in undergrad. Most of these were underclassmen. I wouldn't trade the experience because it allowed me to not only learn new things but grow spiritually in various areas.
Christ doesn't need perfection.
It's not exactly how I would've done it or possibly wanted it done, but you did the best you could. If what I perceive as a weakness really is a strength, how can I be mad (2 Cor. 12:9)? Another thing that I began to realize as God showed and revealed his Word to me through everyday interactions with folks, is that CMU stands for Kingdom. How so? Christ, Me, U (YOU), that's kingdom!
When we pray the Lord's prayer, we say: "Thy Kingdom come..." Many times when Jesus interacted with people he'd state, "The kingdom is at hand." Some people took that to mean it was near. Some folks thought it was actually there in front of them. Allow me to suggest that there are many happenings which lend proof to the kingdom being "at hand" or in the process of "coming". (In other words the Kingdom has an ability to come in stages, versus all at once.)
Another interesting concept is the ability to "make allowance" for the faults of others (Ephesians 4:2-6). On occasion you work with people who might lack a certain sense of urgency or understanding of how things should be handled. Time and time again there was mis-communication if any communication at all between myself and other heads of various teams. In particular some of my communication efforts went completely ignored. Of course that doesn't do anyone any good.
Christ doesn't need perfection.
I've been privileged to help people from various walks of life. One thing that I try to stress is the importance of recognizing reality as it actually is, and not for what we perceive or think of it to be. Simply put, I'll ask, "What's rule number 1?" The answer: acceptance. Often times life is beyond our control, unexpected events happen and it's in our best interest to roll with whatever is going on and try to make adjustments as quickly as possible.
I'm big on etymology (the study of the history of words), and for Veritas to be Latin for Truth...for Veritas to be the "logo" or motto of Harvard University...for me to have made it to an "ivy-league" institution even though I never had imagined I would in my wildest dreams...I'd have to say that it wasn't perfection that got you or I where we are today, but rather acceptance.
For you see, Christ doesn't need perfection. He's already accepted you as you are. When will you accept you as you are and your environment, life situation or circumstance as it is and not what it seems to be.
GraceNPeace,
liMitz
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