Winter Issue 10
Food is the daily sacrament of unnecessary goodness, ordained for a continual remembrance that the world will always be more delicious than it is useful. - Robert Farrer Capon
Click here to download a PDF of this week’s issue.
Click here for the Greensheet.
Header photo by Isabel Ong
Students Serving Students
By Jayson Gallatin
I suppose I should begin with an introduction because that is the sort of thing you do when meeting someone new. If we haven’t had the chance of meeting, my name is Jayson and I am a former RCSA President. After graduating with my MATS in 2019 I returned to my native USA. To those I already know in Vancouver—I had hoped to be back for a visit by now but a teeny, tiny, not-a-big-deal, really inconsequential thing called a GLOBAL PANDEMIC closed the border. Maybe for the next pandemic I’ll take a short cut through BC on my “way to Alaska” so I can say hi.
I’ve been thinking about the RCSA and I wanted to share some reflections with you. I think it is important that as a student body you consider the role the RCSA plays. This is perhaps a tedious distinction to make but is one worth remembering: you are already part of the Regent College Student Association. The RCSA is the collective agency of all Regent students. Regardless of if you participate in any events, attend any council meetings (which all members are eligible to do), or pay even the slightest attention to the RCSA—you are part owner! Any Regent student who pays student fees is a member of the RCSA. People hear “RCSA” and they immediately think “student council” when they should be thinking, “that’s me!”
Being RCSA President was one of those things I didn’t quite expect at first. Something I was learning about myself in my first couple of years at Regent was that it took me time to warm up to an organization before I really felt ownership of it. So at the end of my first year while a few of my classmates ran for RCSA offices, I didn’t give it much consideration. Let me be blunt: do not wait like I did. Whether you are a Regent veteran or brand new to the community, this student body needs, values, and craves your input. In a year where it has understandably been difficult to adjust do not let unfamiliarity prevent you from running for a council seat.
I know it can be daunting to be asked to give when so many have already given so much. But more often than not I found myself drawing energy from my fellow council members. The more we worked together and the closer bonds we formed, the more invigorating and refreshed I became. Those friendships became a source of strength and persistence. Many days it was the council meetings which motivated me, although admittedly I am the weirdo who loves administration and will take a meeting over an email any day. A former mentor of mine used to phrase it this way: “Life is found in giving your life away.”
I do not want to overstate this point, but as people who believe in theology for all of life it is essential we recognize that whether you choose to participate or not, you are part of this student community. The RCSA is just as much a part of integrating your life and theology as any other element of your time at Regent.
One of my favorite memories of my time with the RCSA council was a weekend where we slipped away from Vancouver to get to know each other better as a team. As the day wound down we were chit chatting, snacking, lounging, and hanging out in pjs. It was then that someone got the idea for the entire council to do facemasks together. It was a silly moment in the midst of a busy semester where we could laugh together as we crowded around a tiny bathroom mirror. Any number of memories stick out from my time with the RCSA council: decorating the Atrium for Christmas, gathering for breakfast with the other executive team members, piling in the office to reflect at the end of the year, lunchtime concerts, prayer nights, sitting on a myriad of committees, and being a support system for each other.
If you were to ask me the purpose of the RCSA, I would not say event planning, I would not say student representation on committees, and I would not say the office space (but that might just be the most important perk). Certainly those things are good and are essential elements, but they are not the big idea. What then is the point of student governance? In a word—connection. Everything the council does is about fostering a deeper connection for students academically, communally, and across the wider UBC community. Connection is the umbrella all the council’s efforts fall under.
One of the absolutely beautiful things about the RCSA council is the ability to customize to your interests and take on projects you care about. We saw a need for standing desks so we worked with Facilities and the Library to fund purchasing some. We needed better file management so we switched to a cloud-based system so our team could easily share notes. Our soaking prayer events exposed students to several different traditions of prayer. We held an FAQ session with a representative from the AMS so students could more easily understand what they were paying for. These are just a sample of what the council does.
Have you ever heard the maxim that your local government is much more impactful for your life than the national government? It doesn’t get much more local than the RCSA council. Yes, this past year has upended how we live, but my plea is this: dream a little! What good can you create in this community? You are already part of this association and literally have buy in. Why not have a more direct say about the community to which you are invested? Being RCSA President was the place I could best serve while I studied. What is that place for you?
Nominations for RCSA council are open until April 6.
For more information and to apply, visit the RCSA website.
The election will be held on April 12-13.
Fun and embarrassing pictures are an occupational hazard. Apply at your own risk.
the heart of the matter
By Isabel Ong
This poem is written in twin cinema form, a Singaporean poetry style that is structured in two distinct columns that can be read vertically in their individual pillars as well as horizontally across each line. My poem imagines the responses to Jesus’ parable in Mark 7:14-23 from the perspectives of a Pharisee and a disciple, and also conveys a “hidden” third voice—representing the poet and/or the contemporary reader—through a horizontal reading of the text.
And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. (Mark 7:14-23 ESV)
His Heart
Anonymous
Sweet thorns that dressed the Savior’s brow,
tumble forward through time and prick
the heirs of grace with love.
Bitter to the tongue but air to each lung,
A Holy spear wrings silence awake
Pierces through the jaunts of youth,
A flash of color in the crash of hope.
rainbows radiate in the dark
Golgotha’s skies split the earth,
sorrow melts beyond the spinning age,
the seed is split and torn
The bitter soil is packed, the fragrance wafting wide.
When love that tore the temple veil is curtained
Sedation makes ancient wounds weep
space is stretched thinly beyond reach—
The breast of God lays bare.
Collapsing beams bring empty fists,
Sabacthani is sung, the chin drips gently low
And there …
Beyond the underground, explosions tell great stories
Of memories punctured by the mundane
Romance swallows the profane
the tattered seed shoots first root, stems climb towards the sun.
Drinking beauty light and bending joyful in the glow,
the empty cavern overflows, the beloved brace His feet.
Nestled in the safest spot, His blood, our death
His blood, our birth, has brought us home to rest
The editing team has put together a short survey about the community’s Et Cetera reading habits, and we’d love to have your input in planning for the future of this little student paper. It should only take about 5-10 minutes and we really appreciate it. Thanks so much!