Not a native...but I got here as fast as I could!

The url of this new blog, and the title of this post, comes from a bumper sticker I saw once on a subaru in CO. It was on one of those CO-license-plate-looking stickers, in response to the one that just says "Native." I thought it was super clever, and if anyone ever finds one of them, buy it and I'll reimburse you.

Besides just transplanting to CO though, at least for college, I feel like I'm not a native to any part of the lifestyle I'm living right now. Every day is full of brand new experiences and challenges, and, in the words of my prof. JM, "continuities and ruptures" with what I've done so far. But most of the time, I'm excited about them, and I really do feel like I've gotten to these points of rupture at just the right moment...basically as fast as I could!

As for the title of this blog...read this little bit from bible-history.com-->
"Jesus grew up in Nazareth, which was a very small village near the Plain of Esdralon in Galilee. After Jesus left Nazareth at the age of 30...There is no mention of Him ever returning back to His home town of Nazareth, but he was always identified with it (Matt 21:11), having been called a "Nazarene" which comes from the Hebrew root meaning "branch", in accordance with the promises made to David that King Messiah would be a descendant (branch) from the royal line of King David."
Right now, I'm taking a Middle Eastern history class, and one of the major things we looked at first block is social identity. It makes perfect sense to me that at that time, Jesus would be so clearly associated with his hometown, for all that he would come to be an international superstar son of God and everything. But at the same time, he didn't ever return there. He couldn't! He had too much work to do! I mean, I'm sure if he could've gotten a quick flight home for spring break or something he would've been all over that go to see father Joe, but it simply wasn't possible. He still loved home though, and nobody ever let him forget where he came from.

One of the last things my dad said to me before they left me at school, and for the first few times talking to my mom on the phone, they both said the same thing, seperately. "Don't forget who you are. Don't forget where you came from." That really struck home, as I feel like I've been tossed into this relatively small community full of people completely and utterly different than me. And not only that, whether it's a legit feeling or not, I feel like I'm a minority in a lot of ways of thinking and practices. So, I think I'm going to need some reminding of that idea of not forgetting where you came from while growing and changing at the same time...sheesh. That sounds freaking difficult. Wish me luck!