I’ve had many new things: a new grade level to begin, a new sport to play, a new school and a new job. Several weeks ago, I started my first day of college, a new beginning in life.
I go to class, meet new professors and new people. I go to new places. A tangible change in life occurs, the fulfillment of a promise made long ago: that one day the life I’ve known would suddenly shift into an entirely new world, a new routine, a new train of thought. Shut the book. Open a new one. Chapter one. Page one.
But the thing about new is that there will always be something newer. No matter how new, a newer thing will come along with more newness and the new thing will become less new – an obsolete new. The human mind is enthralled with new; we cannot get enough new. We stand in lines for hours for new iPhones. We go into debt for new cars. New is the most powerful thing in the world.
New is the promise that what we want is better than the old, that our lives will improve. We are trained to think that somehow our social standings will rise with the addition of the next new thing in our lives. New guarantees more friends, a faster car and a bigger house. New can consume nations in one fell swoop. New can convince people to steal, lie and even kill. New will destroy lives and families and homes and marriages. New is a fuel for evil that can do so much new harm.
However, there are some people in this world, a few good people whom God has blessed us with in our lives, who will choose to use new for good and not evil. We ourselves have a choice on how we will use new. New is an image of hope; it can inspire thousands to stand in unity. It can convince even the most apathetic of us to get up and go – to try for something newer. Because you see, we can never have new unless we DO something new. New is a tool to encourage change, neither positive nor negative, based solely on the user of new.
With your outlook of new comes the establishment of your destiny. You will either let new control your heart and your thoughts, disregarding people and God and truth and love, or you will allow the promise of new drive you to a new job, a new outlook on life, a new favorite restaurant or a new friend.
This place we call home, Oklahoma Christian University, is a breeding ground for new ideas and adventures. Here, you have opportunity to travel the world on mission trips or to study abroad. You can earn internships that will shape your future career; you may even meet your future spouse. All of these paths are unknown, they are different and they are new.
New is neither good nor bad; it is only an inanimate object, a tool and a fuel. The greatest thing about new is the truth behind it – new will be to you exactly what you make it.
Tanner Hawkins is a sophomore at Oklahoma Christian University
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