Special Post II

As weird as I thought the story was, I figured “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” had many things in it to interpret. The whole story starts with a man with wings falling from the sky. He comes down to take a couple’s sick child. The couple doesn’t really know what to do, so they locked him in a chicken coop. They get a priest to come over and ask the angel question to prove that it is an angel. There many questions that pointed the angel out proving that he wasn’t apparently to the public eye. The wife was tired of having so many people form the community come into the house that she starting charging people to come over. They eventually become rich and get a mansion. Everyone started getting tired of the angel because another “freak” had risen to fame that had been turned into a tarantula. Her only means of nourishment are meatballs being tossed into her mouth. Years go by and the angel looks like he is on the verge of death. He is still in the coop and has been treated vey poorly. He randomly becomes healthy and is able to get out of his cage. He tries to roam the house in search of the daughter but keeps getting shooed out of the room by the mother. He attempts to fly away form the house and is successful at doing so. The mother was happy to not have him around anymore.

            I guess I still never quite understood the whole thing about putting the angel in a chicken coop. I guess I could understand that they weren’t sure what he would do if he woke up. I just thought out of everything a chicken coop seemed weird.

            I think that this story deals with the mindset that everything is not what it seems at first. This is clearly shown when the priest is trying to prove that the man is an angel. They think that because he doesn’t speak Latin that is a reason to doubt. Even when the angel would speak out to the people around they still seemed to look past his words. Everyone was soon not interested because the next interesting thing came along. Everyone just left him and he was alone. It was almost as if people thought he was crazy. People like to believe things they can only see. The story seems to be a story also about having faith. An angel comes straight out of the sky from heaven and people still need proof even after what he tells everyone otherwise. It is almost the equivalent of regular humans spreading the good news about Jesus and people just ignoring them. This time it is an angel. It’s like, how much proof do you need? Especially a priest! Why does an angel have to speak Latin in order to be a true angel? I just think it is funny that a priest is testing an angel. Just the concept of that is funny. He looks like an idiot in the end when he is proven wrong. Well he is wrong to begin with so I guess he does look like an idiot.

            I think the interpretation matters because it shows what things as humans we should believe and not believe. We should not believe in this case what the priest it trying to prove about the angel. It is almost like he didn’t even think in depth about what he was doing. It was like he knew how to test an angel. What book tells him how to test someone to see if they are a legit angel?  You would think a priest out of anyone would be one to listen to something out of heaven. I guess it goes to show that even people in ministry can be pretty ignorant and stupid at times in the way they act. This matters because there should not be judgment on people unless they have something about them that is an example of why they are not something. The story also shows how when a new thing comes around, everybody runs to that new interest because humans like to follow the crowd. I think sometimes it is appropriate but at other times why is there a need to follow everyone? Also the parents seeming  like they were scared to let their daughter go when she was sick. No one wants ever see their child pass away. It was as if the parents could not accept their daughter passing away and giving her up. As a Christian, we should be able to give up anything for God. It is hard because we attach ourselves to things subconsciously and it is hard to separate ourselves once we are attached. Letting God do his part is our way of honoring God through letting him take over our lives. As humans we get afraid to let things go because we are afraid to lose control over things we think are ours. We don’t know which direction we are going to go with God in control. People get worried when they can’t always see what is in front of them. With God in control we just do what we feel led to do without question and not always in understanding. God tries to show us more than we realize at times. Things seem so simple at times but in reality they are complex. Sometimes it’s vice versa. 

A Very Old Man, A Very Weird Story

So basically this angel falls onto earth to take away Pelayo and Elisenda's daughter. I honestly don't even know how to relate to this story. It is just so out there too me. I'm not trying to sound shallow or anything especially towards Professor Corrigan. These people caged an angel and had people pay them money to come and see him since they were tired of the community coming over to the house. Then the priest trying to prove if the man was a real angel. It almost seemed a little sac-religious. Not everything is what it seems. I like how the angel gets better and still roams the house for the girl. Elisanda finally "shoos" him away and rids the "annoyance" out of her life. I'm not exactly sure about all the symbolism involved with some of the stuff in it but all I now is that the story is very out there. I guess the story could be saying that we should not judge what we are not sure of. The priest was trying to test the man to see if he was an angel. The old man didn't know latin and had moral characteristics which led people to believe that he was not an angel. Maybe we are not supposed to know that angels seem human. Maybe the story is trying to tell us not to judge based on what we see on the outside and that there is a deeper meaning to angels then what we will see. God doesn't want us to know everything. As for the priest, I think this could be a way God tests him. A priest who leads masses is asking this angel questions to see if he is real. It almost takes away from the "faith' aspect in christianity. It is in our nature to only believe things that we see and not believe in. That's why faith is such a hard thing. It's nothing we can see, it's only something we can believe.

Walking Away From Omelas/Pleasantville

So again for me at least this is another story that was hard for me to really get into. It is just weird to me even though I know it is a made-up city. It is also a little amusing in a way with the things that are described in the short story. A place of happiness and delight sounds like a fairy tale. This story almost sounds like a Narnia type place before the White Witch took over and things got cold and more evil. Everything in this Omelas is pleasing except for this one truth that the city has. Too me it sounds like a super conservative city where they handle a blunt truth because they are too blinded my themselves to listen or believe it. It's like the movie Pleasantville. Everything is black & white and beautiful and perfect. When people come in from a different world with a more realistic perspective on things which make things turn into color. People start getting angry at the change because their world has been a certain way for so long with no worries. A very unrealistic world. When the brother and sister introduce new things into this world the people start getting more and more curious about things. They start realizing there is more to their world than not using bodily functions and not learning about pointless things. The world is more complex than they portray. The world is not just black and white, there is gray.

Philipians

Philipians is a great book. I love reading Paul's letters in general throughout the New Testament. His wisdom is awesome and so beneficial to how we live our lives. There are various metaphors throughout this letter and all through the Bible. It's amazing how faithful Paul was sitting in a jail cell and still praising God and ministering to people through his letters. He could be bitter and angry at where he is at, but instead uses that time he could use for those emotions and puts them out in a positive manner.

 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  But if I am to 

live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do 

not know which to choose.

 I love this part in the letter where basically says as long as he is still alive he will do fruitful labor for the Lord. If he dies, he gains eternity in the place where the streets are made of gold. He gains when he dies, but he still labors in fruitfulness for Jesus when he is still alive. That is just an interesting concept to think about in how we live our lives for Christ. I don't think I have ever heard anyone sounding excited to die. it IS a weird concept but as a Christian shouldn't we really have that mindset? He should be excited to die. We should be excited to go to the kingdom of Heaven and gain eternal life. I think one big drawback we have is that we think about losing our loved ones around us. Yea I guess it is sad to think about the people that you've had in your life will never be seen again if they don't go to heaven. We should still live for Christ alone though. If all we're supposed to need is God, then why do we worry so much about the other things in our life? We've become attached. We are afraid to let someone else (God) take over our life because when we control it we see where it is going. Sometimes we just need to let our autopilot direct us.

Thursday's Class

So in class last week it was another typical class period. I was still feeling a little bit of the oxycodone but I was feeling better. We read over and essay that Dr. Fettke had written. The article spoke out to me because my sister has a disability and she is involved with things at church and stuff. Towards the end of the article Fettke talked about people with disabilities being involved with the church. My sister helps out at our young adult group worship nights. Does she understand the spirit of the Lord? What the Bible says? I think to a certain extent she does understand. What IS God's reasoning behind kids with disabilities being born into the world? I think it humbles families when a child with mental issues is born. I believe it can even draw us closer to God. The thing about mentally disabled people is finding what you have to do to get THROUGH to them. What is their strengths. Now of course it depends on how severe the disability is but their are ways to communicate to the disabled. My sister has a niche with kids. She just loves kids and works in a daycare. Though she is still learning how to deal with certain things, she slowly makes progress.

Special Needs

So in class we talked about this play that everyone has been reading. We got into groups and discussed what lines spoke out to us. Now it was a little hard being up to dat considering the fact I had surgery on Friday and was still and am currently recovering. I had oxycodone in my system so it was a little hard to concentrate in class. Which probably explains why I am missing a blog from Monday. The class was set up like a panel discussion with a special guest sitting at the front of the class. Candace was the special guest and she really knew her stuff. In fact her and Corrigan were speaking back and forth for so long as I looked around the room I met eyes with several students in the class who looked clueless. Eventually we got to the point where people were able to interact with what we were discussing. The play and topic relates to me in a way because my sister has a mental disability. Corrigan is right about how people with disabilities do some humorous things. Not to laugh at them like we are making fun, but laugh at them kind of like we laugh at babies when we think something they do is "cute." My sister has Coffin Lowry. I don't know really how to explain it to well. All I know is that she has a hard time controlling her emotions and she is 26 but mentally she is probably in her younger teens or maybe even younger. Yea I've gotten annoyed with her with a lot of things in the past but I still love her and she is my sister. Sometimes the patience level is unbearable but at the same time I have learned that my sister cannot help some of the stuff she does. But... there are things that she does know that she can discern right and wrong. My sister has been through a lot in her life with our family and even her 2 surgeries she's had including one in which metal rods were placed up her spine because her scoliosis was so bad.  There is a lot more I could go on about with people with disabilities, but I will tell you all that it is a very humbling experience to be in the life of someone with a disability. God has his reasons for everything...

A Nature Experience

So in class on Tuesday we read from a few different poems. But that wasn't it. The poems weren't very long but they were insightful. I know I say that a lot about Corrigan's stuff but it really is. Even though it seems weird the things he might have has do, I like it because it is different. I may not show that I like it all the time but I really do. He had the whole class go down to one of the dock's alongside of the lake by the Academic building. I wasn't necessarily thrilled about walking around since I have surgery in a couple of days but I was still a little happy to get out of the room. I had a lot of things on my mind that day. Honestly though, the whole day seemed to be very interesting to say the least.
 When we get out there on the dock it was hard to concentrate when he started to read the poems aloud to us. I was legitimately trying to read along with him. I felt as though I could have concentrated better when I was looking over the lake or something. It's weird sometimes. I feel like I can pay attention to speakers better when I'm doing something else at times. I guess it depends on what, I know that when I this blocked game on my itouch I can pay attention in chapel better. Or it could be some of the speakers that we've been having. Anywho... I did enjoy the short time we had when Corrigan told us to take a few minutes and kind of ponder over the nature we were surrounded by. It was actually nice to feel some sort of peace even though their were things on my mind. Nature has a funny way of showing peace to us I feel like. I guess since God created it their can be peace in what he is a part of. I guess through this last week or 2 I have come back to appreciate nature a little more than what I thought. There are so many beautiful things that are a natural part of this earth and yet I think we seem to forget where the basis of our materialistic things come from.

Lake Bonny Nature

So I went to Lake Bonny park. I want to say it was something special but it wasn't really. I enjoy nature though so it wasn't like it was bad. I enjoyed walking the trail and looking at the scenery around. The pine trees were actually pretty cool. I liked how they were spread out along one part of the trail. The park seemed pretty ghetto though. There was trash all in the mini canal thing alongside part of the trail. That wasn't really appealing when it came to looking at nature. I really liked going out to the dock and looking over the water. Looking into any body of water is something I love to do whenever I get the chance. I did see a baby gator swimming around. That was kind of cool. It came up to the dock. Well swam to it. I guess whenever I take time to look at nature I find that God really is awesome. How he created everything and how beautiful and complex they are. It was also just nice to get away in a place where peace takes over and the hustle and bustle is non existent. Nature is definitely a place where your natural thoughts can be expressed. Nature is a place to connect with God maybe in a way how  you don't usually connect with him. There's no distractions, just ants crawling up your shorts. Just kidding. You can talk with your father and just get away from the sick world that we live in. Sometimes I wonders what it's like to be a bug or animal living in the wild. We don't have to worry about dealing with all this crap with people, money, impressions, materials, relationships, and the usual crap that us humans have to go through in our daily lives. How many of you have actually thought about that? Some of these animals out there don't have a care on their mind and we as humans think about how we can make this much money and support our materialistic minds. Dogs just eat, run, crap, and sleep. Then they repeat as necessary. Well they pee too. Humans do this and more. What is the REAL bare minimum we can live by? Cells phones weren't always a means of contacting a person. There's this physical activity called writing letters in our own hand writing. Nature provides for all of our materialistic things though....   :o

Nature

The sky is blue and the grass is green, 

everything is beautiful that is in-between.

The moon is big and the stars are bright,

there is nothing more beautiful than this lightened sight.

The bark on this maple is as hard as a rock,

in this time their is no time or clock.

The leaves rustle as the wind blows,

and in that wind are the flying crows.

The gators in the water are still as they lay,

we do the same when communicating to God as we pray.

There is a slight breeze which is nothing we can see, 

but we know that this thing called wind is free.

As I walk you can smell the pine,

and in that moment you know you're fine.

A squirrel jumps and misses the next branch of tree,

I laughed so hard I think I peed. 

It's funny to think that this nature life is older,

as we get old we feel our life get colder.

You tend to think the best things in life are free,

there are no regrets in the shade of this tree.

When Nature Calls

So in Tuesday's class we discussed nature. We talked about how the Bible talks about nature as well. Corrigan showed us pictures of different sceneries. There were pictures from sunsets to waterfalls. I guess the big focus of the class was to appreciate the beauty of what God created. We had to read the poem "State of The Planet" prior to class. There were many metaphors throughout the poem and at times maybe a little over bearing. It wasn't a very bad read though. It was very descriptive and such even though it was hard to comprehend all of it.
       We ended up reading it aloud in class. Corrigan gave us a minute to pick a couple of lines to read and we basically chain read throughout. When someone was done the next person would just start reading their lines.

"To see them if the wind was dying the pale surface

even as she held it, to bring back the picture of what life

looked like forty million years ago: a honeycomb with mouths."

I really don't know why these lines stuck out to me. Maybe I like honeycomb, so that struck something in me. Maybe I'm more of a literal guy and actually thought about honeycombs with mouths. Corrigan has preached to us quite a few times about reading slowly and really taking in what the literature has to say. I think it is a challenge though to interpret what an author writes because we might not see it as they do. So if that is the case, then we totally don't get what they are trying to say and miss the vision they might be trying to show us. Maybe that's why poetry can be frustrating. It's like a regular person trying interpret a lawyer. Lawyers are paid to interpret and write things in way in which we aren't supposed to understand. Maybe other poets read one another's work and get it.

Cursing In The Name

So in class on Thursday, we got into a conversation about cussing. Corrigan talked about how the Bible doesn't say what specific words that are cuss words. Of course their were different debates on it through the class. I honestly don't think we should use those words. I personally don't cuss and I don't think we as Christians need too. Josh openly discussed about how he got a chance to minister to someone at Waffle House. This lady and the employees cussed and stuff all the time and Josh said he used those words too. He said she wanted to know what he was studying at school and he told her Church Ministries and she started pouring her heart out. Now... I think it is awesome that he had the opportunity to do that. Do I think he needed to use cuss words to get to that point of ministering? Not really. When you just show love to people, that alone can open doors to God's word. We don't necessarily need to fit into the world to minister to it. I know words slip and stuff, but accidents happen and life goes on. The Bible does tell us to watch our tongue. So how do we justify cussing? Corrigan quoted a scripture from 1Kings. In that verse there was something about Corrigan said that looking at it from today's view, it basically says that "he will take a S*** on/or the throne"(This is a rough quote but he used that word). I honestly thought he was just using that as an excuse to be able to cuss somehow in the discussion. Not saying he does on a regular basis, just saying. I liked the insight Corrigan has for us though when he makes us think deeply about this kind of stuff. Like I said, their are ways to minister the word of God without using profanity. Don't try to fit into the world. Christians are supposed to be "different."

Feeling The Blues

Music is probably my biggest passion and dream in life. So I guess you could say I connected a little but with this story even though I wasn't too fond of it. Obviously Sonny goes through some struggles with drug use and doing some time for it. We his passion for music come out later in the story. The time of the story is the 1950's where their was definitely some racism going on that he was probably dealing with at the moment. Music was his outlet and I guess you could say in a way saved him. As a musician, using music as an outlet can be very helpful. Though I have not written many lyrics you can see it through many artists today. Artists are good when they really draw you into the song. You can feel what they wrote and at times relate to them. I guess you could say music can be therapeutic in a way. This story just seemed typical to me again. Someone in a deep struggle and in darkness and then finally finds a hope and way out. Yea I guess you could say it is inspirational in a way. It is always great to see someone walk out of darkness into light and change their life around for the good. Addictions can't be fun to deal with. Though I have never really been addicted to anything deeply I couldn't imagine the journey and motivation it takes to get out of it.

Short Stories about... Life?

In class yesterday we finished presenting our short stories to one another. We had to do 3 and discuss them. Out of the 4 of us, 3 did stories on some sort of love and 2 with something on death. I just thought it was funny that 3 of us did something on love. The stories were all really good. I was in a group with 3 other girls. it was cool to see their take on what they wrote about. I was impressed with all of their stories. I did enjoy the stories but I really enjoyed the reflection part of it more. I love getting into depth with things especially when it involved our spiritual life. We talked about what each subject  in the stories meant to us. The stories seemed to have had something to do with something in or lives or something just on our minds.
   I like to go on about stuff especially stuff now pertaining to God and love. Love is God right? I live my life based on the Bible as much as I can. I explained to the girls something I had thought about over the weekend that kind of blew my mind. Yea this next part is about romance, but about the Bible too. You know you hear about all these ways to go about pursuing a girl. People say play hard to get or to act not interested. I understand we are all human but this is focused on Christians since we follow the Bible. The Bible does not talk about dating. So where do people get these concepts from? Studies? observations? I believe the word does tell us to build our friendships. The way to a girl's heart is not through the games that society has generated. The Bible should be the only rule book that we follow. In one of the story's, their is this guy with a hoodie that people gossip about but don't know anything about him. Through curiosity the girl just gets to know him and he ends up being a pretty cool dude. He ends up being the one for her. This story to me shows what can be accomplished when you show some love to others. You get it back eventually. If not from a human, always from God.

A True Friendship

He was a boy, but not just an ordinary boy. No ordinary MAN. Ed was a man of love, a pure love. God’s love. One evening he was just minding his own business talking with a friend. “Hey man. So what are we going to do tonight?” Tex asked. “Not sure man, you want to catch a movie?” Ed responded. “Hmmm…. Sounds like a legit plan,” said Tex. At that moment, a girl from Ed’s class walked up to them. She had caught his eye in class before, but they had never talked before. He figured she was a new student since he hadn’t seen her around the previous semesters.  When he saw her in class he had just thought she was another face in the crowd. There was no doubt that she was attractive. Her hair was as the best shade of blonde he had ever seen. Her hair flowed like a waterfall in some tropical environment that reflects the sun in just the perfect way. She glowed brighter than the sun on its brightest day. Her eyes were the best shade of green there was. It was like the bluest sky combined with the greenest grass. For some odd reason she stuck out more than any of Ed’s other girl-friends.

            This caught Ed off guard a little bit. When she got to them she said “Hey!” Without thinking too hard Ed and Tex responded in unison, “Hey!” The mystery woman introduced herself “I’m Elise!” She had been smiling ever since she walked up to the boys. The boys introduced themselves back. “Ed.” Said Ed. “Tex.” Tex responded. Elise seemed to pay a little bit more attention to Ed. She had all focus on him. “We are in lit class together.” She said. “Yea. I know your face.” As they were talking, Tex wasn’t mad or anything as he kind of smirked and told Ed “Hey, I’ll catch you later Ed. Elise, it was nice to meet you!” “Nice to meet you too!” Just like that Elise and Ed were alone. As Ed and Elise were talking, there were many thoughts going through his head that caught him off guard as well. Now these thoughts were not impure. They were thoughts of things he hadn’t felt in long time. Things that seemed different. After talking to her for a few minutes, he already knew that this was the start of a new journey of friendship. He didn’t know why he knew this. She was… “Different.”

            She started asking Ed the basic questions to get to know someone. “So where are you originally from?” she asked. “Iowa” Ed responded.

 “Oh wow! That is definitely not what I was expecting to hear.”

“So what is exactly that you were expecting?”

“ Hmmm… Maybe like North Carolina or something up north.”

“I heard that northerners were kind of jerks.”

“Oh really now?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I hear!” Ed smirked at his own response.

“Well I was born in Maine!” She shot back in a joking manner.

“I don’t think that really counts as the north. That is more of just somewhere that is… Out there…”

“Oh really now? Well I’m not a weirdy I guess, since that’s not where I’m actually from. I’m actually from Alabama.”

“Alrighty. So a northern born southern girl?”

“Exactly!”

“Ok… I can live with that.” Ed joked.

            This girl really WAS different then others. It wasn’t just because of their conversation that Ed had this thought. It was just something he kind of felt. Not something weird or creepy but something authentic. She was beautiful and funny. The beginning was good so far. Ed is not one to jump into a relationship with someone unless he has gotten to know them. He was a normal guy with a loving heart and the motivation to seek righteousness out of a situation whether good or bad in his eyes.  What was so different about her that caught his attention? Attractive girl, just like a lot of his girl friends, but still something different. Something he couldn’t explain but only know.

            There conversation came to a close. “Well I actually need to go,” said Elise. “ I just wanted to meet you since I don’t know a lot of people on campus.” “No problem. It was nice meeting you too!” Ed responded. “I’ll see you around!” she said in kind of an excited way. “ “I’m always around!” Ed said in response. He watched her walk away for a couple of seconds. In a matter of seconds he had gone from feeling “normal” to a feeling of… excitement? Confused? Different? Maybe confused in the sense of confused as to why he was feeling the way he felt.  His motives were pure in his thoughts. Ed started walking to go meet up with Tex again.  Thinking about what had just happened with his friendly encounter, he was thinking about the night that he was about to have later with his buddy Tex. It was just going to be a normal night of “bro time.”

            What Ed didn’t know was what was to come of this friendship that was about to form between him and Elise.  This friendship was going to be a journey of growth. A journey that would have its ups and downs. What Elise didn’t know was that Ed was a guy that actually cared. Maybe caring more about people and her than people she had had in her past. She would test him in different ways but he was still consistent. She didn’t know how Ed would change her view on what a true friend was like. She would test him in different ways but he was still consistent. A friend who would stick by her no matter what and still love on her even when a valley seemed to grow deeper into the earth. A friend who was actually there for her and was authentic about it. This would be a friendship that was like no friendship they had ever experienced. Their faith would be tested. Their character would be tested. Their attitude would be tested.  They both were not perfect at all, but that is the beauty of growth. The journey seems so long, but the scenery is beautiful along the way. Even when it seems like there are points where they go off track and get lost, they still encounter a detour to lead them on track eventually. This isn’t romance. This is real love. This is the real love of a true friendship.

The Blessed House

I'm not sure what to say exactly about this story. The basic theme I got form it is that Sanjeev just seemed bitter about Christianity and his wife Twinkle seemed open to it. I love how they kept finding random statues and things that had Christian symbolism to them. We find that Sanjeev was questioning his marriage to Twinkle about midway through the story. It said that they had only known one another for 4 months. I have known friends for years and are still learning new things about them. 4 months just seems really short to me to get know someone well enough to marry them. I've told my friends that if we don't have patience to build friendships, how are you going to have a a good relationship? These 2 just moved into a house and already one is beginning to second-guess themselves. Sanjeev makes it clear that they are Hindu. He says that is the reason he doesn't want any of the Christian memorabilia around their house. Maybe Twinkle felt a sense of peace when she would find the statues and stuff. God speaks to us through giving us peace and in peace. There was obviously something that Twinkle felt when she would find these things. The story didn't really explain "what" though. It seems that when the topic of Christianity comes up, they both had strong disagreements towards one another. I thought it was great when they had the party and everyone went to look for more statues and stuff. The party people seemed to be intrigued by what Twinkle was finding. Could it have been the alcohol? When people start to drink it seems that they get a little bit more curious. Maybe the previous owners left it for others to find. To spread something that they had to others through symbolism. God works in mysterious ways...

Painting The Picture (Revelations)

So in class on Thursday we painted a picture based off of a couple of verses from Joel that we chose to paint on. The verse in Joel 2 that says: "The sun will turn to darkness, and the moon into blood." Of course this makes me think about revelations. In that moment of painting I was picturing a literal scene of what that day will look like. I have actually been reading through Revelations and just finished it recently. Some of the things I was reading in it gave me chills. I know the Bible has a lot of metaphors, but the things that are described in it are pretty crazy. In the moment of painting I was just thinking about what it would be like if the moon was actually blood. The whole picture of the sun turning to darkness freaked me out a little. If the sun turns to darkness, then their would be no light. My picture represented both the sun and the moon. The moon had a reflection on the water but the sun didn't. The sun is light and that's what it represents to us on earth. The sun being dark is basically like an eclipse but without the moon moving in front of it. I don't have a lot of insight for this blog, but I encourage anyone who is reading this to read my JOEL blog from earlier. Since this assignment was more visual it is challenging to explain a lot. Ironically though from this assignment, I realized some lyrics to this song that I like a lot, talk about the sun being dark and the moon having blood. One of my favorite bands is Anberlin. They have a song called "Miserabile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)." Miserabile Visu translates to "wonderful by the sight." Ex Malo Bonum translates to "good out of evil." The song is obviously about revelations. Everytime I listen to it, it gives me some sort of chills. The lyrics and music are written so well. I encourage you all to listen to it with a pair of headphones. Really listen to it and embrace the words.

Proclaim in the Name

During class on Tuesday we were told to go out somewhere quiet and read the book of Joel as if we were proclaiming it. In doing this, I feel like the realism of proclaiming the words written by Joel had more of an effect on how what he said was comprehended. When we proclaim words that are holy and of God their just seems to be just a power behind it. These are straight words from God. How can that not seem powerful? Just reading it on our own I didn't realize a lot of what was being said until I said it out loud. I would love to go back in time and here things straight from Jesus or God speaking through prophets. Though if Jesus were speaking arabic then I would have a little trouble understanding.lol. I was out on a dock and I kind of pictured myself standing over people instead of water. I tried to sound happy as I was proclaiming. What is not cool about telling people about what God is saying to us? I was actually starting to get into it more than I thought. Professor Corrigan talked about how the Bible has a lot of metaphors. I realized this in one of my classes a couple of years ago. Someone brought it up and it was like the lightbulb in my head switched on. I not the best at metaphors since I like hearing things straight forward. Then I realized why I have trouble reading parts of the Bible and not understanding it. In this generation I feel like their is a lot of things that are sugar-coated and straight forward. I feel like there wasn't enough embracing of metaphors growing up. I don't know really how to explain it, but in a way it is almost as if their has been a laziness to learning something that is hard. There are things in the Bible that we want to know so bad and we are not supposed to know and understand everything. If we were to understand everything our life wouldn't be a journey.

Joel

I thought that this was a pretty good read and at a great timing for me. Especially when God tells the people to repent for what the people have done and instead of tearing their clothes to tear their hearts. How are we supposed to grow if we don't tear our hearts. Joel talks about how God will pour out his blessings on the people of Jerusalem when they do what he asks. When you do what asks he will bless you in whatever it is HE wants to bless you with.

   I feel as though sometimes we overlook things that God has blessed us with and then we don't realize it until later. Submitting to what God wants I have learned is so hard times. I think the struggle we have is that we are afraid for someone else to control what happens in our life. When you give God control, we lose control. I think of it as if I were in the driver's seat in a car and asking the person in the passenger seat to steer. You have to have a great trust in order to make sure that person is not going to crash the car. Or you could think of it like someone driving your car with you in it. If we can't trust in God to steer our car he will let you know. You will crash at some point. I thought I was giving God things recently and he showed me otherwise. In a way it can break you. There is always joy in the building process though. As something gets built you can see the beauty in it.
   You start to see what it is being built and the you can see the development in whatever it is. You really see that in people's characters and attitudes when they start letting God work in them. One thing I have learned from being a Christian and just life in general. If you realize you need to deal with something to make your life better, DO NOT WAIT. People talk about not having enough time or just say that they'll deal with it. The sooner you deal with it, the sooner you can leave it in the past. Make the time to deal with your issues. He will just bring it up another time that will be inconvenient as well. Let God work in you. It's not supposed to be convenient for us. Sacrifice and serving is not convenient. These things are what makes us humble in the Lord and his will. We must submit to him as a believer. There's pain in the night, but the joy omes in the morning (I love that song). Embrace his love to embrace others.

House Made of Cards

Yesterday in class we did the whole activity of building a house out of cards. If you've never tried it then you have no clue what frustration you're in for. Cards are not very stable subjects to build with yet alone stack and build on top of.  Even just building the base, you have to position the cards just right in order for them to stay up. We related this to our Christian faith. Building your relationship with God takes time and hard work. You really need to place yourself in the right mindset to focus. When you focus on God in the quiet, it is a challenge to clear your mind. Sometimes it takes a while to do so. When you take so long to build something and then it gets torn down, a lot of times we think that it is the end of the world or something. God puts us through trials obviously to build even more of what we already have. Trials are something in our faith that I at least somewhat look forward to. It shows me that God is going to show me something through it. Hope and growth is something we can hold on to through these trials in our walk. Sometimes their are things that will tear us down faster than we want them too. I feel like those things that tear us down are maybe things we need to work on. There are some events that happen though that we can't control but I still believe that God helps us learn how to deal with whatever it is as it comes. Sometimes we don't know how to deal with it and we have no choice but turn to God. Then it becomes hard because we want to control our own lives so bad that we lose focus on giving God control. Things start to collapse as God is ignored by us. He helps us build. Without him we have nothing. No hope, no faith, no life. I mean yea I guess we could have those things still, but in what? The world? I guess it just depends on where you are in your walk. Everyone is in different places to build their house. How are you going to build yours?

Through The Grave Yard

     First of all let me say that, going through a graveyard at night is probably one of the creepiest things that I have done in my life. Unfortunately me and Chris did not get to take a picture of our little journey. He didn't have his phone and my phone always freezes when I turn the camera on. I felt like something would have happened like it did in the movie Casper. 2 boys were trying to take a picture and Casper randomly takes the camera out of nowhere and they boys freak out. It is interesting how creepy we can see death when you enter a graveyard at night. It's probably the perception we get form the movies that we watch and it freaks us out. It could be that Lakeland is a pretty ghetto place as well and the possibility of drug dealers being in there is pretty high. Maybe it could be that some of the caskets were stone and above the ground. Seeing somebody dead is frightening to me because I think about the fact that this person was once a living talking person. They now just sit in there casket lifeless and immobile. 
     I haven't really had anyone close to me die yet so it was a little challenging to reflect on something personal about death. Though thinking about a more recent death to someone who used to go to SEU gave me the chills. He was younger than me and his life was probably not where he might have wanted it to be. I remember this past summer when I heard about his death and I was more surprised than sad. I knew him but wasn't super close. As Christians I feel that we shouldn't fear death because afterwards is a life in a place that we read and dream about. So why do we still fear things that have to do with death? Everyone is different obviously. We all have different ways of how we view death. Maybe it's because of a past death of a loved one, friend, or pet even. Death is a real thing and a part of life, but their is more to life than just fearing death. If we were to fear death everyday, how do we live?

Literature Going To Life

     Yesterday our group at lunch talked a lot about Harry Potter and Star Wars. We talked about the books and the movies. Obviously the books are going to be more detailed since a book is meant to be taken some time to be read. Movies have a limited time in which they are to be done and viewed as well. We discussed the different movies and how much detail some of them leave out and why. I know there are some things in Harry Potter that were probably left due to sticking to the main part of the story. I know that in the last Harry Potter movie a lot of people enjoyed the cinematography more than the story-line itself. People complained about how the whole movie was about one of the main characters and not enough on what part of the title was about.
     Making books into movies is a hit or miss thing. A lot of times people prefer the book over the movie. I personally like things coming to life through the movies. Sometimes it can be a little disappointing though. Sometimes you have an image of a character in your head and then it looks nothing like what you thought when you see the movie. I also don't like when they change things in movies that are not relevant to what happened in the book. That drives me crazy! I know with Harry Potter J.K. Rowling said that if the movies weren't relevant to the books then she didn't want them made. I would probably be just as anal. If I have a movie done then I would want it to be great. There were some things we each pointed out about the likes and dislikes of the movies. Books are great for just getting in depth and taking the time to get there. Movies tend to rush things because of the time frame. Also when reading, we have to read through the descriptions of actions when in a movie we don't need to read because we see. I've thought about someone making a movie detail to detail on a book. In a way, television shows are like a long drawn out movie. LOST is a great example. There are so many things you have to pay attention to and it is drawn out. That's how I kind of look at shows like LOST and HEROES. Just a big movie or story coming to life.

Happily Ever After

In the short story Happy Endings, there are 6 stories with only the first one ending in a happy manner. The first one ends with the couple growing old and just dying from what it implies. The other stories of A and B ruin the happy endings in the beginning of them by stating the wrong ways in which John and Mary fall in love. What kind of love is there when one person doesn't fall in with the other? In story B it implies that Mary may not be happy with who she is. Why does she have to put on makeup to look good for her own husband? No one can force someone to love them. Or you cannot marry someone because you feel sorry for them. Forced love is never the way to go. Love that happens naturally results in the full effect of it. Both people put in efforts to make it happen. One sided love is not healthy. The emotional atmosphere would be unstable.
    There are going to be trials in any relationships especially friendships. Friendship trials are typically ones that we fall into and deal with first. In a way, you can look at friendships as practice for an intimate relationship in the future. You don't have to worry about what you look like around your friends because they like you for who you are. Trials lead to growth in any relationship depending on how they are handled. It needs to be a double-sided effort once again. Happily ever afters can always happen if you want them too. As a Christian, if you always keep God in the center of everything, you will be successful in whatever you do. The Bible shows us the path of righteousness. As long as we keep seeking after what is right and what is God, then a happy ending should always be successful. 

Love

I guess to start off, Love explained in this story was a little crazy for me. In the beginning when Terri was talking about a previous spouse, she was saying how he loved her so much he tried to kill her. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole killing thing to be honest. That is probably what stuck out to me the most about the whole story. If you love someone, why would you kill them? Maybe they are suffering on a death bed. Could you really live with the responsibility of the death of your loved one. There should not be any abuse between any spouse. The way Terri talked about this guy dragging her around and beating her up is totally up-surd. A guy should not even threaten to hit a lady. Abusive love is not love, it is sick.
    As a man of God, I know I am only supposed to love my spouse and not lust over other girls. It's funny how this subject came up for our first blog. Love to me is special. Love is when you see that girl who is the only girl in the room even when their might be some other attractive girls in the room. Love is when you're there for her in a good mood or bad mood. Love is not violent, but gentle, patient, and kind.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 explains exactly what love should be. The last part about persevering is a part of love that is probably one of the hardest ones to do. I have found that persevering shows that you can commit. Persevering through the good times and the bad is not easy. I will not pursue someone unless I feel like they are wife material (for me that is). I 'd rather not waste the time or money going on dates. I want to know that one of my friends is going to be there for me through everything. A best friend. Why not build a strong friendship before taking it to the next level? You can be yourself with a great friend through the good times and the bad. People should look at their own friends before searching for something that has been in front of them for a while. You are going to have to live with this person for most of your life.

    I know I'm not married or anything, but I've seen love between people and the right and wrong ways to go about it. I feel that I've been getting a taste of what real love is. God's love should be first. I've prayed about sharing that love with someone who will always be around. Someone to love on and make happy. Someone who you can share God with and help one another spiritually. Someone to laugh, cry, and pray with. I'm very passionate about love. I feel that it is a big deal and that it is worth more money than the world could offer. Money is pretty common, love is not. There is love in God, and love for that special person that matches with the 1 Corinthians verse. Of course their is always growth for things, but that is why we have a guidebook called the Bible. Don't waste a moment when something gives you that urge to persevere the heart of someone that is worth it. Prayer is the biggest help and motivator. Let God direct your path of love and you can never go wrong. The lyrics to this song below speak some truth....