“Worship isn’t confined to chapel or church or camp,” sophomore English major Taylor Hamlett said. “Worship can be a bunch of kids that love words. And yes, worship can be showing God’s love through words and music that contain obscenities and offensive subject matter.”
Tiny white candles glowed brightly setting the mood for a night of poetry, music and open forum, as the English department launched its much anticipated encore to last semester’s ‘The Line.’
“It’s an open forum for creative expression for the creative community on campus,” senior English major Lily Atherton said.
Atherton, along with alumnus Craig Christensen, planned and organized the event that took place on Sept. 27 at Seven Palms.
An estimated 150 people were in attendance. More than 20 people recited poetry, sang original songs, played instruments, or beat-boxed.
“Being able to express yourself promotes community,” Christensen said. “Finding out what our role is on the earth, learning how to communicate and being open creatively is really important.”
‘The Line’ was one of the most refreshing events I have ever been to during my years here at APU. The most striking and painfully genuine part of the evening, which is what made the night border on brilliance, was the brutal honesty that flowed from every piece of work.
Not one person got up in front and pretended that their lives were all together and perfect. There was no façade.
They read about bad relationships, sex, drugs, failures, doubts, regrets of the past, uncertainty of the present, and fears for the future.
APU needs more of this honesty. On a Christian campus, it seems the norm for people to walk around with their heads high as if their life is going directly down the path God had planned.
But we are all far from that. This kind of honesty, the ability these students had to get up and be vulnerable in front of their peers, is a quality that Christians should feel comfortable expressing on a regular basis.
A big question I found myself asking through the night, however, was what affect does this sort of open outlet have on the APU community?
Being fairly liberal when it comes to my views, and seeing APU as semi-conservative when it comes to theirs, I was happily surprised that students were able to speak so freely with their word choice and subject matter. The reactions from students and staff were mixed.
“Most Christian campuses wouldn’t let us have this platform and I am really happy about it,” Christensen said. “By letting us do this, they are facilitating the creative process. Its great to be somewhere that lets us do that.”
Senior biblical studies major Johanna Chase had a different take on the evening, seeing the rebellious nature of college students on a Christian campus as an effect to the outlet that isn’t always positive.
“Because APU is so tight on the edges of everything, when we have opportunities to express ourselves as students without any sort of block or boundary, we go a little over the top,” Chase said. “But, I hope it keeps happening. Everyone was able to really express themselves, which was so amazing.”
English professor Ralph Carlson, who attended the end of the show to support his students, echoed Chase’s statement.
“Given our community ethos in general, it is often a good thing to do a little self censoring,” Carlson said. “I am still getting used to this century, but I heard some good voices.”
Some hope ‘The Line’ will go from a once-a-month event to a bi-monthly event. “Students have something to say,” Hamlett said, “and it’s usually pretty damn good.”
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