A Very old man, with Enormous wings

This story, A Very old man with enormous wings was a very interesting story. I found myself struggling with a few concepts. It is hard to read a story like this one and relate it to real life. For example, how do we read a story and try to grasp the meaning behind it, when we are thinking about an angel. None of us have actually seen an angel (that we know of) and we usually have a concept that the angels are beautiful and flawless in image. However, this angel was not beautiful. It was an old man, who was stuck in the mud. I had to learn to read these science fiction stories with an open mind, and it has helped. There were a couple of concepts that i really liked in this story. i learned to appreciate the fact that the angel was not beautiful. I learned to appreciate the fact that the angel did not fight to get free. One would think that the angel could use its supernatural powers to break free and leave. I think that the angel was there for a purpose, in which the angel was watching over the boy. The angel and the boy both got chicken pox at the same time. The main thing that i wish to talk about is about the beauty of the angel. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We tend to classify beauty as outward, majestic, stunning, and magnificent, radiant, and more wonderful adjectives. However, beauty is much deeper. Sometimes, beauty is the suddle things in our lives, such as a butterfly flying by, or the rain falling. We think rain is nasty, but to farmers, it is beautiful. We almost think of beauty as something we get out of something. That is mainly outward beauty. Life is beautiful and if we are thinking shallow about beauty, we will miss some of the great things that God has for us in our life. We can take for granite so much in our lives. Who catches an angel and takes it for granite? They profited off of this angel, make a skeptical of it, and they neglect it until the day that it flies away.

A Temple of the Holy Ghost.

A Temple of the Holy Ghost, by Flannery O'Connor, was a very a little confusing. In fact, this was probably one of the more intricate stories that we have read so far, but i think that i understood the theme. The story starts off with two girls, who are ditsy and kind of disrespectful, that are looking at their clothes and they called themselves temple one and temple two. The story also introduces the main character, who is called the child. The story never tells us her real name, pretty much all we know is that she is 12 years old and she can be ugly and nasty. We find out that the two older girls are being sent to a convent and they dont seem to like it. In fact, one of the more comical parts of the story is when Suzanne and Joanne are making fun of the nun who said that when a guys behaving inappropriately in the back seat of the car, they are supposed to say that they are a temple of the holy spirit! I did think that this part was hilarious even though they were mocking Christianity. One common theme that i noticed was that the child was very judgmental. I feel that christians today can be so judgmental when their brother or sister fall. There is a common saying which says that christians are the only people who shoot their wounded. This, unfortunately can be a true statement sometimes. The ugly in the child was when she was having her judgmental rants. For example, when she has her rant about the Catholic song, she calls the boys a big old church of God ox. She states that she is so happy that she is not a part of that church. I started to judge her, but then i checked myself and asked myself, do i do this too? The answer i found is that sometimes i do the same thing. I often judge people who call themselves christians, but they fall or they dont live the holy life. I learn that i pick apart others sometimes, especially when they struggle with the same things that i struggle with. It was cool to see this story make me think about my own life. 

The Ones Who walk away from Omelas

This is a strange story, written by Ursula K. LeGuin, that is about a city that seems very happy, almost like a utopia. The author paints a picture of a city that seems almost perfect. They do not have a king, no soldiers, hardly any laws, and everyone is happy, although they would not describe themselves as happy. The city is also beautiful and it does not seem greedy for money. The story flips when the author moves to the scene describing the "it" in the cellar closet. This child is the source of the happiness for the Omelas, and they know this. Some have come to accept this reality, others still shed tears because of the sad child in the cellar. For some reason, there were terms set, that the city would be destroyed in its beauty if it is allowed to see sunlight and be free. One has to give its life for the rest to have happiness. But some realize, is this really true happiness? Is this true freedom? I began to realize that this is not the happy perfect place. Others in the story realize this and they decide to leave the glorious city of Omelas. They decide that they can not accept the reality of the world around them. The main connection that i am making with this story, is that the Omelas represents the world in some ways. The world we live in is by far not an Utopia. But i am strictly talking about the non-christian world. We have to decide to make a difference and not follow the world. Media, MTV, Hollywood, this reminds me of Omelas. They ruin childrens minds and fill them up with filth and dirt and immorality. Then they profit off of. The secular world thrives off of exposing young people and filling their minds with dirt. The young people in turn keep buying the merchandise, clothing, music, movies, and they buy into the culture of popularity. This is probably not what the author interpreted and i am sure that there are other interpretations, but this is one possible connection in my mind.

Lake Bonnie Park

I went to Lake Bonny Park for this field trip, and I stayed there for at least 45 minutes yesterday at 5pm. I went with Erin and we walked around and found a place to sit in the grass by the lake. I spent about twenty minutes in silence and read the poems by Mary Oliver. I really liked a couple of them, especially the poem "Praying". As i read this, it reminded me that we are supposed to be real with God. Yes, we need to have respect and reverence for God as we pray, but to be honest and real with God is so important. If we are in a relationship with Christ and God the "father", then we should be real with God. I love to think of it like the Geicho commercials when they have a normal person telling their story, then they have a movie star with a deep voice and dramatic voice tell their story. The real honest version was the real story. We should pray in the same manner sometimes. Yes with reverence, but when  things are going rough, God wants the real truth and we should trust Him enough to be honest with Him (its not like he doesn't know what we are thinking anyways). The first lines in the poem "It doesn't have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot", tells it all. Also, i sat back and just watched the nature, and i was thinking that the poem made sense. Why should we try to spruce up our words to a God who is so majestic already and magnificent. His creation is beautiful and perfect, until we mess up. We have sinful nature and the Spirit of God is what makes us beautiful, not our majestic words. Just because we pray in a beautiful language that is spruced up, does not mean that it makes our prayers bigger. I would think, that a God who created everything so beautiful and perfect, is a God who wants the real person, the real truth with respect and reverence. Not a buttered up language that we try to make pretty with our words. We cannot flatter God, i mean LOOK AT WHAT HE CREATED! One question about Mary Oliver that came to my mind was why does she format her poems like this? She puts breaks in the middle of sentences and her lines are sporadic all over the page. In the poem "messenger", i absolutely loved the first line "My work is loving the world". Not much needs to be said about this, but if everyone's job was to love the world, I wonder how much better the world would be? Nature and creation is a good way to appreciate and be in Awe of God and when we love God, we have to love His creation. It is so beautiful and perfect in many ways. 

Awe of God

The crystal waters, The green grass

The tall trees, The chirping birds

All reminders of the Awe of God

My image in the water

Imago Dei?

My sinful nature 

verses mother nature

Imago Dei?

One purpose, one plan

One creator, One God

But Imago Dei?

What is 

imago Dei?

Is it the wonder of creation?

The image of God reflected upon the waters face?

In nature we see

Imago dei

Which makes me stand

In awe of Nature

In Awe of my Creator

Field trip to Circle B

The field trip to Circle B was a good experience, despite being completely dressed up with shirt and tie. I thought it was going to be more of a nature hike and woods area, but to my surprise, it was not. I liked it a lot, and i like what they do there at circle B. My favorite thing that we did was when we paused and took a minute to think and concentrate, by ourselves and quietly. This pause made me meditate on God's creation. I love looking in amazment and awe at God's beautiful creation and it reminds me how much of an artist that God is. I was also reminded of how God is so intracit, and how perfectly the ecosystem fits together, until we mess it up. I liked the note that Professor Corrigan gave us. I like how he said to be present in time that you read poems and meditate, because in a recent post, i said that i was not with it and i could not concentrate. I had a rough day and could not focus and Hass's poem made absolutely no sense. I just became more upset while i read it. Therefore, obviously i agree with this point. Another thing that i like is that i need to slow down. It seems that we are always in a hurry, as Americans. We want fast food, fast traffic, fast lines, we want things now, and for school i seem to hurry with my assignments and try to finish them as fast as possible. In poetry and literature, i should not be in a hurry. Its the same with reading my bible, because if i am focused on my time, i am not doing it justice. One thing that is not a problem for me is cultivating a sense of awe. Awe is a word that came to me when we paused at Circle B and meditated and just thought quietly. God has a funny way of Awing us on a day to day basis. Everything from beautiful oceans and forest and different lands to thunderstorms and rainbows. God has a way of Awing us to remind us of His glory and His wonder.
I want to talk really quick about two stories that these notes reminded me of. The first is when i sat on Clearwater Beach at night with Erin and we just looked at the stars over the ocean. I was so amazed as i thought about God's glory. I absolutely love looking at the stars and wondering about life and asking the deep questions of life. This is a great spiritual practice.
The second story is back when i was in Ohio last summer. I went to the lake erie beach to read my bible and i sat on the end of the pier. I was reading when i felt something inside of me tell me to look up and watch the seagulls flying over the water. I just watched for a couple of minutes, then i turned back to my bible. All of the sudden, the fish in Lake erie came up to the surface, like a hand was forcing them to the surface and they just flopped around. The Seagulls went crazy like a starving man in a buffet. Everyone on the beach stopped what they were doing and were amazed that the fish were giving themselves up. It was very bizzare, but a scripture came to my mind and it says that God even feeds the birds of the air, are we not more important. This is the time when i was decided weather or not to come to college. This moment made me trust in God, and now i am here today writing this. God is so good. But this is another great spiritual practice.

Othello

I attended Othello tonight at Polk Theater. It was very good, but it was kinda long. The actors and actresses from SEU were amazing and i was surprised at the talent level in the production. It definately had a lot of Shakespeare's methods and endings, as it had a tragic but justice ending. All in all, it was a good experience as me and my girlfriend got dressed up and we had a date night. Some of the dialogue was hard to understand as the language was very obsolete. A couple of the actors were excellent at pronouncing their words and making themselves clear. It was a good night.

State of the Planet

"A palo verde tree nearby, moss-green. Some Insect-eating bird with wing feathers the color Of a morning Sky perched on a limb of the tree. That blue, that green, the completely fierce Alertness of the Bird that can't know the amazement Of its being there, a human mind that somewhat does, Regarding a black outcrop of rock in the desert Near a sea, charcoal-black and dense, wave-worn, And all one thing: there's no life in it at all."
I decided to paint this part of the poem, because it really stuck out to me. I looked up what a palo verde tree was and tried to image that. The bird is on the branch just over the desert sand with the charcoal colored rocks. There is a sea next to it and above is the morning sky. This is a beautiful part of the poem so i tried my best to depict this. I hope i did it justice