Oh, Mamma Mia!

      "Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk, she says I began to sing long before I could talk." If any of you have class and know the musical "Mamma Mia!" or listen to the old ABBA songs, you have probably heard this lyric of the song, "Thank You For the Music," which also happens to be the theme song by which I live my life. Being a musical theater fanatic, it is rather hard not to listen to musical soundtracks including, but not limited to, Little Women, Hunchback of Notre Dame (New Broadway Cast Recording, NOT the Disney version), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Newsies, etc. The above lyric rings so true in my life as I have been musically inclined my entire life: dancing and singing before I can even remember. Needless to say, giving up theater music is a BIG thing for me.
      I have learned a lot about integrity and wisdom this month. I think integrity is one of the most important things a person can have. How can anyone trust if you do not have integrity? Integrity is defined as: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty [1]. The moral and ethical principles of a Christian are found in the Bible, and includes utmost honesty and truth. I got to thinking the other day and I thought "wow, in this world it would be so easy to say 'I'm on a media fast' and then listen to whatever you want and no one would probably know." Which is so true, but integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. That is a high standard to be held to, but that is the standard of which we are called. I'm not saying we have to be PERFECTLY perfect in integrity, because our sinful nature gets in the way of that, but that should be what we strive for. Wisdom has also been a theme of this month. Reading Proverbs, I've read a lot about how the wise man is the man that fears the Lord and etc. But also wisdom in our choices. Even without the influence of media, we must be wise in the choices we make with our days. I'm sure we all could find a lot of things much funner (yes, I said funner, deal with it grammer enthusiasts) than homework, even without movies, shows, or music to distract us. I certainly could, but it is a wise choice to do our homework because it makes us be productive and produces good grades, which gets us into college, which gives us an adult life after that. Okay, maybe not so dramatic (I am a theater kid after all...) but you get the idea.
      I have come to the conclusion that the Media Fast is just what our generation needs, so thank you, Matt and Student Life Team. At the beginning of the fast, I was telling my friends about it and what the purpose was and my friend said, "Can't you fast from something else this year? What are we supposed to do when we hang out?" That sort of snapped me into reality of how much we really do rely on our movies and shows to carry conversation for us. How much more do we need the media fast? And good news, I got my friends to actually speak at lunch! Imagine that! This month I have been listening to GODSPELL! a musical following the accounts of the gospel of Matthew, and watching spoken word videos done by Jon Jorgenson (a Broadway star who was just in the Broadway Revival of Mamma Mia, and who I have personally had the pleasure of meeting). I am blessed by these things as a change of pace from Christian radio, although I enjoy that too.
      I find myself grateful each year at the the end of March for the media fast, and for the time I had away from my TV to depend on Christ and be productive in my spiritual walk, and my academic walk. But of course, like every other teen I have shows to catch up on and movies (like Zootopia, so stoked) to watch, so I'm glad it is only a month. Oh, Mamma Mia!
Congrats to all you Media Fasters on making through this month :)
Signing off until next March,
Michaela Biggs

1. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/integrity?s=t