I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I live in a bubble. It’s often referred to by many PLNU residents as the Loma Bubble. So often I’ve poked fun at the idea of this bubble, but in the past few weeks I’ve grown more and more appreciative of this community we live in.
I don’t know what’s been happening the past few weeks, but prayer is everywhere. People are praying over others on caf lane, in the middle of the cafeteria lines, after chapel services.. I don’t know if it’s just me paying more attention to the subject, but I’ve noticed it more and more recently. At first I was really weirded out by this, but then I thought to myself “Why is it weird?” People publicly praying should be something to rejoice over! Here are people brave and strong enough in their faith to not care about what others think. It’s wrong of me to think that having a conversation with God is something weird, because it’s the absolute opposite. Prayer is powerful and intimate and strong and what God wants us to be taking part in. So maybe one day I’ll have enough courage to do it myself. Maybe when someone is in need I’ll have the strength and willingness to go out of my way and pray over them.
That same week I took the chance to watch a newly released movie, God is Not Dead. The premise of the movie is a Christian college student being pushed to decide whether he should admit God is dead and please his professor or stand strong in his faith and put in the extra effort to convince his class why there is a God. In the beginning, this movie made me feel extremely angry and upset. I couldn’t believe that a professor would go to such great lengths to prove that there isn’t a God and so harshly criticize his Christian student. Then it hit me, not all schools are like my beloved Loma Bubble. I teared at the thought of not having my professors who pray over my success, of not having professors who incorporate Christian beliefs into their teachings, of not having professors who taught me both academically and spiritually. Looking back at it, I don’t think I would be able to survive a day at a non- Christian university.
Point Loma Nazarene University has been a place of unimaginable development for me. It’s a community unlike any other, and a place which holds a unique role in my adulthood. It is a bubble, but it’s a pretty amazing one at that. A bubble where peers are encouraging and professors genuinely care. I wouldn’t exchange the experience I’m receiving now for an opportunity at any other college. There’s something fantastic about this place I get to call home.