Josué is someone that I want to do work with for the rest of my life. He was one of the first people I met when I came to Mars Hill Graduate School and has remained one of my best friends since. He has an incredible eye for beauty. He can spot it in an instant, and you’d know this the minute you saw his and Nicole’s apartment. Layout is of divine importance to them both, from their food to their theologies to their sofa. How can theology have a layout? Maybe you should come to Mars Hill PLUG. Royalties, MHGS. Royalties. Say 5% of incoming student’s tuition payments? Handshake and agreed.

About a month ago, before I began writing on my blog again, Josué asked me if I’d help him in making an advertisement for our school that would go in Relevant Magazine. Any chance I get to create with Josué I take immediately. You should not read that last sentence in the context of procreation. That would be a poor reading on your part.

So we went to Zoka and a few hours later, me writing and Josué designing using some of my photographs, we came away with what is below. Also, I’m not nearly as angry as I look in the little photograph.

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The word blog is incredibly nuanced in my opinion. It doesn’t hold a single meaning, but rather layers upon layers of meaning, all depending on the content. Food blogs. Celebrity blogs. Dog blogs. Stop blogging about your dog. No but really. Stop it. Ending personal angst: now. Mom blogs. Art blogs. Travel blogs. Gossip blogs. If you can think of it, there’s a blog dedicated to it somewhere.

But my favorite blogs have little to do with content; it’s almost always the context to which I’m drawn. It’s when the writer shows up, when he brings himself. It’s when I can sense her sitting behind her computer somewhere, allowing herself to be fully present in her words. If authenticity seeps from every letter, then I’m hooked. Maybe he’s writing about preparing his favorite curry dish, the detail of each ingredient, the colors and how the smells take him back to that day particular day when he was 15, and his mother was teaching him how to get a feel for just the right amount of spice. Or maybe she’s telling a story about when she was driving up Highway 101 on the coast, taking in the breeze, stopping every few hours to take snapshots of the ocean. And she knew that the photographs couldn’t capture what was happening at that exact moment, but they would always stir up the memory, and that’s what she wanted to preserve as much as possible.

I’m a sucker for a good story, and even more so if the author is present in his or her words. Likewise, if the author seems absent, or if the words feel contrived, then I become absent as a reader. But if she flows authentically through her words, then it doesn’t matter what she writes about. I want to read it. It’s through other’s experiences that I often learn about my own experiences. As a human, I have a deep need to relate, to feel another’s presence. I want to know that I’m not alone in this, that other’s are in it as well, even if their it is very different from my own it.

Mars Hill Graduate School has taught me what it means to be fully present, or maybe more honestly, what it means to take steps towards true presence. Yes, I’ve written papers, read books, and given presentations in the hopes of getting a degree, but what I hope for from all of those things is to become a better man, to have meaningful relationships, and to love well.

It’s been the students, my friends and peers, that have taught me the most. They’ve inspired me to strive to be authentic in every endeavor, whether it’s blogging, graduate school, or having a good conversation with a friend over a good cup of Seattle coffee. I am learning to be comfortable with myself, to be honest and vulnerable, and to value others more and more as my time at this school goes on. I am here for a degree, but I am here for so much more than that.