Your Friend Forever

"My guest tonight wants to help underprivileged kids go to college. Well, if they major in English, they'll become underprivileged adults."
- Stephen Colbert (season 4, episode 157)

Harsh words, Mr. Colbert--especially coming from a theater major! I thought you would have more respect for those of us in the humanities, particularly in light of your honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, but I guess I was wrong. I'm not going to lie, Stephen, I'm a little disappointed in you.

In other news,

I survived my first law school final exam! Huzzah!

It wasn't that bad, to be frank. The questions were fair, I was capable of answering the questions, and no major disasters transpired. It was a good way to start off final exam season. My Torts professor is so sweet, by the way. He's one of those older professors who reminds you of your favorite grandparent. At the end of a handout that he gave us going over the exam instructions, he wrote, "Have a great holiday after. Feel free to contact me in future years if I can be of any help at all. -- Your friend forever, Paul." My friend forever?! Could he be any nicer? I think not.

Anyhow, I am ten days and two exams away from winter break, my family, and everything that I miss about California! :-) Now, time to study some Constitutional Law.

‘Twas the Night Before Torts

‘Twas the night before Torts, when all through Georgetown
Not a first-year was sleeping, for none could calm down;
The outlines were reviewed by the students with care,
In hopes that comprehension soon would be there;
The 1Ls were weary, their hearts filled with dread,
While visions of negligence danced in their heads;
And mocha in hand for a practice exam,
I had just settled down to frantically cram,
When out in the quad there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
And pulled up the blinds with a thunderous clash,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of Gewirz! to the Capitol Mall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
Then they, to my awe, met my burden of proof
With the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
I felt in my heart a new hope abound.
Up the elevator St. Nicholas came with a grin,
And knocked on my door—he made quite a din!
As he walked in, the consent was implied;
No trespass to land was intended or tried.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And completed my outlines; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, he allayed all my woes;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew as though by judge’s dismissal.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy studies to all; may your errors be slight!”

Fingers Crossed

I had requested tickets to the Inauguration right after the election from Rep. Anna Eshoo, who is my representative for California's 14th Congressional District, hoping against hope that I might get a ticket. (Obama is all about hope, after all.)

Well, I got an email this evening from Eshoo announcing that she will be conducting a lottery for the tickets. Only those that submitted requests between July and November are eligible, and each lottery winner will receive only one ticket. To enter in the lottery, we have to fill out a new form on Eshoo's website by Monday, and she'll email the winners on Friday. Eshoo said that she had received 3,289 requests. With each congressperson getting 200 tickets, that gives me about a 6% chance of getting a ticket.

Actually, I think my odds are a little better than that, for several reasons: (1) some people won't bother filling out the form, (2) some people will give up because it is impossible to book a hotel room in D.C. at this point, (3) some people won't want to go alone with only one ticket per winner, and (4) some people won't be able to pick up the tickets at Eshoo's D.C. office in person with a photo ID before the Inauguration, which is required. So, we'll see what happens!

How is your prayer life?

David asked me the quintessential Fr. Charlie question tonight: "How is your prayer life?" What started out as a quick written response soon became a rather long reflection upon the trajectory of my spirituality this semester. I though I'd post my introspection here, as well.

My prayer life is pretty good. Something that I learned about myself this semester is that I cannot help but be involved in my parish community... I seriously cannot stop myself from doing stuff! I have some sort of compulsion for Catholic service. I moved into the dorms on a Saturday, went to church at the little on-campus chapel the following day, and immediately started helping out with the lector and Eucharistic ministries. Three weeks into school, I was a part of Catholic Forum, and had started a new Bible study. I was amused by several people telling me that they had assumed I was a second or third year, because I was already so involved with campus ministry. After 5 semesters on Seekers leadership and 3 on SMT, I had been looking forward to just being served by the Georgetown community for a while, but, when I got here, it was very evident to me that the community itself needed service. So, here I am.

But, that doesn't really answer the question, now, does it? I just described my communal interactions with the church, not my inner relationship with God. This is a chronic mistake for me, to equate church busyness with spirituality. While there is a spiritual element to the work, it alone a prayer life does not make. So, allow me to answer the real question.

September and October were a bit of a spiritual recession for me. I wasn't praying daily, and I interacted with Scripture only two or three times per week. I didn't realize what a negative effect this was having on me at first, but by October, I felt like something was off. Another perpetual struggle for me is trusting in God instead of relying upon myself for strength, and that started to show up more and more by the end of October. Thankfully, Campus Ministry had a retreat in the first week of November, which helped me a lot to think about prayer in daily life (the retreat's theme). It was very on-point.

So, November has been a good month, spiritually. I started to find more of a rhythm, doing something spiritual each morning and evening. I do different things depending on how I feel and how much time I have, but I make a point of doing something: the daily readings, the Rosary, journaling, reading a devotional book, the Liturgy of the Hours...

The past couple of weeks, I've had an inexplicable feeling of excitement and anticipation growing within me about Advent. I really do love the Christmas season. It's a chance to celebrate the coming of Christ, to spend time with family, and to express my gratitude for the blessings in my life. So, my prayer life is great right now. I don't know how I'd be doing if I didn't have God in my life as a law student. Some of the students around here are so stressed out. It makes me feel sad for them, and I try to reach out as I am able, but there aren't many opportunities. I really want to be an RA in the law school dorm next year--I think it would be a great way to bring a little more sanity and sanctity to this campus.

So, in this first week of Advent, which is all about hope, I am filled with hope. I hope that finals will go smoothly, and I trust that God will carry me through. I hope that God will use me to reach out to those hungering for His love here at Georgetown Law. I hope that I will continue to have the Holy Spirit fruitfully directing my passions. Amen.

So, how is your prayer life?

Peace

As a graduate of UC Berkeley, I am accustomed to unique personalities roaming onto campuses to proclaim their beliefs. I'm all for free speech. In the words of one of my favorite movie presidents, Andrew Shepherd, in his powerful speech at the end of The American President,

"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, 'You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.'"

Absolutely! However, at Berkeley, the speakers are on Sproul Plaza. You don't see them in the quads of the dorms, or on the lawn of a fraternity, or in front of apartment complexes. They are somewhat self-contained. Here in D.C., however, people seem to think that the expanse of scraggy grass that runs along the I-395 off-ramp next to my dormitory, is a great place to express themselves. And, you know, I'm even okay with that. Hand out pamphlets, give speeches, sell things to the cars stopped in traffic... go for it!

However, I think the man currently standing outside my window with a bullhorn is crossing the line. He is proclaiming the salvation of Jesus Christ, but he is not doing so in a productive manner. I doubt that law students studying for final exams will be receptive to his disruptively loud message. (We have double-paned windows that block out the sound of the interstate, and I can still hear him.) I've been told that he always comes by the law school during finals season to wreak havoc, including by directing his bullhorn at the library, which also borders the off-ramp. I just don't think that the Prince of Peace would try to reach out to people in this way.

I hope he finds peace, in more ways than one.

Putting the "bleh" in "blepharospasm"

My eyelid is twitching, which is really distracting. I decided to research it--because pretty much anything seems more enticing than outlining my Torts class right now--and, according to WebMD, it seems that I have created for myself a perfect storm for eyelid twitches, also known as a blepharospasm:

"Eyelid twitches may be aggravated by having dry eyes. They may also be worsened by stress, lack of sleep, caffeine, and harsh light conditions."

My eyes are dry from reading all day with my contacts in, I'm (just maybe) a little overworked due to finals, I haven't gotten enough sleep the past couple of nights, I had a tasty peppermint mocha earlier, and the fluorescent light above my desk is garish.

Go figure.

O Christmas Tree

I took a study break this evening and headed over to the West Lawn of the Capitol to see the Capitol Christmas Tree-Lighting Ceremony. The 78-foot tree, as we were reminded every sixty seconds throughout the ceremony, was provided by the great state of Montana. Seriously, I have never heard so much about Montana in my entire life as I did in the course of that 45-minute ceremony. The tree is estimated to be 140 years old, which is mind-boggling... It's as old as UC Berkeley!

The area around the tree was fenced off, and only important people (e.g., senators, the press, people from Montana) were allowed within the perimeter, but I found a pretty good spot behind the fence with an unobstructed view. An a cappella group from Montana sang Christmas carols before and after the ceremony, which was pleasant, as were the tunes by the Air Force Band. Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke, which made me happy, and proud for California. I thought it was cute that she invited all of the children from the audience to come forward and "help" her light the tree. The lights are LEDs, as a part of Pelosi's Green the Capitol campaign.

Behind the tree, I could see the half-constructed viewing area for the inauguration. It was pretty chilly--about 42-degrees with a slight breeze--which gave me a taste of what it will be like to stand out there on Jan. 20, though it'll probably be at least five degrees cooler, and precipitation is quite plausible. Brr. I'm asking for thermal underwear and hand warmers for Christmas.