1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Reflection

Many of us struggle to figure out the “next step” in our lives.  If we’re in college, we ask, “what major do I choose?”  If out of college, we wonder, “what job do I take?”  Even with a job, we ask “is this really for me?”  Frustrated, we ask, “God, what’s your will for my life?”  Even if we struggle through these personal questions, we can be assured that God clearly provides the “next step” as we recall what God has done for His children.  Once upon a time, we were not His children.  We lived in darkness without love.  But out of His mercy, He called us out of all that.  Everything changed once the Spirit came and gave us a new identity and purpose for living.  We are now His chosen and treasured people, called to be a royal priesthood and set apart to proclaim Jesus Christ.

Response

Our next step is to live passionately with a new identity as people who have been formed by the Spirit.  It is the Spirit who makes us into the people of God.  As part of the royal priesthood, let’s declare the praises of the One who alone can save us from darkness.  Let’s also ask God to help us to love and minister to those around us.

Constantine Vaporis, professor of history and director of the Asian studies program, is a consultant and writer on a new exhibit opening at Washington D.C.’s National Geographic Museum on March 7.  “Samurai: The Warrior Transformed” examines the transformations experienced by Japan’s samurai and is built around material artifacts of samurai culture, including gifts of the same given by the Japanese government to American presidents and mid-nineteenth century portraits of the warriors. A companion exhibit displays images by writer, photographer and geographer Eliza Scidmore, who was instrumental in the gift of the Japanese cherry trees to Washington that adorn the Mall and Tidal Basin.

The exhibit runs through September 3, 2012 was planned to coincide with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs from March 20-April 27. This year marks the the 100th anniversary of the Japanese gift of cherry trees to the U.S.

Students are invited to join the Asian Studies Program, the Honors College and the Humanities Scholars Program for a trip to Washington D.C. on April 7. The group will visit the exhibit and then have free time to visit the mall, other museums and festival. The bus will leave UMBC at 9 a.m. and depart from Washington at 3 pm. A $12 fee covers the cost of transportation to and from Washington and the price of admission to the National Geographic Museum. Students can contact Lisa Whittle to register.

The University of Michigan Press recently posted to their blog about the travels that Ellen Handler Spitz, honors college professor of visual arts, completed this winter. The post, entitled “‘Illuminating Childhood’ author recounts her travels in Czech Republic and India,” is based on Spitz’s recent post to UMBC’s Talking Heads blog. Spitz’s book Illuminating Childhood: Portraits in Fiction, Film, and Drama was published by the press and will be available in paperback this March.

The Baltimore Sun has announced that Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher, editorial cartoonist for The Economist and UMBC artist-in-residence, will be publishing a new cartoon each week in the paper’s Sunday edition. In the Sun‘s announcement video, KAL describes his recent work at UMBC, where he advises student bloggers in their coverage of current events and politics on USDemocrazy. KAL also shares his experiences speaking to international audiences on freedom of the press and the power of caricature.

UMBC Political Science Professor Roy T. Meyers offered a dissenting voice in PolitiFact’s recent analysis of comments by White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew on President Obama’s 2013 budget proposal. Lew said, “You can’t pass a budget in the Senate of the United States without 60 votes” — a statement rejected by critics who note only a simple majority is needed for a budget vote.

Meyers offers the counterargument that “Lew is absolutely on the mark on the bigger picture” given that the budget resolution requiring a majority vote is just a blueprint and legislation to actually implement the budget’s provisions will likely require 60 votes eventually, to reach the cloture threshold.