September 13, 2025 "Under the Microscope of the World."

Honestly, this has been harder than I could have imagined - not that I ever imagined this…I’m overwhelmed at the weight of all of it…like David and Goliath…our less than 1% Christian population trying to put our arms around a campus of 44,000 students that we adore with the world watching.

I had a talk with Jesus about it this morning, and we have a plan.  He’s telling me to ignore the literal madness that is happening outside our campus.

My friend had a dream a couple days ago that keeps coming back to mind.  She dreamed that two parents were standing by a ledge looking away from the ledge, while their baby was creeping closer to the ledge.  The baby was just about to fall over the precipice, when my friend grabbed the baby and rescued it unbeknownst to the parents.

That picture is so starkly correct.  Why do I care that the world is so distracted that all they can see right now is what doesn’t matter, and there are people Jesus loves dearly (including our opponents) that are about to fall off a ledge into eternity? Why am I the parent not paying attention to the baby falling over the edge because the circus outside is so maddening and captivating?

All Jesus has asked me to do is put my nose to the ground and love my neighbors, and love my students, and love the students that stood in protest at the event and those that stood in support, because all of them are hurting and all of them are loved by my Savior.  

I’ve noticed the sameness of talking to students that were at the event to support and those that were there to protest.  None are talking about anything other than the sheer terror of the moment…not their political views…They are all just scared of going back and we kind of are too.

One girl I spoke to, Mary, had received accommodations at UVU because her high school graduation last year turned into a bloodbath in which students were shot and killed, and so she moved to Utah and believed she would be safe on our campus.  She probably would have gone to the event in support but can’t do open air events so she was just on campus and ran with the screaming crowds to safety…

One girl I spoke to, Perry, went for a Constitutional studies class, and stood with the protesters…and expressed to me how scared she was to go back to campus.  The only thing she said was, “I was standing with the protesters.”

These two girls are roommates and friends, who called each other frantically that day trying to find each other with calls not going through.  They didn’t give a thought to the fact that they were there for different reasons…

They hunkered down in their room to stay safe for two days, and just supported each other, and then emerged together to get free coffee from us.

So that is what it is like on the ground here.  Exactly how I want it to be…students loving their neighbors…us loving them…

Pray that we will continue to be laser-focused on what we are called to do…