By Alice Schweitzer
Before you all roll your eyes and quickly turn over the page, take a minute to contemplate why I would decide to commit such a catastrophic act of social suicide in writing this article.
You may well believe that you can distinguish us by our sock and sandals combos, our elbow-patched jumpers, our inept social skills, and – according to the coal man who is currently walking through my kitchen – us driving around in Nissan Micras with fish stickers attached on the back and sporting huge bushy beards. Admittedly, this description may be a little hyperbolic: I have made us sound like the illegitimate children of Father Christmas and a Geography teacher; however, how many of you have conjured up an image of a Christian from this description?
If you can, suspend this image of us, and ask the question; which philosophy for life are you convinced by?
Questioning our existence feels like a rite of passage for students.  Debating long into the night about why and how we exist seems almost compulsory.  But have you come to a truly satisfying conclusion?
And as Christmas will be soon upon us, I feel that I am at liberty to broach this subject.┬á You may be attending your little sisterÔÇÖs Nativity in a few weeks or maybe you can just easily recollect wearing the tea-towel on your head, the scratchy tinsel halos, and the unimpressed expressions of the boys as they realise they have to wear dress for the next forty minutes.┬á My nativity resulted in the baby Jesus being torn apart by Mary and Joseph because they had had a falling out about who should hold the baby. (It didnÔÇÖt help matters that they were cousins.) But anyway, have you ever contemplated that there may be some truth amongst the foil covered stars and the cotton wool sheep that line the stage?
Perhaps you have come across the word CONVINCED bouncing around Cardiff? Between the 25th-30rd November all the surrounding Christian Unions throughout Cardiff are joining together; itÔÇÖs a chance to give into that niggling urge to debate long into the night about our existence, ask questions and find out for yourself if thereÔÇÖs any substance to what us Christians believe.
HereÔÇÖs what the Cardiff CU have planned for the coming CONVINCED week:
ÔÇ£Stop by the Convinced gazebo on Park Place for a chat or just the opportunity to grab a free hot drink and cake on a cold November morning! WeÔÇÖll also have a Question Sofa so come ask any question ÔÇô big or small, profound or trivial. Our lunch bars at Koko Gorilaz are back too! Come along Monday to Friday at 1pm for a free cooked lunch and a talk about what God is like ÔÇô made up, boring, unloving, arrogant, irrelevant? Decide for yourself!ÔÇØ
And hereÔÇÖs what some if the CUÔÇÖs have to say;
ATRiuM:
ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre going to be putting on two lunch bars answering two of the biggest questions and objections to God being real. The first about how a loving God could allow suffering and the second about whether Jesus was the man he claimed to be. We are an Arts University so will have some interactive ÔÇÿartsyÔÇÖ activities in the foyer, opportunities to look at photos, think about famous quotes and say what individuals believe or think about different topics.ÔÇØ
Healthcare:
ÔÇ£We’ll be having a series of informal lunchtime talks, looking at some of the big questions and how they are relevant to healthcare students. Come along and enjoy a free lunch and chance to ask questions.ÔÇØ
Royal Welsh:
ÔÇ£We’ve got a really exciting week in store at Royal Welsh ÔÇô Dessert Parlours from Monday to Thursday lunchtimes with David Uffindel speaking about big biblical topics, such as ÔÇ£Convinced science has disproved God?ÔÇØ, designed to go hand in hand with the evening talks at Highfields focusing on the identity of Jesus. Also on Friday we will be having a Grill-a-Christian, it should prove to be a really exciting end to a great week!ÔÇØ
Cardiff Met:
ÔÇ£Look out for Cardiff Met. The Christian Union will be running a number of ÔÇÿConvinced?ÔÇÖ events on both our campuses. We plan to have coffee talks to hear how Jesus relates to Derren Brown and Katy Perry. There will also be opportunities to hear testimonies, take part in Fifa games and dodgeball tournaments. Find us around campus; weÔÇÖll be wearing our T-shirts, grab a free cuppa, a flyer and chat to us to find out more. Oh, and donÔÇÖt forget to look out for Wally to win prizes!ÔÇØ
Welsh CU:
ÔÇ£We at the Welsh Christian Union are very much looking forward to the Cardiff Big mission ÔÇô Convinced. WeÔÇÖre hoping to fill your bellies with beautiful home-made food in the evenings, with a lovely time to chat and enjoy in a Welsh scene. Then weÔÇÖll go to the main meeting together in the night.ÔÇØ
As you can see this week is going to be packed full of events all around Cardiff, and you probably wonÔÇÖt need to do your weekly food shop!
As well as these day time events, in the evenings all the uniÔÇÖs will be joining together at Highfields (Monthermer Road) to hear some talks by the renowned speaker Lindsay Brown. HereÔÇÖs the itinerary for the evenings at Highfields;
Monday
ÔÇÿConvinced Jesus was just a good guy: so what’s the big deal?ÔÇÖ
Tuesday
ÔÇÿConvinced I want to be happy: so why does Jesus fit in?ÔÇÖ
Wednesday
ÔÇÿConvinced we live in a messed up world: but how can we fix it?ÔÇÖ
Thursday
ÔÇÿConvinced I want to be free: but I don’t want to be religious.ÔÇÖ
Friday
ÔÇÿConvinced I don’t need to bother with Jesus: he’s got nothing to do with me.ÔÇÖ
From the 25th-30th November Cardiff is going to be loaded with the big questions.  Embrace this chance, embrace your student status (where else are you going to be given the opportunity to sit on a sofa, in the street, under a gazebo, drink tea and just chat away?)  Come and find out for yourself! Are you really CONVINCED by it all?
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