Effect of Oil Spill in Lower Pennsylvania During the 1940's

My first reaction to reading this article was just that it defined me completely as a person of faith and as someone who believes in having a strong relationship with God. My second reaction to reading this article was that the author, who although made a concerted effort to see things through, equated going to church with having a relationship with God or something along those lines. I think as a member of the new generation that he refers to, I do think that most students have some type of a relationship with God, now granted some have a stronger bond than others, but the same can be said of those who attend church. Going to church and absent mindedly sitting through it does not a God-loving and God-fearing man make. I strongly believe that this generation of young adults who do believe in God, subscribe to the school of thought that states that God is everywhere, and touches everyone regardless of whether or not that person goes to church.

Another reaction I had to this article came when reading the part about the priest who had his Ash Wednesday service out in the streets. The people who passed by asking for the ashes seemed shocked that they had completely forgotten that it was Ash Wednesday, and the author claimed that it was because there were many more things that demanded our attention on a day to day basis. As far as this claim goes by the author, I could not agree more. So often in life the things that demand our attention every day are things such as school, bills, our significant other, or our friends. Church and God come in at a very distant fifth place. The reason, as the author puts it, is simple. There is no demand for our attention from the church, and as he says, it gets pushed into the “other” pile. If we blow off our school work, we can fail a class or a course. If we do not pay our bills, we can lose things like our electricity, running water, or perhaps most importantly in this day and age, our cellular devices. If we do not talk to our...