I know some great people.

Today I told someone, "I want to do big things in the world." And then later, I remembered something Mother Teresa said: "You can do no great things, only small things with great love."

The people around me are great people. They encourage me, they tell funny jokes, they inspire me with their writing, they make me smile. I'm going to miss them this summer.

This month, I've understood a little bit about what it means to be a human in the 21st century. I've walked home at night beneath the stars, singing thanks. I've stayed up late, stressing about a calculus final. I've seen my ugliness. I've knelt on the asphalt with joy blossoming brilliantly in my heart, and hid my head in confusion. I've made mistakes. Hopefully I've done good too.

When I first saw you, I had my thoughts about who you were. Being who I am, they probably were not good thoughts. I'm sorry for my judgments, for all the bitterness in me, for not thinking. Friendships are about connecting, and sharing time together, and I've known you more and you've proved me wrong. I love being proved wrong in these cases. You are it. You're all we have.

Like calculus, life is tough the first time through. And I think we only get one time through, so life only seems easy when we're looking back. But that's part of the challenge. That's part of being human.

You know what the great philosophers said: That we are alone here, that there is no God, that we decide, that life is absurd. I've wrestled with these questions and I do not have a resolution. But I have a hope, founded on my experience.

In his letter to Colossians, Paul wrote that "God holds all things together." Through God the stars, the ocean, the planets, the sky, the waves live and move and breathe. And then Paul writes, "Above all, clothe yourself with love, which binds everything together." Through love, even we humans are held together, no matter what may try to divide us. No matter what shadows are lodged inside us. We are kept together.

It's not that we consume more of love; love consumes us. We are able to love because God first loved us. Five summers ago God changed me and began a new work in me. May God work in us all so that we may see more clearly, love more genuinely, trust one another.

Thank you for being alive, for being there even when I am not. I hope I come around soon and wake from my drowsiness. For now I will sleep before my final final. Thank you for being a special person.