Philippians

Well, that week off without blogging flew by. I felt like I didn’t even get a break! Anyways, our prompt for this week was to read St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians and write about the figurative language in St. Paul’s letter. To tell the truth, I didn’t find much figurative language in the book. I actually went through everyone else’s blogs trying to find examples and I like Josh’s the most. As Josh put it, The biggest bit of figurative language I caught was about circumcision. I massive part of Paul’s letters is reconciling the Old Law with the New Law. The Jewish Christians were obsessed with maintaining the Rabbinic Law, of which circumcision was a major part. To Jewish Christians to be a Christian often made them think that they needed to be Jewish, and thus… *ahem* snip, snip. In my opinion Paul isn’t the best one to address this situation considering he is circumcised himself, yet this also makes him the perfect person because he says that he is extremely Jewish (a “super Jew” as Dr. Waddell has put it before). This statement about having “faith in the false circumcision” is not simply a statement about circumcision, but about the entirety of Old Law.” See, I never would’ve have used that example, that’s why this class has been so good for me. Because when I am confused or looking for a new view on something, I can just click through everyone else’s blogs and find something that helps me better understand or interpret in a different way what we’re reading. I am not very good at finding and explaining stuff like this, but if I had to guess, I would say that when it says “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers…”, he is speaking figuratively. Once again, I am not very good at this kind of stuff, but it doesn’t seem like this was the best passage to read to find figurative language.

The Man Who Came To Dinner....and wouldnt let it end

I went and saw the Southeastern University production of “The Man Who Came To Dinner” on Friday night. Now, let me just say up front that I was completely exhausted from the previous two nights, so putting me in a dark room to watch a play I didn’t want to be at, probably didn’t help my opinion of the play very much. That being said, I thought that this play was way too long for the amount of storyline that was in it. I felt like if they wanted it to be that long with the plot they had then they should have made it much funnier throughout. It just began to feel like we were dragging through it, almost as if just trying to take up time. Now I understand that this is completely my opinion, because it seems like most people loved it, for example, Zac said,            

            `“There were only a few scenes where I desired more to go to sleep than I did             to stay awake, and that’s a lot to me, since I’ve never actually been to a formal             theatre house before and seen a play.  And there wasn’t even really a moment                        where I didn’t want to finish the play.”

So he only found it sleepy at parts, while I felt like there was my own storyline going on throughout the play about whether or not I would stay conscious. That just goes to show it’s a matter of opinion, always. Now even though I did not find the storyline enjoyable doesn’t mean that I didn’t appreciate the acting. I felt like everyone in it did a phenomenal job. Being able to stay in character for that long can’t be easy and I thought everyone did an exceptional job at bringing each particular character to life.

In the end, I guess it was a good experience for me, but it was not one of my favorite field trips thus far.

11-10-2010

As I said in my annual class quiz on Thursday, I really enjoyed the second half of the play “The Boys Next Door”. I felt like having read the first act and visiting Alliance for Independence that I had a better feel for the characters and could appreciate their personality quirks and humor they provided. I mean did anybody else find the part where Norman and Sheila are talking at the dance about what kind of flowers they are hilarious? I laughed every time we read that scene last Thursday in our small groups!! Also, the part where I believe its Arnold who says “you have personality traits that are not fun Jack.”, or something like that. Just the scenes like that made this play so easy and enjoyable to read for me personally and the humor far outshined the sadness. I even found myself re-reading certain scenes because I found them so funny!!

Another thing, while we were reading this story the thing that kept jumping out at me was just the innocence of each character and how unassuming they are. That is something that I’ve always felt we could learn from people with disabilities, most the time there is no hidden motive in their actions. As I read through this story I felt like I got to know each character better and better with every page because they just seem so honest and sincere. I really want to see the movie now just to see how they depict each character and see how it lines up with what I have in my mind.

Bottom line is, this was by far my favorite reading and field trip we have done so far.  I enjoyed this play so much that I am looking forward to tell my family about it and hopefully finding the movie.

AFI

For the past week we have been reading a play called “The Boys Next Door”. The play is about the lives of four mentally disabled men living under adult supervision. Now, I have a cousin who is down syndrome who I have interacted with many many times, and I am good friends with AJ Trueblood here on campus who I believe is also down syndrome. I talk to AJ at some point just about every day, sometimes he follows me to my classes, shows up at my door at 1am, and writes on my fb telling me to call him. So I felt like I had a pretty good visual in my head about how the guys in this play were behaving, then we visited “Alliance for Independence” or “AFI” for a field trip. See, I had known AJ on a personal level, therefore seeing how he interacted with “Clinically Healthy” people (I say that with quotations because I believe that most the time clinically healthy people are less healthy spiritually and emotionally than people who have disabilities, like AJ). Anyways, back to Alliance for Independence. Alliance for Independence is a non-profit organization who’s mission is to “offer individuals with disabilities the avenues to explore and experience personal growth and achievement through awareness, education, community resources and personal relationships”. Being there for the short time that we were gave me a chance to see people with disabilities interact with each other in person. It was an awesome experience and I really feel like it gave me a better perspective on the characters in the play being able to see people with all different kinds of disabilities act as a community.

In closing, I really feel like AFI’s vision should be one that we all share, “our vision is recognizing individuals with disabilities for their uniqueness, beauty, and determination of their spirit.”

Rain

I love everything about rain. I even love reading about rain. There is hardly ever a time when I don’t love it when it rains. I mean, besides raining out a sporting event, or ruining a wedding, or making a funeral that much worse, I never have a problem with rain.  I was planning on writing this blog on “The Boys Next Door” after I read it, but as I was coming back from tennis, it started pouring. Which reminded me of how beautiful rain is, and how we have been discussing nature literature. Rain is one of those rare things that can be beautiful, refreshing, annoying, scary, peaceful, etc, at any given time. There is nothing I love falling asleep to more than the sound and smell of rain, while on the other hand, rain can also be disastrous. Also, something about thunderstorms causes me to remember what an incredible God we have. There is something amazing about seeing the lighting and hearing the thunder and knowing our God created all of it just by saying the word that just leaves me speechless. That is just one more reason why I love the rain, it is just another reminder of the power of our creator. Read this verse and just visualize the power God displays in this verse. In Ezekiel 13 it says;

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;”

Okay, now that I have gone on and on about my opinion on rain, I should probably go read the rest of “The Boys Next Door”. Hopefully it is not about what the title sounds like haha.

Bonny Park and Poem

I went to Bonny Park late Thursday evening because I knew I would be in St. Louis for the remainder of the week. As I was sitting there just taking in the nature around me, I began to think of all the incredible places I have been in my life. See, my family has always had a music ministry and every summer we travel all the way to Maine and then make our way back down. So along the way my Mom has always made sure to stop and appreciate any kind of nature that anyone of us kids found exciting. One of my favorite states to go to is the state of Maine because of the incredible beauty of it, especially in the summer time. One place that I have always found outstanding is “Thunder Hole” in Acadia National Park. “Thunder Hole is a small inlet, naturally carved out of the rocks, where the waves roll into. At the end of this inlet, down low, is a small cavern where, when the rush of the wave arrives, air and water is forced out like a clap of distant thunder. Water may spout as high as 40 feet with a thunderous roar! Hence the name: Thunder Hole.” Being there in person is always an amazing experience, just witnessing the power of the water, and realizing that even though it is so beautiful, it is also extremely dangerous if you don’t keep your distance. Here is a website that has a few pictures of Thunder Hole: 

http://www.acadiamagic.com/ThunderHole.html

Another amazing spot in Maine is also in Acadia National Park, on top of Cadillac Mountain. Being able to see the ocean from a mountain is not something you get to experience very often, and being able to go there at sunrise and sunset because my Grandparents only live 10 minutes away is also a rarity. These are just two examples of some of the incredible experience I have had with nature.

"I went to Lake Bonny Park [or Circle B Bar Reserve] for this field trip, and I stayed there for at least 45 minutes

“Resting in The Grass”

As I rest in the grass

The pendulum rests

in gravity’s cradle

during these purple-hued hours

spinning by after midnight.  

I sit under a night sky

impassioned by celestial bodies.  

watching moon-kissed trees sway

and let shadow’s theater play

upon my impressionable imagination.  

Go deeper still,

to find silence and solitude,

the twin sister muses of a troubled mind.  

Call me Traveler!,

world weary and sundrenched,

I rest down on this grass bed.  

Heaven's veil is a little thinner here,

the Angel's song a little clearer,

and these crimson stains

are white beneath Polaris,

as I quietly drift asleep.