Life. 200mph

NASCAR!!! My fraternity had a fundraiser at the Kansas Speedway this weekend. Now, I do not really enjoy any surface level aspect that NASCAR has to offer: cars going around a circle track 200+ times, unbearably loud to the point where thinking to yourself isn't even an option let alone talking to the person sitting right next to you. However, in the spirit of the Jesuit value of finding God in all things, an observation that I was able to make was in how the racers respond to a crash (not the crowd because that's the most exciting thing for the crowd). What I observed whenever there was a crash on the track was the pace car made its way out onto the track in preparation for a restart and all of the other cars waited for the crash to clear. Here's the connection that I made: especially in our culture, we're all going around and around, often times completely unaware that the people around us are...well other people, not just brainless jerks who get in our way and slow us down on the freeway. In the development of my own personal faith life, one of the things that I realize that I have grown in is recognizing when a friend is really down, or has "crashed." What I have learned and really taken to is that getting to the finish line isn't the entire point of life; being there to help others finish the race is equally, if not more important. Realistically, this was not the reasoning for this rule or practice in NASCAR, but I do find it interesting that such a strong Christian ideal can be found amongst an obnoxiously loud sport with seemingly no real point.


The other awesome part of the weekend was simply the time spent with my best friends. Honestly, getting up at 5am throughout the weekend is not my first choice when it comes to recouping after a long week. But it was, and is always, so awesome to simply be present with my friends. Referring to my struggle early on in this semester in which I was just in my own little world much of the time, I believe to have learned quite well the importance of living in the moment and trusting that my future is in the hands of my Father. My life is infinitely more enjoyable when I entrust myself to Him and enjoy the life with which He has graced me rather than worrying about what is in store for me 7 months from now.