Falcon Footnotes

One of my favorite Messiah Christmas traditions is the annual Christmas dance, Christmas Tradition. The dance is located at the Hershey Lodge and encompasses a delicious dinner and a dance. The dinner is definitely a highlight because it’s a four course meal in a beautiful setting, complete with candlelight and even cloth napkins! The meal consists of a salad with chocolate vinaigrette dressing, your choice of three dishes (this year there is a vegetarian option, cocoa chicken, or Tuscany chicken), mashed potatoes and veggies, a scrumptious chocolate pyramid dessert, and tea or coffee. It’s such a treat from Lottie or the Union. Following dinner is a dance, which is always so much fun. If you’re not into dancing, it can be a great time to catch up with friends and just relax and enjoy yourself before a grueling weekend of studying for finals begins!

At Messiah, once a month we have “elective” chapels, which are several chapels that focus on specific topics. Students have the option to go to one of several such as Salt and Light Chapel (focuses on missions), Logos (a series taught by a college pastor) and Kairos, a student-led worship service with a sermon by student chaplains. This past Thursday we had our annual Kairos Christmas Chapel and it was the perfect way to celebrate the Advent season. There was singing of Christmas carols, awesome melodies by talented performers, and one of the student chaplains shared some words from scripture. He reminded the student body that God pursues us and just wants us to stop in the busyness of the season to spent time with Him. He is the reason for the season, after all!

Messiah College may be Division III, but overall, I’d say that we’re number 1! Last night, the Messiah Men’s Soccer Team fought their way into their sixth Final Four , with Geoff Pezon scoring the winning goal to end it 2-1. What a thrilling match. The game was not won easily, though, with University of Rochester’s goalie guarding the goal with his life. The fans (and especially the Messiah College Hooligans) were going completely nuts when the final goal was scored. And rightfully so-it was an intense match-up that culminated in a clutch victory goal. Not to be overlooked is the Women’s Soccer team, who propelled themselves into the Final Four also after defeating Otterbein and Edicott Colleges, and finally dominating Johns Hopkins University with a 3-1 win. This is their 7th appearance in the Final Four. Wowsers. Finally, the women’s field hockey team fought hard against Salisbury this weekend, narrowly missing the National title by only 1 goal. Their 22-1 season record, however, is something to truly be excited about. Messiah soccer teams are in full throttle right now, heading down to San Antonio, Texas over Thanksgiving and they’re sure to make us all proud…again!

One of the great things about Messiah College is that every Friday and Saturday night, our Student Activity Board brings recently-released movies to campus. They only cost one dollar, which is unheard of considering at a regular movie theater, after popcorn, a ticket and a soda, you can easily spend twenty bucks! These movies are played at Parmer Cinema, our very own movie theater on campus, complete with plushy seats, cup holders, and fantastic surround sound. What’s even better is that these movies have yet to be released to the public as DVDs. For example, last weekend they showed 500 Days of Summer, a FANTASTIC movie, this weekend they are showing The Hurt Locker, and at the beginning of the year they featured the summer blockbuster, Star Trek. $1 movies at Parmer Cinema are a great way to kick off your weekend without burning a hole in your wallet or even driving off-campus!

So I was just on the phone with a student who asked me the ever ambiguous question: So, can you tell me about campus life? Don’t get me wrong, I love talking about Messiah College, but there’s so much that I can say that I often do not know where to start. Today, however, it was just on the tip of my tongue. I couldn’t help but talk about chapels and how unique they are to Messiah and my experience here. With all the demands of course work, mulling over the future, and finding time to hang out with friends, it is sometimes so easy to neglect our spiritual lives. For me, it is a daily surrender to focus wholly on Jesus, setting aside my own agenda for a few precious minutes with the Lord. However, chapel provides the unique opportunity to get away from classes, relax, and worship the Lord in the midst of seeming madness. What a fantastic way to take a break, lift our voices in praise, and expectantly listen to what the speaker has to share with us? Today, I was just overwhelmed with the blessing of being able to pause and take a look at the big picture. Sometimes that’s all we need to put our endless workload and commitments into perspective.