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...