By Peyton Voorheis
Staff Writer
The student organization Breaking Barriers hosted its first talk of the semester on Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m., where three members of the club shared their own personal testimonies on how to experience joy with and through a cross.
Breaking Barriers is an organization for students with physical disabilities that strives to increase both awareness and accommodations around campus.
Jonah Kane, president of Breaking Barriers, was the first to speak, discussing his search for joy.
“I was always looking for that thing that I was gonna be so great at that everyone would love me,” said Kane.
Kane explained that “joy gives us hope and assures us that we are loved” and compared remaining joyful to St. Peter walking on water.
“To live in this joy, we need to rely on Christ,” said Kane. “If it came from us, we’d be very discouraged.”
The next speaker was Camden Flater, the club’s vice president. Flater spoke about when his worldview began to shift, saying, “Everything that I’d been taking for granted up until that point was a gift that I didn’t know I had.”
Flater continued to speak about bearing crosses, adding “I was given something that I viewed as an obstacle … but it’s actually getting me to heaven.”
The club’s social media manager Alivia Feola shared her testimony as well.
“The joy of the Lord can be your mental strength, your physical strength, your emotional strength,” said Feola. “He’s been all three for me.”
Senior political science major Marcelino Gonzalez said the talk “made you really consider that all suffering is temporary and to keep your eyes on Jesus.”
Emily Salerno-Oswald, a senior English education major, said “I was blown away by how eloquent all three of the speakers were … all three of their witnesses were charged with hope.”