String Theory » Confessions

Everyone has a Story – Even the Olympians!

Suraj Reddy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:31:52 +0000

I’ve been part of a campaign at University called iCraveChange. As part of the campaign, I had the exciting opportunity of getting my story filmed. Through the many stories that were put up (you can view some of them at the facebook page -- http://www.facebook.com/iCraveChange), one of the things I learned is that everyone has a story.

Life can be busy and heavily experiential, and so I find it easy to get lost in my own world and my story, and forget that everyone else out there has a story as well. Everyone has lived on earth for X amount of years, and is shaped by their parents, friends and family, choices and life experiences around them. We all have dreams, visions, goals, desires and passions. We all crave Intimacy, Destiny, and Meaning.

Watching the Olympics, it’s easy to forget that every Olympian has a story as well. Below is the story of Olympic snow boarder Kelly Clark, who despite having everything she wanted, craved meaning.

From icravechange.com

Question: Whose story inspires you the most?

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My Story: Video

Suraj Reddy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:17:41 +0000

Growing up, I was deeply worried about my destiny -- about what was going to happen when I died. I was also on a quest for meaning -- which one of the gods I worshiped was real?

I Craved Change.

Many of you know I am a Christian, but don’t know why or what it means to me.

This is my story.

Question: Does this resonate? Do you/did you crave change? What’s your story?

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Haiti: What moved you?

Suraj Reddy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:28:56 +0000

In my last post, I confessed that I was not deeply moved for Haiti.

Bloggers helped change that – Anne Jackson shared about Haiti, and reading the comments left behind by people who were moved moved me.

Sandi’s blog post about Haiti helped nail the following to my heart:

“How can you take a nation of people who have nothing and give them less”

For some reason, apart from all the pictures, that one thought connected deeply. If this had happened in Canada or the States, it would be a lot easier for us to recover. But for Haiti, the disaster is exponentially worse because of the state of their nation.

I don’t think it will ever be too late to help.

Question: What moved you with regards to Haiti?

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Haiti – Did you feel that?

Suraj Reddy — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:27:10 +0000

Lately I’ve been watching episodes of Life – recently I watched an episode titled “Did you feel that?”, where in several earthquakes hit LA, and characters popped the question, “Did you feel that?” whenever the earth quaked.

On Tuesday, “the worst earthquake in 200 years” hit Haiti, “followed by 12 aftershocks“. Here are some shocking pictures. Over dinner, Woody (my house-mate) asked me if I felt it for those in Haiti, which led me to consider this question in a different light.

“Did you feel that?” – Did you feel for the people who went through a calamity the likes of which we only see in the movies? Buildings wiped, 100,000 dead, family members missing, dreams and hopes shattered.

I had to say, no, I did not. Deep down, my heart was not moved. I knew I should be moved (Matt 9:36, Matt 25:40, Col 3:12). I prayed and did other things we’re expected to do. But deep down, no, I didn’t feel it.

To me this shows how self-focused and narcissistic we can be – aka, if it doesn’t directly affect us, we don’t care. However, despite our feelings, we should help – my friend Paulman wrote towards that end.

Question: Does this resonate?

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WinterCon: The Great Prayer Hypocrisy #ewc09

Suraj Reddy — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:15:10 +0000

Prayer – talking with God – is huge, but in my life I’ve noticed that we can talk about the importance of prayer, but not apply it in our lives.

I’m definitely inspired in this category by my Muslim friends who make it a practice to pray 5 times a day. Being a Christian, we’re not forced to pray, and so we can definitely slack in this area of our lives.

However, I’ve been greatly challenged, moved and inspired to pray continually by the continual application of prayer at Winter Conference – I was pleasantly surprised that we’ve had moments of prayer at every one of our main session meetings so far. Back on campus, there’s prayer meetings every weekday. Today I helped organize a live online question and answer event, and the staff present prayed before and after the event, something I would have easily ignored to do.

So thank you WinterCon for the great example.

Question: What do you value and prioritize that is hard to apply in your life?

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Does the Fire Burn In Your Heart?

Suraj Reddy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:50:27 +0000

This past weekend I saw “The Road” with my parents. It’s a well directed post-apocalyptic movie with memorable performances that doesn’t rely on its setting or action sequences to drive it. I’d recommend it for all LOTR, Fallout and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans out there.

At one point in the movie, the father tells his son that they were the good guys because they had “the fire burning” in their hearts. They would not do the bad stuff everyone else seemed to be doing. And they were definitely not going to eat other people to survive.

To me this question asks, “Do you believe in objective morality?“, that is, morality that doesn’t depend on your society or culture? A morality that says it’s wrong to steal, wrong to murder, no matter what? And the second question that tests if the fire will burn in your heart is “Are you going to follow these morals come the end of the world or something close?”

So where do you stand? If the time comes, what will keep you from putting your comfort above my survival?

The only thing that would keep the fire burning in my heart is Jesus.

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Summer: Why LooP? (Part 2/2)

Suraj Reddy — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:31:49 +0000

This is a follow up on my previous post about the Waterloo Project, LooP for short. Below are a few reasons I chose to be a part of the project.

I. The Vision

The vision of the project is to “further the movement at Waterloo and accelerate the national campus ministry through evangelism & innovation”. I’m all about doing something serious for Jesus (that rhymed!), and that vision sounds ubber cool.

II. Practicality

I’m getting a chance to practically use skills I’ve been learning from my Computer Science program and apply them in creating software tools to help accelerate Campus for Christ’s impact on University campuses and the world. Some of the software tools built in the past are being used across countries and continents, as well as by other branches of Campus for Christ such as Athletes in Action and Leader Impact.

III. Personal Gain

I’m also getting a chance to be involved with ministry on the University campus, be trained and discipled, and try out full-time ministry for two months. This is sure to accelerate God’s work in my life.

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Being a Night Owl

Suraj Reddy — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:11:56 +0000

It’s not fun being a Night Owl (I think the term was coined by my dad) – I’ve gotten into the habit of staying up at night, and waking up late.

However, now I HAVE to wake up early to get things done right due to being on LooP, and it’s so hard. I wake up tired and slug through the day, and the darker it gets at night the more I’m awake.

It’s not fun, but it’s an embedded habit, and I’m trying HARD to break it. I’d LOVE it if you could offer any tips.

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Summer: What I’m doing (Part 1/2)

Suraj Reddy — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:00:50 +0000

Apart from missions trips to Scotland, I have also had the privilege to intern with Campus for Christ (C4C), developing tools for campus ministry as well as free online training for the “The Global Learning Center”.

This summer, I am interning with C4C again on a project called “WaterLoo Project”, “LooP” for short. Below’s a cool promotional video about the project.

On Thursday, I’ll mention a few reasons as to why I chose to be a part.

What are you doing this summer?

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Blogging Challenge: Week 1 Update

Suraj Reddy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:00:35 +0000

I’ve fallen behind a bit over the easter weekend, but here are some things I’ve gleaned from the blogging challenge so far:

It takes work
It takes time
It requires planning and thought
It is helping with discipline (atleast theoretically)
Results are not instantaneous (which I was already cautioned about)
It’s fun and totally worth it

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