Now here's a song I like!!

'Orange Bubble' by Drew Fornarola '06
Performed by the Princeton University Glee Club

New Haven has its murders
Philadelphia decays,
And in the town that’s home to Brown
They smoke away the days.

They kill themselves in Ithaca
In Hanover it snows,
There’s violent crime in NYC
In Cambridge egos grow

But nothing ever happens in Princeton.
Of change and conflict we are unaware.
The same few rich guys fail to shut down Prospect Street.
The same six townies sit in Palmer Square.
’Cuz there is never trouble within our orange bubble,
Come back in twenty years
And nothing will have happened in Princeton,
Which I guess is why you’re all in here.

Comparatively speaking
Things are really pretty boring.
What passes for exciting here
Leaves normal people snoring.

But let things go on elsewhere, we’ll just
Keep paying tuition.
We’re satisfied to live inside this
Dull town, it’s tradition

That nothing ever happens in Princeton.
Of the real world we are in the dark.
Policemen here are just for decoration.
Blue light phones constructed for a lark.
‘Cuz there is never trouble within our orange bubble,
Come back in fifty years
And nothing will have happened in Princeton,
Which I guess is why you’re all in here.

Princeton Newsflash! Rob and Jane are through.
Princeton Newsflash! They changed the window at J-Crew.
Princeton Newsflash! Phillip drank too much and spewed,
And Jenny got a new high score in Snood.

Princeton Newsflash! A tree near Nassau Hall fell down.
Princeton Newsflash! Jack’s belt is black and shoes are brown.
Princeton Newsflash! That girl misused a preposition,
She must be sick. Quick! Go call her physician.

Outside terrorists threaten,
Famine wipes out populations,
And people die as tyrants try
To suppress rising nations.

But we don’t have to worry
Because with our cash
We know that we could feed two or three
Small countries in a flash.

So nothing’s gonna happen in Princeton,
Like nothing’s ever happened through the years.
And if we ever really have a problem
We’ll throw money at it till it disappears.
’Cuz there is never trouble within our orange bubble
Come back year after year.
Nothing will have happened in Princeton,
And Glee Club will still be here!

[I'll return to posting soon -- I promise. Too much is happening at the same time!]

The Joys of Family AND a Sermon

I was in Blue Mountain, PA, for independence day weekend. The area is known for its retreat centres and skiing, and for very good reasons too: I don't think I know another place more serene or more in tune with nature. It's my personal theory that the serenity and closeness with nature over there brings out a sort of reflectiveness and happiness that is crushed out by the hustle and bustle in more urban areas. I want to live there! Back to the weekend: to put it in the mildest terms, IT WAS A BLAST!! I don't really know what a high feels like (not yet, no) but this must have been it AND it was legal!

It was a Bible conference but much more than that - lots of talk with friends from Princeton and with my bible teacher's family. By the time we were headed back, I truly believed I had found family. They've always been extremely nice to me - and they are the nicest and kindest people in the world if you ask me. I have not said, and will never say, that they are the nicest people because they are Christian. No! Some of the funnest, most moral people I know are not. (I had to say this - I find people assume I mean this a lot) I am no Jerry Falwell. But this I KNOW: they are the way they are because they have given their life over to Christ and to the radicality of love that he stood for. And that is what I want for myself too. I'm glad I can share in the joys of family with them.

On another note, I gave a bit of a sermon on Independence Day, not that it had anything to do with independence. I preserve it here for my own future reflection but if you wish, I invite you to read. It's rather long. But the main points are these:

1. I am both a Christian and a skeptic. I see no contradictions. Life is not all white and black -- tints of grey permeate everything.

2. The main thrusts of the Christian life for me are threefold, as reflected through Jesus' life: --1.) a commitment to the weakest among us (the poor, needy and the sick) -- 2.) a commitment to the search for God and the truth through prayer, reason and meditation on scripture. -- 3.) a transformation of the self and re-ordering of our desires that can come only through the two commitments above.

Actually, no, I will not post the sermon. It's way too long. But the above points, I believe, sum it up. One image will stay with me perhaps for ever from the conference: One of the guys on the trip has a son who's autistic. So one night, his son comes back with moss and grime all over his feet, shoes and pants. And then, without even batting an eyelid, his father took him to the bathroom and washed his feet. The bathroom door was open -- and I watched. I want a world where such love and kindness is abundant. This love and kindness is what Jesus was about - what God's message is about. He sided with the suffering, with the sick, with people like me - certainly not with the firebrand pastors and the proud of today who pronounce anathemas on other groups and measure their faith by how much they think others do not live up to it. Love is the answer.

Shalom, Peace and Life to You,

Kwesi