Tapeinos

“But you, Achilles,
there’s not a man in the world more blest than you—
there never has been, never will be one.
Time was, when you were alive, we Argives
honored you as a god, and now down here, I see,
you lord it over the dead in all your power.
So grieve no more at dying, great Achilles.”

I reassured the ghost, but he broke out, protesting,
“No winning words about death to me, shining Odysseus!
By god, I’d rather slave on earth for another man—
some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive—
than rule down here over all the breathless dead.”

- The Odyssey – Book 11 (11.547-558)

Thus spoke Odysseus to the ghost of Achilles, the greatest warrior of the Greeks, a champion of soldiers. He achieved much glory on earth, but in his death, his wishes were nothing more than to live again, even without glory, slaving away for another man. Anything other than death. The great Achilles was humbled. As a man on earth, Achilles had very little reason to be humble, or as the Greeks said it, tapeinos.

He had no weakness, save for one spot on his body, his heel. That same heel was the heel that his mother held him by as he was dipped into the River Styx in the underworld, as the Greek mythology goes. The river’s waters rendered his whole body safe from harm, save for the spot where his mother held on to him. As a result, Achilles was one of the greatest warriors Greece had ever seen, and was renowned for his prowess in battle, and for his seeming invincibility. No sword could cut him, no spear could pierce him. When he fought, everyone on his side knew that they would stand victorious, while his opponents shirked back in fear. Few knew of his one weakness. However, as the fates, or the gods, or luck would have it, that heel was the same heel that was skewered by an arrow, flying from the bow of Paris the Trojan. The arrow was poisoned, and even the great Achilles could not defeat it. Thus Achilles died, and it is from that story that we get the name for the Achilles tendon in our heels. Everyone has one, go on, feel it right now. It’s that long, tubular thing at the very back of your ankle. The Achilles, or calcaneal tendon, attaches the calf muscle to the heel bone. Without it, one cannot walk, or jump, or run. Your foot would hang useless below, unable to move to the bidding of their brain. The reason why I bore you will information about the Achilles tendon and its origins is because it establishes for me an interesting irony, based on recent events. Let me explain.

Gets buckets.

Scoring champion: 05-06, 06-07. 12 All-Defensive teams, 9 of them first team. 14 All-NBA teams, 10 of them first team. 15 time All-Star, and 4 time All-Star MVP, earning him the most NBA All-Star Game MVPs in league history. 2-time Olympic gold medalist. League MVP 2007-08. 5 championship rings. 4th all time on the NBA scoring list. More importantly: 1239 games played (regular season, not including long runs into the playoffs) and 45,390 minutes played. This is Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players to ever live, and one of the greatest competitors the world has ever seen. I didn’t know much about Kobe Bryant when I was younger. Not being much a sports fan, and seeing as no one in my family cares much either, he was off my radar for a very long time. When I started to get into basketball, I came to respect him greatly. My respect for him came from his insatiable desire to win, and with that, his impeccable work ethic and his on-court escapades that back it up. I have seen no player do the things that Kobe does on the basketball court. You can see his hard work in every juke step, in every hard dribble he takes in the paint against a hapless defender. You also see his brash confidence, his undeniable swagger. He knows he’s the best. And he’s not afraid to show it. As a Boston Celtics fan, most people would expect me to hate that, and to hate Kobe. But I can’t; he’s too good. You cannot hate greatness, and if you are, you’re being petty. More than all this, Kobe Bryant saw every injury as a minor annoyance. He broke his middle finger, he learned to shoot using the other fingers. His knees were falling apart, so he went to Germany, underwent an operation, and was good to go. The man shakes off injuries like they are nothing. You can tell, he always thought he was unstoppable. Indeed, by all accounts, he was.

Big jam.

Fast forward to the 2012-13 season. Kobe’s team, at the beginning of the season thought to be the new favourites for the championship with the additions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, are floundering. Instead of fighting for the top seed in the playoffs, they are fighting to even make the playoffs after a horrid 17-25 start. However, number 24 was not about to let them go down without a fight. Against all odds, the Lakers climbed the ladder, their record a mediocre, but playoff qualifying 42-37. Their climb up the ladder was led by their 34 year old shooting guard, who gifted fans with some of his greatest performances of the season when it really mattered.

In New Orleans, down by at least 20 points, Kobe led his team to victory, reminding everyone why he is one of the greatest of all-time.

He continued his escapades against the Portland Trailblazers, wowing the fans in the Rose Garden again and again.

Again and again, I was reminded of how the man spits in Father Time’s face, with every jumper, every dunk, every dribble, he proved himself seemingly greater than the passing of the days as his 17th season continued on. On April 12, 2013, the Black Mamba and his team faced off against the Golden State Warriors, a division rival, and another obstacle that Kobe needed to get out of his way. The game was tight in the third quarter, with the Lakers down by 2. The ball came to Bryant, who was isolated against the rookie Harrison Barnes. Kobe spun to his left, heard a pop, and immediately fell to the court. Barnes was called for the foul, and Kobe lay wincing on the ground, feeling his left ankle. He said he had known exactly what it was when it happened, but he didn’t want to believe it. Amazingly, the worn and wearied player stayed in long enough to shoot his free throws, and then left the game. After the game, Kobe was interviewed. This Kobe was a marked change from the usual Kobe. The cool, calm, collected, and utterly cocky Kobe was gone. What we see is a broken man, who is suddenly unsure, unsure of the present, unsure of the future, and perhaps mostly importantly, unsure of himself. He had torn his achilles tendon, an injury that takes half a year to recover from, and no athlete who has suffered from the injury has come back the same. So why did I tell you all this? Why talk about this Kobe Bryant and his torn tendon? I’ll tell you why: it’s because this man who was by all accounts a god, was broken. It fascinates me to no end that the injury that took Kobe Bryant out was an Achilles injury. The god was broken, the unkillable was brought low, just like Achilles. It made me think about human frailty. Even the greatest of all time (some would say), the man who treated sprained ankles like bugs to be squashed, whose cockiness was backed up by his domination of opponents, could still be brought low. No one is exempt from human frailty. Not even Kobe. He went on a rant on Facebook a few days after his injury, expressing his extreme frustration with the whole situation. He was angry, he was sad, he was broken, and most of all, humbled. There were no workouts to make him come back faster. No way to shake this off. The injury, at least momentarily, had beaten him.

I wish and pray for a swift recovery for Kobe Bryant, and hope to see him at full strength again. There are very few players I love to watch more than the Black Mamba. But he reminded me of an important thing, that no matter how high I get, no matter how successful I am, no matter how indestructible I seem, I’m not. I’m a frail human being, and all that I’ve been blessed with is from God alone, and nothing of my own merit. When I feel small, I will ask God for strength. But also, when I feel powerful, I will thank God that it is in his power, and not of mine alone, that I stand. So thank you Kobe, for reminding me of this, hope to see you on the court soon (not that you’ll read this or anything, but I thought it was a nice touch).

 

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13 NKJV

With Great Power Comes Responsibility II

Haven’t posted on this blog in a while, but earlier this year I had posted about the responsibilities of athletes to use their power for the good of others (http://nateandtheworld.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility/). This includes giving an example of Christ for people to look to, and to ask about. This is a fantastic opportunity for athletes to share their faith, but it’s also a dangerous one. We’ve seen countless “Christians” like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber leave their faith in the background for the sake of record sales and acceptance. Real Christianity is not easy to stomach, and not easy to stay consistent with, and this is made especially more evident when we see the publicly scrutinized celebrities of our time proclaim that they are Christians and then do things that convict them of hypocrisy. This is not to say that we the general public are any better. It is an unbelievably difficult task that is given to celebrities to live as Christians in the public eye. Hypocrisy is something that every single Christian struggles with, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. We are all imperfect, and all of us needs grace. However, not everyone is privy to seeing our dirty little secrets played on television and computer screens for the world to see. This makes the verse from Luke that I posted in the previous athlete post all the more important for the celebrities/athletes in our world today who profess the Christian faith.

⁴⁸ But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Luke 12:48

This really just struck me as I read an article on Relevant Magazine (an unreal magazine by the way, everybody check it out), about 2012 being the year of the Out-Spoken Christian Athlete. So check it out! And read it! It details what these Christian athletes did, and how they acted (although Lecrae is not a professional athlete, he is also included in the list), in a way that honoured God. What we should do is pray for these athletes, and pray for these celebrities, that God gives them the grace and the strength to stay true to his Word, even amidst the good life that fame and fortune can bring. Just as I would pray for my own self.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/2012-year-outspoken-christian-athlete

Nate Dawg out.

What a Wonderful World

It’s been a full week of classes for me now, finally over. I found it the same last year; the first week of classes seemed endless, until eventually it became a routine and just whizzed by. But for now, everything is fresh, and I’m able to experience everything anew.

Thus far I’m loving my classes. I love that I’m interested, and passionate about what I’m studying. I love that I’m busy doing Grebel athletic activities and organizing intramurals with my friend Katy, and I love getting to know everyone that has come into Grebel this year. I am so blessed! I’ve decided that I’ll probably try to post once a week, just to write about my classes, what I’ve learnt. I think it’s a good way of me absorbing what I’ve learnt and then spitting it back out with my own nuances to it without it being for school. This is just me, and what I think, without worrying about marks or whatever.

So to begin! My INDEV 100 class, detailing pretty much the basics of international development. So what really is the basics of INDEV? Ha, if only it were a simple answer! Previously in history, countries were marked by either being developed, or underdeveloped, without an in between. This was based mostly on the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the market value of goods and services produced in a country at a given time. This is basically the indicator of a country’s standard of living. It’s a convenient way of measurement, especially when it comes to seeing how a country improves or regresses. However, it focuses solely on the economic side of things. For example, if Congo’s GDP shoots up because of the discovery of oil reserves, does that really make the standard of living better when the amount of impoverished, illiterate and discriminated remains the same? This segues in the greater theme of what else constitutes a developing country, and then the question of whether or not we should develop, or should we not develop. In the past few hours I’ve read convincing arguments by people like Amartya Sen and John Rawls, concerning morality and ethics and when and where we should help and blah blah blah. It’s a mind-numbing effort because there’s so many different sides and views that must be looked at and observed carefully before coming up with a satisfactory conclusion. So I guess what I have to conclude with is that this is just a symbol of how complex our world is. It is not simple. Some people may equate this kind of statement with the other statement that says not everything is black and white. The thing is, I believe there is a black and white, as the saying goes. I just think that the process of getting to black and white is so muddled and confusing that us human beings can’t always get through. What a wonderful conundrum of a life we lead! I say wonderful, because there’s so many good and wonderful things to be experienced, tasted, felt, and heard. In the depressing effort that is often the study of the world’s issues, one can learn a little something from Louis Armstrong’s classic. One can look at the trees outside, the people around them, and the wonders of human creation, and say, yeah, this is a wonderful world.

When it comes to other classes, not much has happened. I previously posted about the stylus, during my 3 hour STV 202 class. That class, though long, and arduous, has some interesting ideas in it, namely, what is good design. It should at least be relatively interesting going forward. Any ways, I’m looking forward to a fantastic term!

On another note, there is an awesome looking expo that is happening this week. It’s called the Go Global Expo, and its keynote speaker is Dev Aujla, the co-author (along with Billy Parish) of the book Making Good, which really gave me a different perspective on my future and what my future employment can look like. The book was great, and the expo looks great, as it’s all about going abroad and experiencing the world through either study, volunteer, work, or explore. Sounds like a blast right? I might just attend.

Here’s the link: http://www.letsgoglobal.ca/en/toronto.html

Yeah Kobe

Yeah Kobe

I want to work with NBA Cares. So bad. Someday, someday.

Time to bet on the stylus, again

Reblogged from GigaOM:

Ever since I started in the design game more than 15 years ago, the stylus has been on the verge of death, or on the verge of a comeback depending on who you talk to. Thanks to the tablet, it seems the stylus is having a renaissance. If you do a search on Kickstarter for "stylus” you will find about 31 projects.

Read more… 821 more words

I'm in class at this very moment (I know, supremely rebellious of me), and we're talking about good design. One of the points was about how the stylus has really been put out by most companies because of the success of the "stylus-less" iPads. Steve Jobs once said that there's no point in having a stylus when we have 10 styluses of our own to already work with (you could make that number 20 if you have the unusual tendency of using tablets with your toes). Any ways, this article is a note to the contrary, saying that we shouldn't be hating on the stylus for much longer. I don't particularly agree, that is unless the stylus reaches the point where it reaches the full precision of a pen to paper. However, those days could be coming soon! On another note, this is my 3 hour class and it's merely half over. Hopefully I'll be able to survive the rest of it!

So It Begins

Phew, it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been busy doing a lot of things, namely packing up my room at home, moving into Conrad Grebel University College, being an Orientation leader at my residence, and generally doing a whole lot of things all the time. It’s been crazy.

But lovely. I’m a person who likes to keep busy, who likes to be involved and doing things. Or else, I’m bored. Simply makes sense right? Anyways, even though that’s something I love to do (be busy) I need to take time to prioritize my time. I need to make time for God this term. So really, I simply need to sort through what’s actually important to me. What’s important to me is my God. I just need to show him that.

Also, I start my first day of classes tomorrow! Of second year anyways. I get to experience INDEV! I am thoroughly excited for this. It’s going to be a blast. Hopefully! I’m going to also hopefully be posting on this blog about the things I’m learning. One, because it will help me learn and think about the things I’m learning more, and two, because I think perhaps people might even be interested in what I have to say. I think the world of international development is an awesome and wide-ranging thing that everybody can find some interest in, in some way. So I will make it another one of my many priorities to do that (My Reminders, Calendar and Notes apps are going to be very helpful this term). Also hopefully I’ll be making it out to P2C! I didn’t go out tonight because I’m dead tired and it was just an “info” night tonight, so it wasn’t particularly important. Or maybe it was. Too late anyways, I didn’t go. Ha. Anyways, tomorrow is the start of a wonderful term, and I cannot wait. So it begins.

 

 

(Yes, this term will be as epic as the Battle of Helm’s Deep. I can only hope however that my exams will go as thunderously well as Gandalf and Eomer charging down the hill with the Rohirrim at the break of dawn. On the third day. We’ll see what happens).

Also I believe I said variations of “hopefully” and “hopeful” a lot in this post. That’ll be my theme I guess for this term. Unabashed hope. Hope however, that I will turn into action. I said it here folks. Instead of keeping my hopes in the dreamworld, I’m going to make them a reality. Boom.

So the World May See

I’m getting a feeling I really want to somehow be involved with NBA Cares in the future. I love basketball and I want to help people. This is a meeting of both of these interests of mine. We’ll see what the future holds!

Pau Gasol Does Good Deeds, Participates In UNICEF Mission In Chad

Reblogged from NBA.com | All Ball Blog:

by Micah Hart

Pau Gasol has always been one of the most socially conscious players in the NBA, so it should come as no surprise that he is spending part of his offseason in Chad as part of a UNICEF mission to service over one million malnourished children in the Sahel region of the country. From the LA Times:

Read more… 220 more words

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Just to tie in with my previous post. I haven't posted in a while but I will soon! Back to school stuff is in full blown crazy mode, so when it dies down I can write again.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Oh Uncle Ben. You couldn’t have known that your fateful phrase would’ve brought your meek nephew Peter Parker to use his spider bite-given abilities to save Manhattan from various evil forces. You couldn’t have known just how much power your nephew had, and how great his responsibility was. However, your words couldn’t ring any more true.

Just as Spiderman used his powers to save the city of New York from evil goblins and deranged scientists with too many limbs, people with power in our real world are starting to use their power for the common good. Yes I said our real world; sorry friends, Spiderman isn’t real.

People with great power are often not entirely visible. Sure, there are those like Barack Obama and Oprah, people who weild significant influence in the public sphere, but they are not the only ones. Of the top 10 richest men in the world, the only ones who are immediately recognizable are Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The rest are businessmen who the general public knows very little about. Yet, they’re worth more money than several countries, and money gives them great power. Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico is the richest man in the world, having made his money through telecommunications. Yet, if you ask the average person on the street, they will have no idea who this 69 billion dollar man is.

That is why to me, athletes are some of the most powerful people in the world. They may not have the money that some of these businessmen/women have, but they are immediately recognizable. People know their faces, know their profession, and know whether they like them or not. As a result of this, athletes wield enormous power, sometimes even more than they realize.

I think of Charles Barkley’s Nike ad from way back when, an ad you can see here:

He’s right in saying that parents should raise their children, but he seems to disregard the fact that no matter how much he says he’s NOT a role model, he is. Karl Malone, a fellow Olympian with Mr. Barkley had this response for him:

“Charles… I don’t think it’s your decision to make. We don’t choose to be role models, we are chosen. Our only choice is whether to be a good role model or a bad one.” (Sports Illustrated, 1993)

With the amount of publicity and attention given to athletes like Mr. Barkley, such a thing is inevitable. It seems as if athletes are finally realizing this.

Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Warren Weir swept the medals in 200m Sprint at the Olympic Games in London this past Thursday. In an unbelievable race of pure sprinting power, three Jamaicans burst out in front of the rest to bring glory to their country, and themselves. Also, as it happens, to God. Although the media constantly ignores and downplays it, Usain Bolt after every single race falls to the ground and thanks the Lord for giving him his God-given ability to run, and run faster than any other human being in the world. He may not be humble – he recently called himself the greatest athlete ever –  but he does give credit to his Creator for what he has been able to do. The video footage of this, plus his tweet are good evidence.

These men, specifically Bolt, have become global icons. In Bolt’s previous sprint – where he again won gold, in the 100m – 20 million people from around the world watched him run. 20 million. The very amount is staggering. Kids everywhere are adopting his pose. Everybody wants be like Bolt.

I can only think of one thing, and it’s a certain verse in the Bible that I memorized a long time ago when I did Bible Quizzing at my church:

⁴⁸ But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Luke 12:48

I want to focus on the second sentence on. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. It makes me think. For these incredible athletes, who have been blessed with exemplary athletic ability and worldwide recognition, is being great on the field really enough? Much is demanded. They are role models, as Karl Malone clearly stated. Therefore, whatever is in their ability to do good, they should do. This goes for all of us. We have all been blessed with enormous resources (in our Western world), and these resources are for sharing. I decided to look into just how athletes like Usain Bolt are giving back to their communities and the world around them.

Finding the philanthropic efforts of Usain Bolt wasn’t too easy. They are not readily publicized, which makes a certain amount of sense. People are drawn and attracted to the personality of Bolt and his athletic ability to trounce everyone else. Naturally the media is going to cover what people are interested in. It took a bit of Google searching, but I found the Usain Bolt Foundation. (Link is at the bottom of the post).

It’s mission: “[the] creation of opportunities through education and cultural development for positive change” (Usain Bolt, 2012). Now that sounds good. Really good. However sounding good and doing good are two different things. After scrolling down past the mission we see the deeds: giving back to his high school, rebuilding health centres, and even an award from the United Way, to name a few. The CEO of United Way Jamaica had this to say about Bolt, calling him a “philanthropist with a passion for helping children” (Usain Bolt, 2012).

To be critical, perhaps many of Usain Bolt’s community efforts are probably driven by his publicist Carole Beckford, the CEO of Carole Beckford & Associates, an organization specializing in image management, marketing and media planning. However, I do not think she is forcing him to do these things. She’s definitely the one who makes it happen, but the desire to give back to his community must be a desire of Bolt’s.

As our world progresses, more and more organizations like Carole Beckford’s are popping up, because athletes and celebrities are keying into something that businesses everywhere are now paying very close attention to: social responsibility.

Also playing in these Olympic Games are a bunch of NBA players, who are looking to take home gold for their country. Whether it’s the Gasols of Spain, Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola of Argentina, Andrei Kirilenko of Russia, or the whole US team, all have their eyes on the prize. Every single one of these NBA players is part of something bigger than themselves; they’re representing their country. Back in the NBA, things are much the same. Gone are the days of Charles Barkley saying he’s not a role model, and in are the days of NBA players grasping their power and using it to better their communities. Right before NBA games come back from commercials, there are often ads for something called NBA Cares. NBA Cares is a global outreach community initiative that sees NBA players going into their communities, helping out at soup kitchens, building new homes for those in need, and giving of their resources to those who need them most. It’s a tremendous initiative, having raised more than $190 million for charity. Seeing those short thirty second ads before the game goes back on just doesn’t do justice to the good that these NBA players do.

It’s an encouraging thing really, something I really wanted to show. I don’t know enough about the NHL or the NFL or the MLB to comment on their similar programs. Perhaps there are some, or perhaps there aren’t. However if these initiatives undertaken by Usain Bolt and NBA players are any indication, it means that these programs are on the rise. Like many businesses all over the world, athletes today are making good with the power that they’ve been given.

Too whom much is given, much will demanded. This is the next step for athletes and celebrities everywhere in using what they’ve been given by God and by society, and giving it back to the people that need it most. It warms my heart, and most of all, it helps those who need it most. So while watching these athletes, I will continue to be in awe of their competitive edge, their phenomenal physical condition and athletic abilities, and their laser sharp focus. However, I will look for and see what else they are doing to make the world a better place. With great power comes great responsibility. Spidey saved Manhattan. Why can’t athletes change the world?

Links:

Usain Bolt Foundation - http://usainbolt.com/foundation/

The First Blog Post

Dunn Dunn Dunn. The first post of my blog. This was not an expected endeavor, let me tell you that. I never expected to start writing a blog. I always thought blogging was for those twenty somethings piled into Starbucks, on their Macs with hipster glasses and two venti espresso cups beside them. Ironically, I’m approaching the age of 20 (I’m currently sitting on 19 years of age), and I’ve recently acquired a taste for Starbucks (although rather expensive, its Mocha Cookie Crumble is nothing to sneeze at). Plus, I write this from my Mac. I’m becoming the very thing I thought I never could be. At least I still have perfect vision. You can keep your hipster glasses, however cool they look.

So why start now? Ernest Hemingway put it quite appropriately:

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

Although this isn’t a typewriter, I can identify with the latter part. Sometimes, you just have to bleed. Whether it’s thoughts, pictures, or videos, sometimes you just have to take it from your mind and transplant it onto something solid (or in this case, digital) for the world and especially you to see.

Sometimes too, you just need something to do. A little project on the side to keep yourself occupied. A blog is wonderful way to do that, and something I think I need.

My last reason for starting a blog: I felt God has called me to. Rather cliché and Christian sounding isn’t it? But the truth of that cannot be understated. God has given me a gift with words. I haven’t used that gift in a long time, and it’s about time I did. There are a couple of verses in 1 Peter that scream to me to use the gifts He’s given me:

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Peter 4:10-11

Note to ponder: I’m to use my gifts to serve others. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to do this blogging yet, but hopefully as the future unfolds, so will the answer to this question.

Another thing to note: I’m to use my gifts “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” This should give me pause every time that I write something on this blog. I want what I write to glorify God, and do nothing less.

So here it goes. Blogs I’ve learnt have to have a focus, or else why would people want to read them? People want to read about things, not read about the completely random events on someone’s life. There’s Facebook and Twitter for that. So this blog shall be devoted to something close to my heart, the world.

Rather general it may seem, so perhaps some explanation is needed. I’m a student of International Development at the University of Waterloo, going into my second year. I’ve lived two months in the Dominican Republic, building homes and bathrooms and teaching English. My aunt is living in Cambodia, as a teacher of kids at risk of being trafficked in the sex trade industry. All my life I’ve been impacted and have cared about the socially shunned, the economically depressed, and spiritually empty. This blog is devoted to my thoughts and musings on the world at large, and how I can change it. The topics and themes go from international development to politics, from noteworthy celebrities doing philanthropic things, to global tragedies. My blog’s name is there for a reason. There’s me, a singular human being, and there’s a world out there that I’m to engage with and be aware of.

But I’m still so young. I don’t even have a university degree yet. Why should what I say and think be of any significance? Some guy named Timothy put it well,

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

1 Timothy 4:12

My youth is not something to be crippled by. My thoughts and my experience may not be as complex or as full of depth as those older than me, but that makes them no less valuable. So here I go! My first legitimate post on the world at large will happen soon. So, as it is now, welcome to my newborn, mostly naked blog, nateandtheworld.

Plus, on a completely unrelated note, enjoy this cover of the song Titanium by a man who’s very, very talented.