Metanoia

The year is 1992. I go away to college, leaving the protection of my parents' home, ready to face the world. Think for myself. Make my mark.

Somehow I end up in an ultra-liberal activist dorm. It's my first Presidential election...a heated one between Bush Sr. and Clinton. Oregon is also in the middle of its first heated gay rights measure on the ballot. Did I mention I'm pro-life?

I'm one of two residents in this dorm who owns a Bible. This simple fact makes me a target. Girls of "alternative" lifestyles start to target me, harrassing me in the bathrooms and shower; truly nasty things are written about me on the walls of the bathrooms; things are thrown at my window and vague threats are made about me.

The residents of this hall decided to buck the traditional Greek system of fraternities and sororities. To make some sort of point (I'm still not clear what that point may be), they renamed our hall the Metanoia House. The residents told me that "metanoia" was Greek for change, and they were out to change the world.

To this day, the word "metanoia" sends the creepy crawlies up and down my spine remembering those hellacious 15 weeks of my life (I got a new dorm and roommate at Christmas.) That is, until I discovered what the word really means:

Main Entry: meta·noia
Pronunciation: \ˌme-tə-ˈnȯi-ə\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek, from metanoiein to change one's mind, repent, from meta- + noein to think, from nous mind
Date: 1577
: a transformative change of heart; especially : a spiritual conversion

Really? Repentance? A transformative change of heart?

I truly pity those who have so far missed the mark, and in their eagerness to bring about change, missed the chance to change their hearts.