I received my diploma last night, effectively encapsulating those years of my life within a blue, pleather, flippy-book thing. I will admit, I was excited to get it, though I often tell myself that formalities in life hold little value. Nevertheless, in lieu of much of life's general sense of informality, maybe a piece of paper with my name written in gothic font is a little more than just fine. Maybe its pretty cool.

Where I go from now is the result of a communal effort, not just my own dedication. Even now, I tend to think that I am just living my own life, in my own little world. But there are those around me whose lives and mine are daily intersecting. I read the news and am tempted to keep what is happening on the global front as just that, a different front.

An earthquake shook Haiti. I didn't feel anything. Not even a tremor.

460 people were killed in Chicago in 2009. I didn't hear a single gunshot.

J.D. Salinger died last night. Oh well, I just finished Catcher in the Rye last week. I can read his stuff without him.

But these events are not divorced from who I am. As Thomas Merton once wrote and I echo, "I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God himself became incarnate." I believe a harmony exists between my heart breaking for the brokenness of mankind and taking action. This would all be a lot easier if I just had hard rules to follow, issues of which I would take a stand always, consistently, no matter what. With so much need in the world, should I always give at least a dollar?

There has to be more beauty that the Holy Spirit offers than to try and salve the world's wounds with a donation here and a donation there. I want to listen closely and feel where my heart, that I pray is always seeking compassion, is urging me to extend myself more than usual and to give generously of what I have been given. But always, I desire to honor the Incarnation and consider all human life worthy of my time, thoughts, and emotions. Otherwise, I am denying the fact that my life is a fabric woven with those who considered me worthy their time, thoughts, and emotions. No man is an island. Neither am I.