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Engaging with a Forked Up Society: “The Good Place” vs “Civil Disobedience”
By Ben Colon-Emeric, TD '22. Ben is majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.
There’s a lot of talk around the Yale campus about being “complicit.” The idea is that if you put money into a system that is participating in immoral actions, you are engaging in immoral actions. The protests about Yale divesting its endowment from various investment groups, for example, often use this language of being “complicit.” The problem this raises in a deeply interconnected society is where to draw the line: are we complicit in immorality simply by participating in society?
Two Ways to Get Home
By Bradley Yam, SY ‘21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics & Economics and Computer Science.
College is a place filled with worry enough, especially for bright-eyed newcomers to the hallowed halls of the Academy. Those among them who have faith often carry an added burden: the fear of losing it.
Hope Is a Thing With Flesh
By Bradley Yam, SY ‘21. Bradley is majoring in Ethics, Politics & Economics.
This year I’m celebrating Easter all by myself in quarantine. It feels surreal to hear the sound of the hotel door latching irrevocably shut, knowing that it will stay shut for the next fourteen days. In here, it’s easy to hope. I could stream the Easter service from my local church, sing along with the songs and be satisfied with warm feelings and abstract ideas. This is the kind of hope of Dickinson’s “hope is a thing with feathers”, hope that whispers in the soul but asks nothing of you at all.
As much as I love Dickinson, that [hope] is too light and ethereal to stake action upon—only the shadow of the real thing.
Prayer Thoughts on Holy Saturday
By Daniel Chabeda, ES ‘22. Daniel is majoring in Chemistry.
A lie that many young, vibrant, potential-filled people come to believe is that busyness is the maximization of effort. This is not true. An effective servant of God must pray, receive instruction, and do no more (yet certainly no less) than what God ordains. Zeal for God must be pursued on God's terms, by his ordaining in our lives. Without this discipline, we become like Martha, who chose to do a good thing by offering service to the Lord, but missed the better portion that Mary received by sitting at Jesus’ feet.
Roman Holiday
By Sharla Moody, BK ‘22. Sharla is majoring in English.
I wonder whether I would have chosen not to pursue the wonderful things that I did if I had known how they would end and how I would at times feel about their endings. And, on Friday, we recognize the worst ending in the history of the cosmos: our Lord, Jesus Christ, giving Himself in complete humiliation to be crucified for the sake of a crowd that utterly rejects Him.
I’ll Give You a Daisy a Day, Dear
By Vienna Scott, BF ‘21. Vienna is majoring in Religious Studies and Political Science.
While Coronavirus rages outside, we sit quarantined, like that prophetic family on an arc, together. Not rain, but disease fills the outside world. Every once in a while, I spend some time outside, moseying around the first budding flowers, thrusting through the remaining fringe of snow. Amidst the crocus buds and daffodil stems, I’m hoping to find the first daisy of Spring.
Upcoming Events:
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Weekly Meetings
THURSDAYS 5-7PM, Branford College Trumbull Room
Discuss with us what it means to think Christianly and write for our publication.
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Philosophy of Everyday Life Seminar
THURSDAY SEPT 11TH 6:15-7:45PM, Elm Institute
Join us at the Elm Institute for a private version of the Elm’s popular seminar “The Philosophy of Everyday Life”. Readings will be focused on Friendship. No prior reading required. Food provided.
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Divinity School Private Archival Tour
THURSDAY SEPT 18th, 9AM, Yale Divinity School
We will be looking at the Yale Divinity School’s missionary collection, specifically focusing on letters from international ecumenical movements from America to China. We will be looking at how these relate to our theme of freidnship in a more nuanced way. We will be walking up from cross-campus at 8:30 am, but you can also meet at the YDS gates at 9 am.
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William Blake Private Exhibition Tour
THURSDAY OCT 2ND, TIME TBA
Peter Wicks of the Elm Institute will guide us through the traveling exhibition ‘William Blake: Burning Bright’ at Yale Center for British Art. No previous experience with art or William Blake required.