associated in random thought

allergies and don miller

They say that oak pollen is high right now, and so allergies abound in Austin. And maybe allergies affect emotions, because not only have I been ready for bed at 9 pm lately, I've been impossible to rouse in the mornings. I arrive to work 2 minutes after starting time, consistently, with no makeup, wrinkled professional attire, and yesterday�s hair.

�Late night?� my coworkers ask every day, and I shrug. No. it�s the oak.

Last night, I took myself over to Gregory Plaza on the UT campus, where Don Miller was set to speak at 7 for a �Deconstructing Christianity� week. Instead, I sat amongst kids in Christian tshirts, rocking out to bands I�ve never heard of, playing bland pop on the makeshift stage in front of the Gregory gym steps.

I soon found out that Don would speak last, after 8:30, and since I was feeling claustrophobic from all the people and hopping around (again, the oak), I walked in very uncomfortable shoes to Jamba Juice, where I enjoyed a smoothie and a pretzel. I read an article on Klaus Nomi for awhile, and then hobbled back to the festivities.

And so I sat on the lawn, honorary UT student, and took off my painful shoes. I caught the tail-end of an incredibly energetic slam poet, who looked and sounded like Shaggy (from Scooby Doo, not the reggae meesta lovah lovah guy). He had an affinity for jumping up and down a lot, and I very much enjoyed his spot-on impressions of tv evangelists.

Then Don came on, and spoke bits from his books, with great subtle humor and a calming gentleness. I liked him immediately, and was astonished at just how captive he could keep a rowdy audience. The heart of his message was that our innate self-centeredness/self-consumption keeps the world in conflict, and we spend our lives on how to end that conflict, instead of looking at why: why are we so self-consumed? Why is it so much easier to be complacent than to do the right thing? He asked all sorts of big existential questions, but his gentleness and sincerity disarmed that overwhelming feeling of stifle that typically accompanies such discourse.

I left early�the oak was calling me toward bed, and I felt the early twinges of a migraine�but I left encouraged. Encouraged that these kinds of conversations are happening at all, and that people are reading Don�s work. I think that he is a witty, more socially-adjusted John the Baptist, really, and his wide acceptance in the conservative, slow-budging Church is a telling sign that the next generation is about to take the reins of responsibility and change.