Continuing on the quest of Christian identity, the Christian life theme for the months of November to December have changed to even more specific Christian traits. The theme for November is “you are a new creation.” The theme for December is “you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.”

The verses for November are 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 4:16, and Revelation chapter 21. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 4:16 states, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” Revelation chapter 21 talks about the new heaven and new earth. All of these verses relate to Christians being new creations.

The verses for December’s theme of “you are a temple of the Holy Spirit” are 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 states, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

When asked about the relevance to the themes of the year as a whole, Christian Life director, Greg Lisson said, “As you cross over into somebody who is follower of Christ, now there are some new things that are part of your identity. One, you are a new creation. Next, a pretty well-known one is you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are trying to build on what it looks like to be a follower of Christ.” When asked how December’s theme relates to Christmas, Lisson said “I did choose this theme on purpose because when you talk about God dwelling in you, it also reminds me of God dwelling among us which is what the incarnation of God is.” While not a direct relation, it still reminds Christians that God came to earth as a man so that we could gain salvation.

He Said:

Batman and Robin, Lucy and Ricky, Tom and Jerry, Koch and Hart, Obama and Biden, Ellie and Camille… these are some of the most famous pairs of our society, but one pair tops them all: Joey and Chandler. Joey and Chandler from the famous 90’s sitcom, Friends, did everything together. They kept ducks and chickens in their apartment, they dated the same girls, they watched the same TV shows and they even sat in the same recliners. Joey and Chandler were inseparable. When they tried to move away from each other, Chandler ended up with a creep for a roommate and they were back together in the blink of an eye. It’s tough to compare such close friends, but Chandler is definitely superior.

Chandler is funny, good looking, practical and caring. His terrible jokes bring a smile to everyone. Chandler also has a fascinating family. His mother is an outstanding writer of novels with questionable content, and his father likes to wear dresses. No one really knows what Chandler’s job is, but he makes good money, and according to Rachel, he is a transponster. Some people question Chandler’s decision-making based on his relationship with Janice, but I would argue that Janice was a catch. Not only is she gorgeous, but I think her laugh is endearing. Chandler didn’t care what other people thought of her because he is caring and sweet. He treated Monica extraordinarily well. Lastly, Chandler has style. He dresses like a real dad, and even pretended to be a dad once but got in quite a pickle when he lost the baby.

Joey on the other hand is a pig. He objectifies women and eats too much. He is also not the smartest. He starred in a commercial featuring lipstick for men, and he firmly believes that he can drink a gallon of milk in ten seconds. He once surrendered his masculinity by wearing a purse, and he thinks he can speak French. He is also forgetful and can at times be a bad friend. He was supposed to set Phoebe up on a blind date, and after forgetting to find someone, he bribed a random stranger ten minutes before. Though he is lovable, Joey clearly is not nearly as awesome as Chandler.

These two friends will live on as one of the most dynamic duos of all time. No matter what anyone says about Joey or Chandler, they hold special places in our hearts. Chandler’s place is just a little bit more special.

She Said:

Joey, Joseph Francis Tribbiani, Dr. Drake Ramoray, the best character in Friends; any of these names will do. It is not even a question that Joey is the most beloved character in the hit television show Friends. Let’s put it this way: who would pick a sarcastic, sometimes rude and awkward guy over a sweet, pretty, smooth-talking and loving guy who always has your back?

I am probably the biggest Friends fan in the world, and I have watched the entire show about ten times over, and every time I watch it, I hate a different character. I have hated Chandler about four times, but I have never hated Joey. This is because Chandler is just more annoying than Joey, and this is how the writers meant it to be. I am aware that Chandler is comic relief during the few intense parts of the show, but Chandler doesn’t even know how to be sensitive to the other characters when he needs to be. He says it best when he is trying to help Rachel with a problem and he says, “I’m not great at the advice… Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?”

Not only is Chandler brought down by his inability to be sensitive, but his track record with girls doesn’t exactly help his case. His first serious girlfriend is Cathy, who cheats on him, next is Aurora, who also dates two other men while dating him, and of course, Janice, who is the most annoying woman the show has ever seen. Add all these girls together “oh…my…God.” As Phoebe would say, “Your collective dating record reads like a who’s who of human crap.” Chandler struggles with feminine relationships throughout the entire show until he finally settles down with Monica, who, let’s be real, is way out of his league. Simply put, Chandler is sort of just the loser of the show that everyone makes fun of. I mean, not even his best friends know what he does for a living. I think everyone’s feelings towards Chandler is summarized best when Rachel tells Joey that out of all their friends, she would most likely punch Chandler.

Joey, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of Chandler. First of all, Joey is a great friend to everyone on the show. He is always there for his friends whenever they need him. For example, in season eight, when Joey thinks Phoebe is pregnant, he proposes to her so that she doesn’t have to be a single mother. Then, when Joey finds out that Rachel is actually the one who is pregnant, he proposes to her. Also, in season seven, when Phoebe is heartbroken over David, Joey consoles her even though he is mad at her for standing him up. Not only is Joey a great friend, but he is also a family man. Joey is there for his mom when he finds out his dad is cheating on her, and for his sister when she tells him that she is pregnant. Though Joey may not be the smartest guy out there, he is the sweetest and the most caring. In addition, Joey has a much cooler job than Chandler. Joey is an actor while Chandler is a..well um…something with numbers. Though it took Joey a while to have any success in his career, he finally got his big break when he landed the role of Dr. Drake Ramoray in Days of Our Lives. Also, everybody knows that Joey is very good with the ladies. I mean, who wouldn’t swoon over the pretty boy with the big acting job and the famous “how you doin’?” Simply put, Joey is the guy that the other guys want to be and the girls want to be with.

If I had a dollar for every time I have asked myself, my classmates or my teachers the question “When will I ever use this?” I would already be retired in the Hamptons. I vividly remember the first time I began to question the idea of school in fifth grade. I was sitting in Mrs. Greene’s math class learning about integers, and I began to wonder how my new knowledge of positive whole numbers and their opposites would ever apply to my career as a professional athlete of some sort. I was a naïve 11-year-old at the time in more ways than one, but that would not be the last occasion on which I asked a question along the lines of “Why am I learning this?”

Now that I am a mature adult, I have come to the unfortunate realization that despite my water polo skills, I will not be a professional athlete of any sort, so perhaps integers actually will apply to my career on some level. That being said, it is still valid to assert that the majority of the information I learn in high school will be useless to me in six years. If one day I pursue a career in business, my understanding of Life of Pi, The Crucible, “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” Calculus or Physics is unlikely to contribute to my success, so what is the point?

It is important to question why we do things the way we do. Why do we learn things every day that we will only use if we become a high school teacher? What would school be like if we only learned skills and information that apply directly to careers we are interested in? This may initially seem like a brilliant idea, but upon further consideration, some of the downfalls become clear.

I believe school would be boring, impractical and ineffective if it functioned this way. First of all, regardless of what many students may think, the vast majority of high schoolers have no clue what they will be doing in 10 years. Secondly, a curriculum so narrowly focused would quickly become extraordinarily dull. You are probably thinking “school is already boring,” but imagine if you were only in one class all day. Diversifying our studies keeps things interesting, at least to a degree. Finally, lacking education in areas that do not apply to a specific career would for all intents and purposes make us robots who are only capable of operating for one purpose or task.

So perhaps we should broaden our studies in high school and learn a few things that will not necessarily apply directly to the career path we choose, but do I still need to learn about derivatives and Newton’s Laws? Of course. Though it may often feel like a waste of time, there is so much value in learning any new concepts or information. I seriously doubt that a business man would ever need to know the slope of the tangent line of any function at any point, but learning to think critically by way of finding the derivative teaches us to reason and solve problems. High school teaches us so much in so many different ways, and all of it will apply to our future careers even if none of it does.

I pride myself on my ability to solve problems and get things done. I owe so much of that to Mrs. Smith, Dr. G and Jonathan Koch, among others. Though Honors Pre-Calculus, Biology and American Literature might not be at the forefront of my future occupation, the concepts I learned in those classes taught me to think in different ways, and that will help me be successful. Next time you are frustrated because you think you are learning useless information, you might be right, but do not be discouraged. That useless information just might be the key to your future success.