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Hope: It's good to be back The school year has once again begun, bringing with it all of the flurry that traditionally marks the beginning of classes at any college. Now that I am back at school I would like to reflect upon the summer and what it means to come back to Hope. I had a hectic but enjoyable summer. I returned home Friday night fresh from finals to begin a full day's work in the fields of our farm the next morning. After a good night's rest, I went to Mass the following afternoon.
Monday morning at eight a.m. I had to report for a pre-work physical. At six p.m. that evening, I reported to work the grueling graveyard shift, six p.m. to two a.m. plus -more often than not it was plus. When the weekends rolled around it was working on the farm and church that kept me busy. Picture this routine day in and day out for thirteen weeks and you can see why I looked forward to returning to Hope. August fifth was my last day at work. I was supposed to vacation for two weeks, but
those plans were thwarted due to an illness in the family. Tuesday, August 30th, led me back to Holland and the Hope Community. The hassles of moving into my apartment are over now and 1 am all settled in. The hectic details I have mentioned have often gotten me down to the point at which I say to myself "What am I doing in this rat race." To answer this question I would think of how soon I would be done working and could get back to Hope. Being back on campus has set my spinning mind and weary body at peace. I am in an environment that I enjoy very much. Even though I have classwork to do, it is a relaxing atmosphere that differs greatly from my home surroundings. The pressures that were constantly upon me at work and home made me realize just how much I wanted to get back to school. I hope that for some getting back into the swing of things on campus can hold as much meaning as it did for me. For others who did not look forward to getting away from the dull summer routine and getting back to school, I hope that all goes well. In closing, to clarify all rumours that may have been circulating about me, I have been to two out of three fall convocations.
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Westphal praises "Salesman" To the Editor: I would like publicly to thank all those associated with the Hope Summer Theater for what they have given us this summer. I am especially grateful for the magnificent performance of Death of a Salesman. Great art has the power of putting us in touch with that inner wellspring of our being which is normally drowned out in the hubbub of everyday routine. Willy Loman and his family got to me in that way and 1 cried myself to sleep that night, enriched. The purpose of sending my thanks via the anchor is to place it in a larger context. The most pleasant surprise of my first year at Hope has been the excellence of what is available in the arts. As a music lover I really enjoyed the variety of musical events I was able to attend. But 1 must confess I tended to take them for granted. Christian colleges almost always have good programs in music. Rarely, however, are these complemented by theater, dance, and visual arts programs of the quality we
enjoy. The student productions of last school year's theater season, along with the dance concert and senior art exhibit of last spring represent an extraordinary asset not only to those directly involved in them, but to all of us. There is a very simple reason for this. Spirit, like nature, abhors a vacuum. And just as the weakening of religion means, in the long run, the growth of superstition rather than of secularism, so the absence of art worthy of the name only leaves room for the insipid forms of entertainment with which our society is flooded. I suspect that a more effective way of combatting the debilitating effects of such entertainment than joining the P.T.A.'s war on sex and violence is to foster appreciation of authentic art in all its modes. Surely this is a major task of liberal education and I salute those who are doing it so well here at Hope. Merold Westphal Philosophy Department MW/cc
by K. Gary Hasek "Religion is the opiate of the people." The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels. It may seem strange for a column concerned with the life of and in Jesus Christ to begin with a quote from some "atheistic communists." Well this writer thinks not and so will explain why. It seems that much of the Christ and Christianity that is proclaimed in our culture is tainted with illusions. Illusions that somehow the Jesus of Nazareth and the risen Christ of today came to make us happy, secure, cozy and filled with the nice things of life. Christ too often has become our genie from the bottle who awaits our every command or an everlasting Santa Claus to give us lots of goodies. This type of Christ, I believe, is an opiated version of the original. The Jesus Christ of the Bible one day encountered a man who was one of his disciples. This disciple said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father," to Jesus' remarks about following him. Jesus didn't say to the man "I understand your dilemma. Why don't you spend some time arranging for the funeral? Remember to buy lots of nice flowers." Instead, Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their own dead." The opiated Jesus says "Compromise, learn to fit into society, be ye comfy as I am comfy, invest in lots of secure stocks, have a nice split-level ranch in the suburbs and remember to keep the lawn nice and trim." The original says "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." We who are opiated Christians visit our local houses of opiation and are injected with comforting words and blessed insurance. But the Christ of the New Testament seems to call us to something so very different. How can we then live the life that the biblical Christ calls us to live? How can we get off our spiritual addiction to the wonder drug of easy Christianity? I really don't know for sure. There sure are a lot of books around which tell me how to in many and various ways but I doubt their real value to daily living. Reality brings with it a total dimension of joy, fear, anguish, despair, loneliness, laughter and occasional loving kindness. The Christ of the Bible experienced all of these. "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity...he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2: 14-17. So let us plod onward. The Christian life is not supposed to be "cozy fun" and it isn't. It is supposed to be abundant, that is, filled with all that life is. There are no easy outs for the followers of Jesus Christ, who makes clear the real task of love at hand. The Lord Christ will not be opiated even when our lives are. He is the reality we must seek and struggle with all our souls to follow.
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Published during the college year except vacation, holiday and examination periods by and for the students of Hope College, Holland, Michigan, under the authority of the Student Communications Media Committee. Subscription price: $8 per year. Printed by the Hi-Lites Shoppers Guide, Printing Department, Fremont, Michigan. Member, Associated Collegiate Press, United States Student Press Association. Office located on ground floor of Graves Hall. Telephone 392-5111, Extension 4600. The opinions on this page are not necessarily those of the student body, faculty or administration of Hope College.
Editor Bob Baker Associate Editor Samme Orwig Assistant Editor Lois Maassen Photography Editor Steve Ward Assistant Photography Editor Jeff Smith Sports Editor Karl Bierbaum Business-Ad Manager Jill Vanderlaan Cartoonist Gary Hasek Layout Janet Watson Copy Editor Diane Thomas Reporters Brad Kirk, Glenn Johnson, Nancy Vande Water, Jill Vanderlaan, Gary Hasek, Samme Orwig, Robert Baker, Karl Bierbaum, Janet Watson