Aaron Werner
Contributor
Most students will come to college not having a very clear picture of what they want to do when they are finished. This picture will not develop until on or before their junior year, and it only happens now because of the need to declare a major.
But even at this point some students still don’t really know what they are looking for in life. They may have just found something that they like to do or a well paying field that will satisfy parents and others who are ever watching because they just have their best interests in mind.
But what a student is actually searching for may not necessarily correlate to the majors they may choose to pursue. As a result many go through life unsatisfied, unstable, and always looking for something to complete this need.
Recently the campus community suffered a great loss in the sudden death of Hugues Mutombo Kazadi. One of the many messages his family conveyed to me was that he always made the most of his life by loving others. He was always happy, and would always go out of his way to help people, even those he did not know.
I’m not saying that he had all of life figured out, but that he understood something very important. He understood what it says in Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them to do to you…”.
The Golden Rule as we call it is a simple but complex life lesson that Jesus was teaching His disciples. It’s simple because being nice to people isn’t really that hard. In fact most of us can do it without even thinking.
It’s actually more difficult for most of us to go out of our way and be mean or to do something dishonest. It becomes complex because it’s supposed to be a part of everything we do. When we fully understand this, it causes us to examine our lives and the relationships we have with other people. Self-examination is very difficult and confrontational when we realize the way we’ve really been treating others has been hurtful.
I mentioned in the last article that to help students I take them places where they can see first-hand the conditions that other people are in. This helps them find what they are looking for in life because it opens their eyes to the rest of the world.
When you realize that the world is much bigger than you and your circles then you start seeing the bigger picture. The bigger picture being that it’s not just about you, but about the people you can help. You see the Golden Rule is complex because when it says “others” it just doesn’t mean the people that look and talk like you. It means everybody, everywhere, even the ones you don’t like.
I challenge you to look for ways to be kind, respectful, and generous to those around you. It may help you decide about your future and the path you want to take with your life. I challenge you to see the people around you in a different way, the way that we all need to see people, as ourselves. Maybe then you will find yourself and what you are looking for.
Aaron Werner is the director for the Baptist Student Union at Crowder College.
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