Life Out There
by Rebecca Shwayri (Sep. ’01)
Alas, summer is quickly drawing to an end. I’m sure that many of you out there were spiritually renewed at the Antiochian Village and Parish Life Conferences. Summer conferences and camp provide a much needed wake-up call. Many of us (including this author) begin to realize that we established bad habits over the course of the past year, and it is time to start anew. We’ve started to notice the minor spiritual slip-ups that were a part of our way of life. While beginning again may not be easy, it is definitely possible to establish a new and better way of life with God’s help.
One of the reasons that a minor spiritual slip-up can be a cause for concern is due to the fact that minor mistakes can develop into habits. These habits can eventually become part of our way of life and can make becoming closer to God much more difficult. Now that we are aware of these habits we may foolishly think: “Oh, I’m aware of my old habits and so I now can rely on myself never to do that again.”
However, this way of thinking probably got us into our problem in the first place. Of course, we must not rely on ourselves as we strive to lead a new and better life. We must constantly abide in remembrance of God and walk in His presence.
Going back to college makes this constant remembrance of God difficult. Returning to dorm life after a summer break can make moot all our good plans for change. My own concrete advice to those of you going back to school or going to college for the first time this fall is to PRAY CONSTANTLY. Constant prayer serves as a deep and continuing connection to God. Keep in mind that your prayers do not need to be lengthy or elaborate. In fact, your prayer can be as simple as the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.” This sort of constant prayer and reliance on God will make establishing the new way of life attainable.
