Humility, Repentance, and Readiness

The book of Joel was written, by Joel, as a sign of warning to the people. There had been a great catastrophe, which was sent by the Lord, and Joel is telling the people to cry out to the Lord for his help. In the beginning of the book, Joel presents the catastrophe that the people are facing, the locusts, and tells them to ask the Lord for help and turn from their wicked ways. He then begins to talk about an army of locusts and the coming of the Lord. The Lord promises to take care of his people and that he will judge those who will not follow him. People who treated God's people as property, or wrongly will be judged as well. Although the Lord promises to save his people and bless them, it is conditional based on the fact that if they return to their wicked ways, he can remove his blessing and send judgement instead. Joel ends the book by discussing the blessings of the Lord for his people and Jerusalem some day being completely liberated from all enemies. Major themes that Joel shows in this book are humility, repentance, and readiness.

In chapter one, verse five, Joel speaks to the drunkards and commands them to wake up and weep. I found this verse very interesting because this was the only act of sin, or rebellion against God, mentioned in the whole book of Joel. When practicing lectio divina and asking the Lord what Joel meant by this verse, it was clear to me that drunkenness may also be considered self-indulgence. The people had become numb and completely oblivious to the lifestyles of sin that they were living in. When I think about the world today, I realize that the same issues that Joel was addressing then, need to be addressed now too. We, the church, have become numb in our own self-indulgence and sin. We repeatedly say the Lord's name in vain, sit through movies that are a disgrace, and we even go to places that were designed to disrespect the name of the Lord. Yet, we repeatedly do these things because they have become part of our culture or everyday lifestyles. We are too selfish or "drunk" on ourselves that we do not see the wrong.

Then in verse fourteen, Joel is commanding the people to declare a holy fast and to cry out to the Lord. He not only mentions fasting in chapter one, but twice more in chapter two. Joel describes again and again how important it was for the people to devote themselves to prayer and intercession. People today may not find themselves dealing with actual locusts that are plaguing their lives but they do face trials and even great catastrophes. These crises overwhelm not only their lives but their communities, schools, and families. The only thing to do in these situations is to fast and pray. Fasting to me, is one of the biggest forms of humility. Going without food, drink, or even objects that take up my time, proves to the Lord that I cannot do it on my own and I am fully relying on him for every need in my life. In showing the Lord that I am fully dependent on him, I am ridding myself of the self-indulgence that Joel was talking about in chapter one, verse five.

The beginning of chapter two explains Joel's urgency or warning to the church. He says,"Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming." He's not whispering or even casually discussing the coming of the Lord. He tells them to blow the trumpet because the trumpet was used to signal approaching danger. The sound of the trumpet would raise fear in the people and "wake up the drunkards." He talks about the day of darkness and gloom coming. I think he is referring to the day of judgment that will be scary, dark, or gloomy, for those who have not been following him. Joel even asks in chapter two, verse seventeen, that the priests and ministers lead the way. They should lead their congregation back to a place of humility and prayer to the Lord. The coming of the Lord is very soon and we must return to him and turn completely from our wicked ways.

At the end of chapter two, Joel is predicting a day that the Lord will "pour out his spirit on all people." He basically is seeing the Lord sending his Holy Spirit being poured out while people are receiving blessings and gifts from him. These gifts may be prophetic gifts that the Lord has been waiting to give certain people but because of their "self-indulgence" he has not been able to release the gift to them. Sin hinders us from receiving all that the Lord has for our lives. Joel sets his book up by showing the people what they are doing wrong, telling them to repent, and revealing to them what the Lord desires to give them. In verse twenty-nine, he even makes sure that the people know that the gifts are for everyone, men and women, with no regards to race, gender, or age. The Lord desires to pour out his spirit on us.

We read this book in class and even spoke this book out loud while walking outside. If I did not fully understand then, what Joel meant, I do now. I literally wept as I read this text and even prayed about it, only to read it again. As I look at my own life and see the self-indulgence or "drunkenness" of things of this world I repent and ask the Lord to forgive me for worrying with things that do not even pertain to him. When I think about all the gifts and blessings that the Lord has not been able to give me, I become sick. We have to return to him completely, humble ourselves, and warn others about the coming of the King. I feel like this mission or goal was what Joel was doing all along.

Symbolism

I see many forms of symbolism everyday and I am so used to seeing them and obeying them, such as the stop sign, that I do not really think about how amazing it is that a symbol can mean the same word to everyone, everywhere. I really learned a lot in reading this chapter.

I honestly never knew that figurative language could be broken down into two types. I also had never heard of a trope in any of my previous English classes.

I think it is really cool when authors title a poem or story an actual object and then the whole story is about people but the two can be compared. When I have read stories like this, I think of the stories that relate to these objects when I see them. I have heard in a psychology class that identifying situations with objects often helps people while coping. Who would have thought that symbolism would help people cope with their problems?

Waiting

The word "waiting" is used and performed every single day of our lives. There are so many things we have to wait for: doctor appointments, fast food, love, babies to be born, a good sale at Macy's and plane flights. There is even a country song that is playing on the radio right now by Brad Paisley, entitled "Waiting on a Woman." He sings about how women are always slow, even to die, but he does not mind waiting on his woman.

"Waiting on Godot", made me think about the word "waiting" even more. These two men are sitting and waiting on a man that they really do not know much about. The author, Beckett, never tells his readers why they are waiting or why this person they are waiting on is so important. He builds suspense in his story by showing that they are "waiting for the unknown" and it leaves his readers hoping that by the end of the story, they will understand why.

We as Christians are much like the two men in this story. We know more about the Man we are waiting on but we are all waiting on someone we have never really seen or physically heard. This brings me to my next point about the story. These two men had a lot of faith in Godot. Faith is difficult to have sometimes, especially when waiting. However, waiting makes it all the worthwhile. Even though the men had crazy conversation and actions while waiting, I truly believe waiting brings character. There are things to be learned while waiting.

Dr.Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog

I uploaded a picture onto my blog to show what I believe Dr.Horrible's heart looks like. He was heart-broken because Captain Hammer got to have Penny and no matter what Dr.Horrible did, she would not be with him. I believe he had the innate desire to get ahead and to be apart of the "group" but I think the desire grew stronger because of Penny.

The end of the film, Penny dies during a fight between Dr.Horrible and Captain Hammer. A lot of people will do anything while coping with a broken heart. Although Dr.Horrible had placed a band-aid over his stab womb in his heart, it still hurt. The pain would not go away so he had to do something about it.

We see this kind of thing happening in reality. Middle school girls physically fight after school, women shoot their cheating husbands or vice versa, and people refuse to let go of the hurt and pain. I have decided that Dr.Horrible needs serious counseling. I doubt he would go, since he is so pleased with himself but it would be the best thing for him. He could wind up hurting someone else. Maybe out of his heart-brokeness he wants to hurt other people. We will never know the true thoughts of Dr.Horrible.

Movies

In my last blog I wrote about my trip to Lake Bonny, I'm sorry. Today I want to blog about movies that I have seen recently.

I'm beginning to hate my Introduction to Literature class. I do not really hate it, but you will understand what I am saying by the end of this blog. I used to be able to watch a movie peacefully. One day Professor Corrigan talked about characterization in our class. Characterization does not take place solely in books. Anyone can point out characterization in plays, movies, or anything that is created.

I was watching the classic, in my opinion, Sweet Home Alabama, on Friday night with my best friend. I've seen this movie nearly a hundred times except this time I viewed the movie was completely different. I started thinking about the author's motives for making the character say certain things, dress certain ways, and even act certain things out. This movie was a great one to play "question the author" with because there are city slicker sophisticated people and then there are country hick rednecks. These actors in real life do not portray these characteristics.

I have found that it is a lot easier to understand the plot and author's perspective but studying the characterization they created. I appreciate the things I have learned from my class. Everything is done for a reason.

Lake Bonny

This morning I visited Lake Bonny for this assignment and I stayed for an hour. While I was there I did something I have never done before. I pretended as if I was an explorer in a nature film, almost like the Crocodile Hunter or any show similar to that. I was walking on the boardwalk and heard a noise in the trees and turned swiftly as if I wanted the camera to get a good shot of whatever it was rumbling the trees. As soon as I looked, the bird had buried itself into the trees. And then I thought to myself, humans and the birds look at trees completely different. Humans tear down trees, as if they are a bother, to build homes. Humans also complain when there aren't any trees for shade at a hot football game. They only want the trees if they can do something for them. This is why humans are selfish. Birds look at trees as a play ground for hide and seek with their friends. They even look at trees as a shelter from the wicked humans hunting them. Some mother birds make a nest and lay their eggs in trees. It's amazing to me, how many functions trees actually have. They're very important. I will honestly never look at a tree the same way again.

I forgot to take my camera to Lake Bonny so I found this image online of trees. This picture means so much more to me now. Driving down a road full of trees on both sides will never be just another road to me. It will be a gift because I know these trees are homes to many animals who may have been evicted from their last tree home.

I am glad Professor Corrigan gave us the opportunity to learn and appreciate nature through poems and visits to the park because I would not have visited the park on my own. I can honestly say that I will probably revisit the park.

The Poems

We have been reading a lot of poems in class lately. I was dreading this part of Introduction to Literature class, I'll admit. However, I am beginning to enjoy the poems we have read and I am learning how to read and understand them.

For homework we read a few poems. The poem that stuck out to me is entitled, "Praying." This poem grabbed my attention right away, probably because I pray everyday and I wanted to hear what the author had to say about the topic.

The first stanza says, "it doesn't have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot." This line is powerful to me. People, atleast I know for myself, go before the Lord attempting to find the best words to say almost as if they need to impress him. They forget that he knows our every move and word. Our prayers can be, and need to be, genuine. "This isn't a contest but a doorway into thanks," this line is powerful as well. I already discussed how people would try to impress or make it a contest. But the phrase a "doorway into thanks" is powerful as well. We should look at prayer not as a way that the Lord can do something for us, but as a way to bless and thank him.

State of the Planet

The first time I read this poem, I was extremely confused. The first three sentences scared me. "October on the planet at the century's end. Rain lashing the windshield. Through blurred glass Gusts of a Pacific storm rocking a huge, shank-needled Himalayan cedar." Ok, so I'm reading these few sentences and I'm asking myself questions like, "Shank-needled? Himalayan? Where does the cedar tree come in?" This is the way I have always read poetry. I would get confused and hung up on a word or two and just "write the poem off" and claim that the author was on drugs or something.

The last poem that we read in class had a lot of helpful information about how to understand a poem and look deep into it's meaning. Lectio divina is very helpful as well as all the other wonderful helpful tips we have heard. Now I have to admit that I did not do lectio divina with this poem. However, taking the poem line by line and circling the words that stick out and concentrating on what the author is trying to convey is very helpful. Oh yeah, and how about reading the poem again? That was probably one of the most helpful tips. After reading the poem several times, though I may not understand every line of the poem, I am closer to learning the meaning of the poem.

Enemy of the People

At first, I was dreading having to attend this play, I must confess. I live out of town and I did not want to have to drive into town just to see a play. I drove into Lakeland on Sunday afternoon and viewed the play at 2:30. I can honestly say that I am glad we had to view this play. I was very impressed with my peers who acted in the play. They all did an amazing job and got their point across.

A production such as the one we viewed, has a lot of work that is done behind the scenes. Our peers did an amazing job creating the costumes and even sets. The main set of the whole play was made into a living room of two different people's home and a newspaper room. One part of the room that stuck out to me was the opening in the center of the stage. In the first living room, the opening is double sliding doors. The newspaper room had the two sliding doors slightly open and they had a different color behind them. The second living room had a staircase in the middle of the opening and the steps were used during the town meeting. The last scene was back in the first living room and the little windows in the sliding glass doors were blown out by rocks. It's amazing how one opening can make or break a scene just by the different things done to fill the gap. Our peers also had to create the costumes. The drunk wore his clothes loosely and ragged. The people in the town meeting were dressed nicely as were most of the characters. They also wore jackets, indicating that it was cold outside. They did an amazing job at making the costumes match the characters and help create the scene.

My favorite quote of the play was said by the wife, "But what good is truth if you have no power?" This quote helped me create a stronger relationship with the main character because I understood how frusterating it would be to know the truth, but no one would believe you. This story reminded me of the life of Jesus Christ. He came to the world knowing that he was the King of all Kings and would one day save the world. Many people made fun of him, spit on him, and even ended up killing him. Even as he was hanging on the cross, he was still crying out to God. It probably seemed that no one was on his side but yet he still stood his grounds.

Faculty vs. Students

Tonight I attended the Faculty vs. Students Basketball Game. I literally bit my nails throughout the whole game. It takes a really good and interesting game to keep me paying attention. The game went into overtime twice and the students and faculty that were attending the game were just as engaged as the players. No one could even hear the obnoxious and loud comments from the announcer. I think the basketball game was an amazing idea for two reasons:

• BONDING- Faculty and students are always separated by "titles". This game helped to get the two groups united. The faculty at SEU is obviously older than the students. Finding something in common between all age groups is easy as long as it has to do with sports. Sports bring people together of all races, age, and social status. The remaining students in the audience could cheer for their teachers and their fellow peers on the court.
• REVENGE- If we'll all be honest with ourselves, there's been a teacher somewhere in our educational years that we did not particularly care for. Teachers will admit also that there's been that one student that gets on their nerves or drives them crazy. This game allowed both parties to take their anger out on the court. Even if the person that they wished to beat was not on the court, their peer was! Sounds childish but, we all have those feelings somedays.

The Basketball game had an amazing turn out and both teams put up a great fight. I was actually cheering for the Faculty. I was sad when they lost in the second overtime but it's jus a game for fun! I hope they decided to have another game like this next year.

The Social Worker

The faded yellow, old school bus drove Ellie home everyday from school. The black cushioning was falling apart on the chair, leaving some of the metal framework visible and very uncomfortable. Today was just like any other day, and that was what Ellie was afraid of. Her soft blonde hair was pulled tightly back into a ponytail with a hot pink hairband. The bottom of her hair bounced with a slight curl, and her books would often fall out of her lap, as the bus would hit rough spots on the road. She was close enough now that she could see the stop sign where the bus would come to a stop and she would exit. Normally any ten year old would love to get off of the dreaded, stinky and hot bus. Ellie sometimes wished the ride never ended. The screeching breaks and slight whiplash indicated that the bus was now at her stop. She slowly stood, and her short sunkissed legs began to walk down the black crated center aisle. As she reached the steps to her right she exited the bus and stepped down on the gravel road. This was the entrance to her neighborhood and she could see him walking from her house, greeting her with a smile and they walked back to the house.

After dinner Ellie went into her bedroom to play with her Barbie dolls. Just as the male doll, Ken, and Barbie were about to kiss at their wedding, Ellie heard the noise again. This noise was so common to hear that she could almost tune out completely. This time the noises were louder so she ran to check on her Mom. She tiptoed into the living room so that she could get a better ear on the kitchen. She knew they were fighting again. Her bottom lip began to quiver and drool began to run down onto her light blue play shirt. Huge salty tears began to run down her face as she heard her mother scream for help over and over again. Without even making a sound, Ellie's father Josh went to look for her and found her in the living room. Grabbing her frail arm, and her size three feet rubbing against the carpet, he dragged her into the kitchen. Ellie could now see the blood that covered the floor from her mother's crooked and bleeding nose. Ellie knew that if she shed a tear then her face would look like her mother's next, but she couldn't hold back anymore. Tears began to pour from her fearful blue eyes as a shadow raised over her face from her father's hand. He punched her and she fell to the floor.

The next morning, Ellie attempted to open both of her eyes but only opened one due to the terrible swelling and blue and black colors over the other eye. She found herself tucked into her hot pink and orange bedspread, in her own bed without any recollection of how she got there. Her parents had already left for school so she had to get ready by herself. She grabbed the closest pair of jeans and a pastel yellow shirt that displayed a beautiful daisy in the middle. She was pulling her hair back into a ponytail, much like the day before, while running to the bus stop. She could see the bus and could hear it's breaks squeeling as the bus came to a stop. With her head faced toward the ground to hide her battle wounds, she quickly got on the bus and sat on the cold black cushion. She hoped that her teacher or none of the other kids would ask about her face, but she ran through a good story she could tell them, incase they did. Of course, they asked her and she made up a story of how she and her Dad were playing softball and the backyard and her eye caught the ball instead of her hand. Everyone laughed when hearing her story, including her.

A loud knock came on Ellie's classroom door and she could see the tall, lanky principal standing outside. The teacher quickly left the room and the students began to throw paper airplanes and talk amongst themselves. Ellie couldn't help but worry that they were talking about her bruises. She saw the principal tell the teacher something that caused her teacher to put her head in her hands. Ellie worried that maybe she was getting fired or something terrible had happened. Something terrible did happen, but not to the teacher. They called Ellie outside and told her there had been an accident, both of her parents passed away. Of course, this was the "G-rated" version. Her dad killed her mom and then burned her in their family car ontop of a bridge. He then jumped off the bridge and commited suicide. The more graphic story was not told to poor Ellie. Upon hearing the news, she collapsed as if every breath of air in her body had been sucked out. Her teacher held her in her arms and they both sobbed.

Ellie stayed with family members until the funeral service. She wore a new black dress that the donation jar at her school bought her. Her blackened eye was now a slight grey color and was barely noticable. She stood between both of her parent's casket, with one hand on each. As much as she hated her father for beating her and her mother, she did not want him to die. He was a good father when he took his medicine. All the questions of what if began to consume her mind. Was there anything she could have done to make their family any better? Was it all her fault?

Years went by and Ellie was quiet. She lived with different family members but felt extremely alone. The what if questions consumed her and she even began to blame herself for the abuse and even their deaths. One day a guest speaker came to speak in Ellie's high school class. She had been sexually abused by her biological father. She talked about different types of abuse and how to deal with them. Ellie fought back the tears for fear of embarassment and she did not want her make-up to run. After the class setting was over, Ellie went to talk to the guest speaker. The nice and gentle toned woman helped Ellie get in touch with counselors and help for her hurt.

Years later there was a young lady who visited an elementary class that Ellie attended. She was a guest speaker for an hour and had a lot to say. She began to explain, in child terms, what abuse was and what to do when they were abused. She began to explain that no one deserves to be treated that way, no matter how bad of a person they think they are or have been. She also told them that not all parents are good parents so there was no need to be embarassed to tell on their parents if it would save their lives or their siblings' lives. The teacher stood in the back of the classroom and cried, remembering the terrible case of abuse and death. Not only was she remembering the terrible events but she was amazed. Ellie was the guest speaker in her class, making sure that no child would ever have to go through the things that she endured.

Artwork inspired by the book of Joel

Reading in the Library

Since this s a freepost, I wanted to discuss how much I have enjoyed the class time to read a book. I live a little far from the school and am constantly practicing or meeting with Southeastern Singers. I absolutely love to read, but I can never find the time. Giving the students opportunity in class to read, was a brilliant idea. They not only do the students have an opportuniy to read the book, but thent o dicuss it with friends and other peers. I am looking forward to Thursday.

REPOST....The Essay

I posted "The Essay" from my iPhone and I am assuming that there was a glitch because the actual body of the post was never posted.

The Essay, "How to Read a Poem," was written by Joseph Coulson and Peter Temes. They wrote the essay to help readers understand the poems that they are reading. I learned not only ways to be patient and understand a poem, but something about myself as well. After reading a poem one time, I often get confused and assume that the whole poem is a bunch of random thoughts that the author strung together. I cannot make assumptions based on a one-time reading experience. The essay talks about prior assumptions before digging deeper into the words of the poem. One quote that I really enjoyed from the poem was, "...encountering a difficult poem is like a game or sport, say rock climbing, that makes you work a bit." I think that if everyone looked at poems like sports, less people would get frusterated. The poem needs to be read a few times, much like the warming up process before a game. The more practicing there is, the better the end result will be. The best result would obviously be to win the game, or in this case to fully understand the puropose and meaning of the poem.

I honestly learned a lot from this poem. I struggle with reading poems, so this will be an excellent help to break them down.

The Drummer

He walks into the dimly lit room with his drum sticks in his back pocket. As he walks down the aisle, the crowds are screaming, chanting, and reaching for him to scribble his autograph on their papers. His face is lit with excitment as he makes his way to the stage. He leaps up the stairs leading to the stage, skipping the second one. He takes his sticks out of his back pocket and his peircing blue eyes look out into the crowd. The blonde spiked hair guy begins to click the song off, to start. This is the moment the whole room had been waiting for. The lights are flickering now and the crowd is chanting. The music begins and he hits the tom, the kick, and the cymbals. During breaks of the song, he added a few special drum tricks and licks. He played the best he ever had.

This observation was taken at a concert I attended recently. I remember the event like it was yesterday. This concert was the best I had ever attended.

Character

I was reading our assigned text, which was Chapter 2, and I came upon a sentence that I realized meant more to me than just what it appeared. "Of course, we must also imagine situations (usually points of conflict) that define characters." Now I understand what the author was referring to, when writing this sentence. The author was discussing how the author uses conflict and other situations to put the spotlight on certain characters.

However, what if the sentence read, "Of course, we must also think about situations (usually points of conflict) that define CHARACTER" ? The way this sentence is written, gives it a different approach. During times of conflict and struggles are when we, as Christians, and even as human beings, struggle with our character. I find it easy to have good character when everything is "peachy". Good times are easy to live through. When life is going great we love everyone, we're always smiling, and we are quick to help someone in need. When life is tough with tests, job issues, financial issues, or sicknesses, we are not willing to think about anyone other than ourselves. This proves my point that situations, usually points of conflict, define character.

I find it so amazing that the sentence in our text could so easily mean or respresent something else. When you read with an open mind, you never know what might happen.

The Essay

My Burden

I usually blog about text, discussions in class, or activites in class. Today however, I will share my burden with you.

Sometimes we, as Christians, go through things that we do not understand. Deaths in the family, job loss, and houses being destroyed, these situations do not make sense to us. We, well I know I, get left with the question, "God Why?" My burden came from a situation that I was involved in through my teenage years.

When I was a teenager, I was involved in a very unhealthy and abusive relationship. I was fooled into believing that my boyfriend, at the time, was a good Godly young man. Of course he acted like he was a good Godly young man for a while. After the "new relationship bliss" fades off, the real thoughts and actions started to show. He slowly made me hate my family members and friends one at a time, so that I would only be dependent on him. I would cry in my bed every night because he would yell at me and accuse me of things I had not even done. After his yelling, he would say, "Hannah I don't know why you're crying, you know I love you. And you can't leave me because you will never find anyone better than me." As a teenager, who lost her close relationship with her family and friends, I felt like I had no one to turn to. I started to believe the things he would say to me. The relationship lasted two years and finally ended once I realized that I had chose him over my family and close friends. I did not realize how brainwashed I was until I came out of the relationship, because even then I didn't think I deserved any better than him. I was stalked for a few months after the break-up, my house had been vandalized, and I ended up in the hospital because my body rejected food due to my nerves. I thank the Lord for my parents who prayed everyday for me.

I honestly believe so many girls are involved in unhealthy and abusive relationships. Teenage girls are set out to find themselves somehow, someway. They do not understand their self-worth and their role as a Woman of God. If I would have had someone in my life at the time who would have told me what I did and did not deserve and who I was as a child of God, it would have been harder for me to be controlled by someone else. I have such a heavy burden for these girls who are crying out inside but will not say anything to anyone else about their relationships. Small groups and accountabilty partners would help situations like this.

I know I went through a lot and thinking about the situation brings back the horrible memories. However, I can honestly say, I do not regret walking through that fire. I came out the other side, refined and polished like a clay pot. I know the Lord is going to use me to minister to young, hurting girls like I was. It is our job as brothers and sisters in Christ to hold eachother up and move forward.

The Holy Bible

Last class Professor Corrigan had the class read aloud the book of Joel from the Bible to nature. After the reading time was finished, the class reported back to the room to collectively discuss thoughts and opinions about the book of Joel, as well as the effect of reading the text aloud.

People tend to forget that the Holy Bible is literature. I think people just cast the Bible aside from literature because it's a book associated with religion and some of the authors may be unknown. However, there are many books that are read in literature with authors unknown. The Bible was inspired by God and written down by many of people that God chose to relay the messages on paper. If anyone were to argue that the Bible is not literature, they should take another look into the text. Different genres, similes, symbolism, and many many themes can be found.

Speaking God's word over nature was an amazing feeling. The Bible states that there is life and death in the power of the tongue. We spoke life into those words and spoke it into existence.

The Book of Joel

The book of Joel was written by none other than Joel himself. He had three purposes for writing this book: to urge people and their leaders to gather for an intense time of prayer and repentence, for the people to repent and turn from their wicked ways, and to record God's prophetic message. He touched on all of these purposes in his book.

While reading the book of Joel I found myself searching deep within my heart. When is the last time I've fasted? Another point that Joel wanted to make was for the people to repent and TURN from their wicked ways. The Bible says you either hate God and love sin or you love God and hate sin. If that is true, then why are Christians, including myself, still sinning? Why do we sit back and listen to people use his name in vain, curse each other out, or go to places that completely go against everything the word of the Lord says. Joel is calling out to the people to come to a place of true repentance.

I feel as though the Lord is at the point where he's calling for true repentance. We don't know when but he will be here any moment.

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

a. Lines 20-22 favorite, lines 4-6 difficult, lines 147-150 chilling

f. Cemeteries always send a chill down my spine. There is not anything comforting or peaceful about people ending their lives. The soil of a cemetery is watered with tears. This poem has a chill about it as well, being very dark. I think a trip to the cemetery will put the poem into perspective. It will be easier to read, once I get the full effect of the text.

h. This poem was very difficult to read. Sitting in the library at 8 in the morning and attempting to read a deep, dark poem is not an easy task. I'm thinking about everything I have to do today, I can't wait for chapel, and I'm also looking forward to a nap. But I forced myself to read the text again. If I didn't understand a line, I reread it as well as the text surrounding it. I did not make actual notes however, my mental notes will pull me through when we read this text again in class today.

The Shack

Have you ever honestly read a book or text that changed your complete way of thinking or living? I never came across a text that "wrecked my world" until last summer. I read William P. Young's novel, The Shack, and learned how my relationship with the Lord could increase and grow in a way that I could have never imagined before.

Mack, a wonderful husband and father, had little belief in the existence of God or that there was a Savior who longed to spend time with him. After Mack's daughter is kidnapped by who they think may be a serial killer, he goes on a journey to find her. He came to an old abandoned shack in the woods, and finds the last peice of evidence that linked her to the serial killer. His daughter was gone forever. He begins to get letters in the mail signed by Papa. Ironically, Papa was what Mack's wife called God. The last letter from Papa led him back to the shack where he said goodbye to his little girl. This time the shack looks like a cottage and there were three people inside: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He watches God the Father cook dinner and then walks on the dock with God the Son as they fish. He begins to develop a relationship with the three of them. As they sat down to eat dinner, he started to say a blessing over the food. He realized then that he could just look at them and thank them. Throughout the story he listens to them and finds out that God is not a mean ruler who took his daughter away from him. He learned the plans that were set in place for his life.

Reading this book made me jealous. Why could I not be Mack in this story? How cool would it be to watch God cook dinner as you listen to his thoughts about life? Or to go fishing with God the Son, just spending quality time with him? I quickly checked myself after asking these questions. I had just learned the purpose of the whole book. William P. Young desired for his readers to develop a relationship with the Lord like Mack did.

I will never view God as a distance ruler in my life. He can be as close to me as I wish.

Theme

Growing up in English classes over the last few years of my life, I learned about theme. "Theme is basically the main idea of the story or passage," my teachers would say. After reading chapter three of our text, my eyes were opened to a whole new way of thinking. Theme can really be anything that you make of the story or passage. I've never realized how many themes or main ideas that could come out of "The Little Red Riding Hood" story I learned as a child. Pathetic as it may seem, I was one of those people who only read a text once. As Professor Corrigan and many more of my teachers have said, "Always read a text twice or more to get the complete meaning or other main ideas." I've heard this quote a million times in my life. If anyone does not believe in this quote, they should read chapter three of our literary textbook. There's truly no way to understand or find hidden meanings and ideas from the author, if the text is only read once. I will always read a text at least twice, maybe even three times. So far, I am really enjoying this class and am excited to learn more about how I can get more out of the text that I read.

The Things They Carried

In Tim O'Brian's story, The Things They Carried, he depicts the real issues of life by using soldiers at war. These soldiers "carried" around not only the essentials they would need for war but they carried hurt, pride, fake love, and fear. As I was reading this story, I found myself thinking about the things that I carry. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross wouldn't climb into a hole to make sure his friend was alright because he feared he would die and never see Martha again, and he was not certain that she loved him in the first place. How often do we worry or carry burdens that are unnecessary? Obviously his friend and fellow soldier should have been more important but he was too consumed with himself and Martha. I never want to be so consumed with myself that I lose sight of the things that are more important. When Ted Lavendar died, the men were full of pride and began to make jokes. Sad enough, men and even ladies still struggle with pride to the point that no one ever sees their true feelings or emotions. I pray that one day pride will be defeated and people will begin to show the world who they really are. Pride holds people back from going to a place with the Lord that they've never been before. The men covered their pain with pride. I think Tim O'Brian did an amazing job of showing these real issues that people still deal with in this day and age.

Literary Profile

Hannah Joy Wilder

When I recall my earliest memories of literature, I remember my mother reading me bedtime stories or perhaps the kindergarten play I starred in singing and performing all the nursery rhymes. The most recent memories of literature would be my readings about financial situations for a course that I am taking at Southeastern. The most significant text, besides the bible, that I have read would be "The Shack" written by Young. "The Shack" is an amazing novel which describes the close relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit with the average person. This novel was significant to me because I found the author's unique symbolism causing myself to connect with the characters. The connection that was made with the characters put a desire in my heart to get as close to God as these three individuals. I do not think that I could ever argue that literature does not matter. Literature changes the way we live, think, and act. Some Literature is also considered history and we can learn from the events that took place. Literature does matter, in every way.