So, a Protestant, a Mormon, and a Catholic all went to lunch together...
But really. Today, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Matt and Jacob. Jacob is a new mention in the blog. He's a freshman this year at WSU. We met through the opera, and have been getting to know each other. It's always fun to hang out with new people and get to know them. Plus, I totally have a soft-spot for the introverted freshmen that don't like being outgoing. Anyway, it really was the coolest thing. The three of us shared a meal together and ended up talking about Jesus. Now, in the event you don't know, Mormons, Catholics, and Protestants are all pretty different. But that didn't matter. We just talked about Jesus, the bible, crazy churches, and some different philosophies. Did I pick up on differences? Of course. Did any of them matter? Definitely not. The three of us realize that people come from different backgrounds, but more importantly we realize that Jesus is the only thing that matters. It doesn't matter if we have different interpretations of texts, or if we believe differently about communion, baptism, church leadership, any of it. The commonality of Jesus being Lord, the Messiah, is what let's us talk so freely. To quote Jacob "It's quite refreshing". Maybe no one else thinks this is cool, but I loved it. And I loved that the conversation just turned to Jesus. None of us went into lunch planning on it. We just wanted to spend some time hanging out. I just think it's great.
Tonight, I found some notes that were written to me in Canada. People talked about my joy, my loving people, my compassion. I feel like if people from school were to read these notes, they would be like "what? That isn't the Sean we know", and that breaks my heart. I hate that I am different at school than I am when I'm around my Young Life community. I need to be consistent. I don't know why it is hard for me to love my peers like I love my high school guys or my friends from Summer Staff. If anything I should show love even more to my peers. So, if any of you read this, I am sorry. I apologize for not treating you the way I want you to be treated.
NATS (National Association for Teachers of Singing) happened this weekend. I took third place in my category, which is nice. NATS is tremendously subjective, and sometimes it feels unjust, but that's okay. Making the finals is the important part. I got to spend the weekend with Matt, which was a good time. We were together constantly from 17:00 Thursday to 21:30 Saturday. And then we hung out again today. Matt did well at NATS. He got 4th in classical and 2nd in Musical Theatre. I am really, really proud of the way he sang. I told Aaron about it tonight. I said "Matt didn't sing the most challenging, impressive thing ever for classical, but you just can't argue with a great voice. Matt has a great voice that he is really learning to use well". Seriously. I could listen to the kid sing pretty much all day. I love performing with him. I'm fortunate to get to share that with him. I'm fortunate to get to work with all of the singers I work with. They are amazing. I enjoy my time with them immensely.
Performing with your best friend is just legit. We don't really talk about much with the music. We just kind of do it and it goes well. Matt and I think the same way. It's a really cool thing. Watching him grow has been one of the highlights of college for me. I love seeing people succeed, but when that person is my best friend, it's even better. I loved getting to be at NATS with him and see him realize even more the talent that he is. People would compliment him, and I'd just glow with pride even though I had literally nothing to do with it. Bridget and I are the same way with the musical aspects. She follows exactly what I am trying to do with the music. Occasionally she and I will have to talk about something, but that's to be expected. Matt and I do, too. But it is very rare with both. More often than not, I only have to tell Bridget about something specific when I don't know how to communicate it well. So it's on me.
If you ever have to perform regularly with someone, let them know your life. I perform better with people that I trust in daily life. Makes sense. If I can trust them with my thoughts and emotions, I can trust them with my music. After all, for me, music is the expression of my thoughts and emotions.
I feel like if a Protestant, a Catholic, and a Mormon can all share a meal together, share lives with each other, and look right passed any differences, then I can be compassionate, kind, and joyous at school. Jesus has done and will do amazing things. He can soften this heart of mine. I just have to let Him. So, here goes. Lord help me.
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