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The
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
CI ac I< amas P rint
True Love: An act of will
I have written of evil, and the hu
man errors behind it, often. One may
well ask, if I diagnose diseases so
eagerly, am I equally able to pre
scribe a cure?
I am hardly qualified (as I have oft
been reminded by our generous fac
ulty) to answer the ques
tions facing humanity,
but I can at least lead the
exploration if any wish to
follow. The claims of
truth that govern my
thoughts (and, God willing, my life)
have offered me this command in the
opposition of evil: “love.”
Of course, saying is one thing;
doing, another. And so if love is the
supreme value, the questions that
face us are: what is it—for few who
use tiie word grasp its meaning—
and how do we practice it?
On the obvious level, we under
stand a difference between “I love
my mother” and “I love pizza.” But
on a deeper level, the poetic inaccu
racy of the English language can
cloud our thoughts on true love. Is
it desire? Affection? Devotion? A
good feeling? A feeling of good
ness? Our single word for such a
vast array of concepts betrays us,
and true love is damned with faint
praise.
Too often, what we call love is just
that: faint. It is romantic desire
(Greek eros) or general affection
(Greek phileo). Seldom is it a dy
namic force that could “conquer all.”
Well, perhaps my love (and per
haps yours) is a faint thing. Is that
the scope of love? Plato believed
that all tilings on earth have a per
fect template in heaven—a divine
standard against which to be held.
And so love, in its truest form, is
inscribed in the very face of God.
The late songwriter Rich Mullins
commented: “volumes ofmagazines,
manuals, and marital aids...tell us
that love is weak, fickle, and manipu
late.. . tell us that love is something
we generate, something that looks
very much like us. We are weak,
fickle, and manipulate—love is not
Love is something God
generates—it looks very
much like Him.”
This true love, love
from on high, is ex
pressed in tiie New Tes
tament through the
Greek agape. It is an ac
tive love, a force that ar
rests hearts, saves souls,
and moves mountains. It is
not a love you feel; it is a
love you choose to cfo. It is
a “love ofthe will.’
Agape love is no less pas
sionate for its emphasis on
doing over feeling. Mullins further
wrote, “Could it be that god 'feels'?
Could God be capable of passion?
Are we comfortable with the image
of God as Father and nervous about
I’d like to thank society for making
God as Lover? How is it that we can
me feel fat
accept that Moses saw a bush that
There are numerous reasons why I
burned and was not consumed, yet
am thankful for being ridiculed forwear-
we doubt that God can love in a rage
ing a pants size larger than 4.
and never cool?”
This love is the force that will
change the world. This love com
pels God Himself to descend to earth,
to seek and save a lost humanity,
that all men might be drawn to Him.
This love compels us, as recipients,
CHAM AINE LARSON
to spread it to others—to help the
Staff
Writer
helpless, to defend the defenseless
and to befriend the friendless. This
First, I wantto commend society on
love, Paul says, “never fails.”
its evolving preference for body shape
Lennon and McCartney were right:
and size. Since man first found thathe
all we need is love. If we fail, it is
cou Id etch his mark in stone, the shape
because we have not loved.
of the woman has been rounded and
We who have been loved through
soft. Bonesdidn’tprotrude,ribsdidn’t
no merit of our own cannot hope to
’stick out; obviously the early artists 'f
return that love, save through
spreading it to others. St. Francis of
Assisi is famous for saying, “preach
always; if necessary, use words.” I
pray that our words and deeds will
proclaim the love of God, which
Thank you for my fat feelings
'ChARM WORld'
stoops to conquer, and draws the
most abject soul from the deepest
pit I show you a more excellent way.
Thoughts on contests,
character, heart
LINDA VOGT
Journalism Advisor
I’m proud of The Clackamas
Print staff.
Last Friday, 15 of us piled into a
snappy new college van for our an
nual trip to Oregon Newspaper Pub
lishers’ Association's Collegiate
Day.
It was 8 a.m., and many of us are
not morning people, so we played
KISN radio and sang along with old
ies to keep alert.
At the conference, we listened to
professional journalists’ advice on
news-gathering, photography and
making the most of a story.
I met with advisors from around
the state. The advisor of the Uni
versity of Oregon’s Daily Emerald
asked me, “When are you going to
send me some more of those great
students? Yours all graduated last
spring!”
her.
More are coming, I told
Last came the luncheon and
awards ceremony. Journalists don’t
often have their work critiqued and
compared to others’ . We were all a
little nervous, but I knew we had
submitted winning entries.
The roomful of 125 students and
advisors was quiet in anticipation.
Every time the emcee said the words
“The Clackamas Print, ” we all sat
up a little taller. I felt about 6 foot 3
by the end of the session.
Ten awards. Our previous best
was three.
I feel like a parent whose kid did
something really spectacular.
In the wake of the Colorado trag
edy, our society is disheartened. But
I believe that most 17 to 21 -year-olds
want to be the best they can be.
Here at Clackamas, I feel thankful
to be working with students with so
much integrity, character and heart.
The Print:
learning
every day
didn’t appreciate the true beauty of
malnutrition.
In the 1960s Marilyn Monroe was
worshipped as the ultimate sex god
dess. Sheworeasize 14! Thankfully,
in the 90s we have adapted
our taste and wouldn’t
look twice in her direction.
Today, ouruMmate woman
is Calista Flockhart, with
her protruding bones and
twelve-year-old sex ap
peal! She is now a “god
dess.”
The second reason that I am giving
thanks is because confidence is over
rated.
There are actually a few advantages
to not having an overactive confidence
level. First You have all sorts oftime to
be alone. People don’t tend to be at
tracted to your low self-esteem; go fig
ure. Second: Pretty good grades (lots
ofSaturday nightsathome). Third: You
get to completely avoid dealing with
the opposite sex (you’re not attractive
by society’s standards). Fourth: You
get to save a lot of money. Fashion
able clothes weren’t made for athletic
boned girls (besides, shopping is de
pressing.) Fifth: You can eat all you
want (it helps you numb the pain.)
I’d lastly like to thank society for
the joys of eating disorders.
Anorexia is a fun lifestyle with a
three-hour strenuous work-out, a
diet consisting of lettuce and a self -
image that tells you, even at
80pounds, you're still fat. Then
there is bulimia. With bulimia, you
get to binge and eat all you want,
and more. Then you can swallow a
ton of laxatives, or you can make
yourself vomit! When you do this
on a daily basis it can cause
osteoporosis (so you shrink) and
you can corrode your teeth with
your own stomach acid.
Today’s models will never know the
joy they have bestowed on me. Every
day I wonder what I’m going to eat
and how I can, when I look so terrible.
I compare myself to most ofthe women
in die spotlight and wonder what my
parents were thinking.
I have grown accustomed to my
looks and curves; I have basically ac
cepted them and decided that I’ll keep
them. And I’ll wait till society’s fash
ion comes around and curves come
back into style. I figure there’s hope—
bel 1 bottoms made a comeback.
KARLKATZKE
Associate Editor
When you enter a business deal,
it’s wise to make sure the deal is what
it seems.
Let’s just call this a learning expe
rience.
Recently, the Clackamas Print
was duped by an advertiser who did
not want us to know the true nature
of his modeling business. On his
end, he intentionally directed us to
a website that was “under construc
tion,” in an effort to keep us from
looking at his,real website.
On our end, I didn’t follow up by
actually going to the website ad
dress that was in the advertisement.
In the future, that won’t be happen
ing - any websites listed in any ad
vertisement will be thoroughly in
vestigated before appearing in the
newspaper.
Looking at the bright side, though,
we at least know people read our
advertisements. Thank you for the
comments and concerns that you
have expressed.
5 m
News Editor:
Associate Editors:
Robert Schoenberg (x2576)
Karl Katzke
Shelbi Wescott
Mandi Linstrom
Feature Editor:
Jeremy Stallwood
A & E Editor:
Cartoonists:
Angie Daschel
Israel Gunderson
DJCole
Sports Editor:
John Thorbum
Staff Photographers:
Advertising Manager:
Sarah Welch
Toni McMichael
Melissa Leone
Kristina Brooks (x2578)
Copy Editor:
Joel P. Shempert
Staff:
Photo Editor:
Timothy A. Bell
Design Editor:
Megan Oldenstadt
Secretary:
JoAnne Gale
Advisor:
Salena De La Cruz
James Khosravi
Chamaine Larson
Maria Raymond
Susan Abe
Stef Smith
Sandy Frazier
Linda Vogt (x2310)
The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased, professional manner. The
opinions expressed in The Clackamas Print do not necessarily reflect those ofthe student body,
college administration, its faculty, or The Clackamas Print advertisers. Products and services
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should be 300 words or less and will be considered for publication if submitted by 1 pm the
Friday prior to publication. The Clackamas Print is a weekly publication and is distributed
every Wednesday exceptiduring Finals week. The Clackamas Print Copyright 1999.
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