DEEP

So there's this guy in my math class. I've never met anyone quite like him before. He's an extremely unique individual-just a little dude, always smiley-always inquiring. He has questions flowing out of him like it's his last chance to ask them. And if he isn't asking a question, you can tell his whole being is aching to spit one out and that he is just waiting for the opportunity. Now, these aren't the questions that everyone hates to hear, also known as dumb questions. These are legit questions...but maybe not so legit or expected for math class. He is very smart academically but seems very naiive to much else. Seems very open, very kind, and gets really down on himself for making a mistake in math. It's like he's in a constant state of feeding-but emotional, mental and intellectual feeding. One of those people that asks you a question and ravenously awaits your answer, hanging on every word. I love those kinds of people-so rare in these days of slow to listen, quick to speak, short attention span generation.

Today was unique in the sense that we were not obligated to hone our full attention onto the teacher and his lesson because it was our review day for our test this next week. So naturally, in the low hum and murmur of voices working through problems, Porter (this is his name) found his perfect opportunity to jump into some full fledged left field questions. He does preface some of his deep "theological" questions with a starter kit occasionally, I'll give him that. But with this guy, you gotta be ready to expect the unexpected. You know those people that say the right thing at the right time? Porter is not one of these, as most of us aren't. Like today-his subject and target was the girl behind him primarily-although he is open to anyone and everyone who will listen, ask, and answer. He began with what some would call small talk-"What's your major? Why do you want to do that? So what do you think you'll do with that?" You gotta give him credit for his inquisition merely for the reason of people like him being really interesting to talk to. And with questions like his, in quantity and quality (slipping some statistics into here, watch me go), who could get bored dialoguing? Everyone likes to be asked about themselves. Today-I believe he extrapolated on a comment that the girl behind him had made earlier in the class period; something along the lines of "I'm a pessimistic person". He turned around in the midst of the lack of any conversation anywhere in the room, much less with he and this girl. "Why do you think you're a pessemist?" Wow-nothing like getting straight to the point am I right? Refreshing no? I think one of the things that makes Porter so likable is not only the fact that he has the curiosity to venture out into these questions with perfect strangers, but also the fact that he does not care one iota. Because aren't those always the people that we tend to like and find interesting? The ones who do not care what people think of their ideas, questions, or how they interact or think? Yes alright, sometimes these people can also be very obnoxious and facetious. But we're not focusing in on that kind of specimen right now. He proceeded to ask the most comical, amusing, ice breaking question I have ever heard sprung onto someone unaware in the context of a math class: "Do you believe in aliens?" At this point, he went up 11 cool points in Alyssa's Cool Book (for further information on Alyssa's Cool Book, see me for details on this after). 1. He was dogmatic enough to say what he was thinking and ask another's opinion on it. Maybe he really is just searching himself and not as laden with personal opinion as he may seem on the surface. 2. Lets be real-who asks that??? In a math class. SO legit. Someone's gotta keep the social life of this class on it's toes right? Go fight win Porter. So naturally, I pounced at this point and by pounced I mean allowed the eavesdropping to commence. (You must understand as an addition to the previous sentence, that I am a more stifled, reserved Alyssa in this class. I will not go into why here in my blog-it's a touchy topic. Alyssa's got jokes-alright no more 3rd person, I know gets creepy) As Joel (the teacher) was handing back graded homework down my isle at the same time as this question was proposed, he became attentive. Or maybe he had been attentive the whole time (very likely). And I've figured out the general gist of how this Porter dude operates-if he makes eye contact, you can be sure you've got a question coming your way. I found this out by experience as I directed my attention in the area of their dialoguing. He then asks ME: "Do YOU believe in aliens?" Ah, there it is. The infamous, brilliantly preposterous and entertaining question. I kept it brief and stated that I think that with all of the billions and billions of planets and galaxies out in our universe, it is a bit selfish to believe that our planet is the only one with life on it. And the girl interjected, "Now is that about aliens or God?" And I responded "Oh I was just talking about extra terrestrial life." Joel heard, and says "Deep." He said it in a tone that indicated that he was completely serious about me being "deep", no smile or anything.

Let me go off on a little rabbit trail here for a second. Earlier before the alien bomb was dropped, there was back and forth talk about "society", generalizing, stereotyping, and categories. The girl behind Porter (as of right now she becomes "the girl behind Porter") continued to express that she did not consider herself to be "in a category". And lets be real, most people do not like to "stereotype" themselves into nice little categories and boxes anyway-is that even possible anyway? I mean, even if you don't "fit into a category", isn't that in itself placing you into the "I don't fit into a category, I don't want to be stereotyped" category? There are plenty of people that feel that way that can very easily be grouped into that generalized assembly no? And since this next topic I'm about to introduce overlaps what I'm already talking about, I'm just going to touch on it real quick but not dig deeper because it is way too vast. Just as "abnormal" can be termed as the "new normal" very often in our generation now, so it is with stereotyping and categorizing. Maybe not being stereotyped and fit into a box is the new stereotype......just a thought.

ANYWAY. Now on to a completely different rabbit trail (I apologize for the rabbit trails talk-I blame my wildlife management teacher). DEEP. So among some crowds, there seems to be a negative charge behind this word "deep". I have come to find that the people that tend to be repellant of this word are usually the people that don't take themselves seriously, OR live simply to party or have fun OR are afraid of what is really inside of them that will erupt if this topic is ruptured and starts oozing out OR all of the above. Most common I have observed is the third-they don't want to get real with themselves, find out what's really inside, they don't want to go past the surface for fear of facing what they know to be true. Typically these are the "numbers", as opposed to the indulgers. Everyone in the world is one of the two (more food for thought, if I'm not overfeeding your gluttonous mind already). I started thinking about it and thinking about whether I like to be classified into this "deep" "category". Maybe it is just the assortment of people that I just mentioned above that has cast a slightly derogatory feel on this adjective. If so, then I should have no problem whatsoever being "labeled" (OH the loaded word of "labeled", lets not get into that now) as deep. Perhaps even see it as a compliment. I guess in order to qualify for this train of thought I need to take into account what the definition of "deep" really is/means. That is different for everyone though. So it seems an impossible task. No solid definition, no solid epilogue....kosher? Some things aren't meant to have a concrete conclusion anyway. So deep-I would say that this is a desirable quality personally because why would you want someone who is surface, can't see past what's in front of them and offered to them on a plate? So much in life needs to be dug into to find the treasure, unearthed to find the richness. Of course there is nothing completely wrong about sticking to the surface...but why would you want to cheat yourself like that anyway? I would classify deep first and foremost as a thinker. A delver. Someone with a different mindset and point of view on the world and everything in and of it. Most importantly...I would classify deep as someone who believes that there is something more than what we can just see in front of us, and lives accordingly. I am also a firm believer in the consistency between skeptics and the word deep. They cannot coincide very easily if at all. Of course there are always exceptions to everything. But if you allow skepticism to rule your intellectual, moral, academic, and spiritual thinking...deep will not likely have an outlet in your life for cognizant activity. So at least based off of my own observation and opinion of the definition of deep, I would say that yes I would qualify for this category...and I would say that yes-with that, I am completely copacetic.

As far as Porter and his questions, he did venture even further after the aliens and asked me if I believed in God. I said yes. He asked if I go to church every Sunday. I said yes. He asked if I was a Christian. I said yes. And yes, that is all very elementary-very surface. But you cannot throw calculus at someone who has not yet taken algebra. So the seed is planted. Now we pray-and wait.

*Names changed

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So that neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth."

1 Corinthians 13:6-7