Morgan McCurry is a senior at Point Loma Nazarene University, interning with a middle school youth group, and looking to expand the kingdom with the tools God has given him.
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Reading Edward Said at Bible Study
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The intellectual in exile is someone who completely removes him or herself from a society, culture, belief, or way of thinking in order to fully examine it. Said says that exile is the only complete way to get an understanding of how something runs.
As long as you are a part of the machine, in other words, you are blind to some of its constructive, and destructive, features.
The intellectual in exile does not need to remove him or herself from a popular city. You can be an intellectual in exile in any major cities around the country. What’s required instead is to remove yourself from your typical thought process. Challenge things.
The intellectual in exile is happy being uncomfortable. This constant struggle encourages them to constantly develop, and not ever settle for what is easy or popular.
Yet it is still important to keep yourself in good community. Said also said, “No one is totally self-supporting, not even the greatest of free spirits.”