THis Blessed House

I decided to use some of the different ways to blog in the guide to blog, and the one I am choosing is to take a quote and discuss it in depth.

"She shrugged. 'No, we're not Christian. We're good little Hindus." She planted a kiss on top of Christ's head, then placed the stature on top of the fireplace mantel, which needed, Sanjeev observed, to be dusted."

This phrase really caught my attention and somewhat made me compare the Hindu couples to Christians. In the story Sanjeev and Twinkle are not very welcoming to the Christian faith and relics that they found in their house. I wonder how would a Christian couple react or how would I react if in my brand new house I found a bunch of Hindu relics. Would I throw them away? Would I keep them in the attic? Would I set them around the house? And would my actions be disrespectful in any way?

If I found a bunch of Hindu relics I think I would definitely take all of them out of the attic. I would probably observe them and their beauty because they are art and millions of people worship them. I would definitely not throw them away because I feel like that would be extremely disrespectful to their religion; because I would not someone to disrespect a cross or a nativity scene. I believe if we disrespected someone elses religion how could they respect what we believe in. I know we shouldn't honor idols and fake gods but I do believe we should show respect for the people so that hopefully we can be a better witness to the lost.

Would I set them around the house? No. I would most likely donate them to a Hindu family or a Hindu meeting place so that they could put them in use.

I feel like when it comes to people's religion and relics people can be easily offended and many arguments could arise. Many wars have been started because of religion.

I personally believe we don't need more religion but more God, Christ and Love.

character post

“Come on guys, you can pull through this!” he yelled from the seat of his leather couch, while the television was blasting images and sounds from a college football game. I could tell he was not at ease that tightly fitted shirt covering a muscular body of an ex pro athlete. You could see in those dark eyes that he truly wished he were back on the field in his natural habitat. I had seen film of him back in his prime chasing down football players like a cheetah preceding him pouncing on them like they were his prey. Now, he traveled around as a motivational speaker telling his story, a true story that was about his life change that would hopefully change others.

My eyes drifted back to that huge High Definition television when I heard, “Hey man do you want something to drink? I’ve got coke, sweet tea and water.”

I responded, “If it’s not much of a trouble, coke would be fine.”

As he left the room and went into the kitchen I could see that he was still in peak athletic form, by the way he played out in his yard earlier with his son it seemed that this former athlete could easily step back into his love and play football for a number of NFL teams.

The athlete came back in and sat next to me on the couch and handed me my drink. I could smell the crisp fragrance of his high priced cologne that was radiating off of his dark tough skin. Once again as I was observing him he just did not look natural in his new modern style house, he seemed as if he needed to live on the turf of the green blades of grass that was being shown on the television screen. I then began to turn and observe his nice house, it was brand new he had it custom built for him and his family, which included him, his wife, a son and daughter and not to forget his dog “Bear”. It is no coincidence that the name of the dog is the same name of his college football coach Bear Bryant, who to many people in the state of Alabama including the man next to me Jeremiah Steele believed he was a god in human form after coaching their beloved football team to several championships and wins. I continued to scan the room where I noticed pictures of him in his “glory days” pictures of his family and one particular picture that caught my attention. It was a painting of a man on both knees bowed down in a dark room with only enough light to illuminate the man’s body in the painting. I decided to ask him about it since I heard the television say it was half time. He had been a pretty good friend of mine for a couple of months we met at church, played golf once or twice and had our families out to dinner several times.

“Hey Jeremiah what is that painting about?” I asked.

He took a breath and pondered and then poured out a message that seemed to be one of his motivational speeches, “That man is me. That man was me fifteen years ago; I had lived the life, I rubbed shoulders with some of the most famous people in America,” he said in his southern accent.

“I partied with the rich and the famous, well hek, I was the rich and the famous and I lived like it. I would go out with some friends on a Friday afternoon and not make it back home till Sunday morning. We would party for 2 days straight and I would come home, lay in my bed alone, and feel empty. I had nobody. I lost my family years before I had even went to college, so really it was just the world and I. I was making millions then the injury happened. Instead of training and rehabbing myself I just continued to party and when I returned to football I was unwanted, I was out of shape and had an attitude. I don’t blame a soul.”

I could see in those dark eyes that water began to appear slowly like a tide rising on a beach and his face seemed tense as he explained his story. His testimony. His life.

He continued to unfold his life novel and explained that it wasn’t until he was arrested for drug charges that he realized he needed to change.

“I was all alone in my room crying out to somebody just to be with me, to listen, to feel and to hurt like I was hurting.” His eyes lit up, “then, as I was alone in my room I remembered 20 years before when I would go visit my auntie in the summers and she would take me to church where I learned how to pray. So I did my best and prayed. I prayed and talked to the air and then I felt this overwhelming comfort, like someone was in the room but it was just me and my story all alone.”

I knew the rest of the story from church when I heard him preach his testimony. He got his self together and gained a family and life out of it. He started a non-charity organization for young men in urban areas that struggled much like him. He provided a home for the lost and alone like himself. He traveled and spoke to high schools and told his life and his story.

As he continued his story his facial expressions showed his thoughts, he loved life and he loved his family and he loved his story. He hated what he went through but it got him where he was today and he was proud. His smile showing those bleached white teeth told me he would not go back into sports or drugs, his new drug was his life. He had everything he “wanted in the world back in his “glory days” I thought” he said, “but now I know, I had nothing but now I have it all.”

The second half of the game started back up and our attention drifted back to the television and all was normal. I was sitting to Jeremiah Steele a man who had lived life and loved life more than I had ever seen. I took a lesson from it all, even though our past may not be very exemplifying of a “good person” we should learn and grow and be proud of what we came from.

BAK to BLOGGIN

As weird as this may sound, I have been ready to get back to blogging. I have been in such of a habit of blogging that Sunday night I was trying to figure out our blogging assignment when I realized we didn't have any but I must admit that gave me joy.

The poem, My Tea with Madame Descartes was a very interesting read to open back up the semester after our break. At first glance I was wondering because of the title if it had any relation to the philosopher of Descartes, but I did not see much relation within the poem. I thought the author's descriptions of the scene of having tea was very descriptive and very interesting. I thought the images painted a picture for me to see and imagine much like some of the authors we have previously read. One quote that really painted an image for that I liked was,

"Yet her beauty was singular,

Volcanic, viscous... as inevitable as lava moving slowly

Toward you."

This line was so descriptive, I could see this beautiful woman just chilling in the cafe. I also thought the dialogue definitely helped progress the poem and build a small story line. Overall it was a pretty decent movie. I just realized this post was 2 minutes post and I hope Prof. Corrigan will have some mercy.

Sonny's Blues

Sonny's Blues was a very well written and interesting piece of literature. It contained many dramatic characteristics including death, separation and many emotional attaching elements. James Baldwin found a way to portray all of the characters in a way where I personally felt an emotional attachment. As I read I found myself truly caring for Sonny and the others and what would happen next to them. I felt the pain and emotions of the narrator seeing his brother Sonny struggle in life; this struck home with me, because about a year ago my sister was struggling with some personal issues and it was a rough time period for my whole family. Basically, I could put myself in the narrators shoes and somewhat understand his pain and sorrow for wanting what was best for his brother.

I found it interesting that there was a Bible reference in the story. In the last sentence was, "For me, then, as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother's head like the very cup of trembling." The phrase "cup of trembling" is a reference from Isaiah 51:17 KJV, where it was used as a symbol and figure of the fear and sufferings that had plagued the people. The same way it was used in the Bible it was kind of used within the story. In my opinion it seemed to be a reminder of all of the sufferings Sonny had been through. I thought it was very interesting that the author tied the Biblical reference into his story.

On the topic of biblical ideas I thought the lectio divina was very interesting in use towards secular literature. I had done lectio divina previously with scriptures, but had never thought it relevant to other pieces of literature. Do I think I will use all of the elements of lectio divina when I read literature? No, but I do believe I will use some of the elements. I will definitely begin to reread passages instead of being a "one and done" reader.

Overall I thought, Sonny's Blues was a great piece of literature that really caught my eye when it used a strong symbol from the Bible that carried a strong meaning. I also thought lectio divina in class was a GREAT experience!

"I attended Southeastern's production of The Imaginary Invalid and watched the entire play."

I attended Southeastern's production of The Imaginary Invalid and watched the entire play and loved it! It was great entertainment and a wonderful piece of art. I came away feeling that I most definitely got my moneys worth out of the play.

To be honest, I really was not expecting the play to be that interesting or great at all. I sat towards the back of the chapel and was there only because it was apart of the assignment. As the play went on I became more and more intrigued and after the intermission I changed seats to get closer to the stage. Once I was in my new seat it seemed that I was now watching the play in High Definition; I could see facial expressions and notice details of the actors. In my new seat I was captivated by the play and story line.

There were so many elements that I really interested me about the play. The element that really drew me in was the elaborate costumes and stage. The vibrant colors and interesting stage design was so amazing to me, at one point I sat kind of awe struck by all that was taking place on the stage. Another element that I loved was the variety within the play. I personally felt that I could not possibly become bored with the play, because the play held my attention with many aspects. The characters carried the play with their dialogue and actions, but I also loved the random interjection of song and dance within the play, it was comical and artistic. I also loved the interesting character/girls who were invisible to the story line but obvious to the audience. The only down fall of the invisible character/girls or "dancers" (according to the bulletin) was at times they could be a little distracting to the story line, but I do believe they definitely added to the play by keeping my interest and attention with their comical expressions and actions.

I have seen quite a few plays performed by the theatre department here, but this one stands out as my complete favorite.

Overall I loved the play and if I would've had extra money I would have went and saw it twice, but I didn't so I will just have to enjoy the mental images that I captured from the play on Friday night. I believe the play was well worth the seven dollars I payed and a great experience I will not forget anytime soon.

hmmm

hmmm I'm not sure if we are supposed to blog tonight, and I looked at like 7 different peoples blogs earlier and saw no blogs.. so if there is i guess this is my pass.

ONLY positive!

Connections between the blogging project and the activities that take place in class come to my mind clearly and in quantity. There are many reasons why the project and activities correlate with each other. The main idea that I see both elements share is the tendency to promote further discussion which then hopefully leads to more thought provoking conversation on the text or ideas being covered. Both seem to attempt to engage the student further into the text or topic by making him or her dive deeper in to the content and not be complacent and only read the assignment but instead ponder it as well.

The blogging assignments definitely extend the reading process in many ways; it requires one to further engage, it requires one to absorb the text and ignites one's interest (well mine) to further discover the context and background of the text and author. In my opinion there are all positives towards blogging, such as extending the reading process and requiring one to further their writing skills because of the need of quality blog assignments.

I believe the blogging process and assignments have truly helped me further engage with the text than I usually would in a literature course. It makes me think about what I have previously read, reflect upon it and then write and discuss my ideas. I believe it has formed me into a better reader than I was before coming into the course and helped me progress my writing skills. Even though I enjoy blogging about our reading assignments at one point during the previous weeks I became a little complacent with fully engaging within my blogs and discussions. Although this is true, I came to the realization that I was missing out on the learning experience and immediately jumped back to work and have been doing my best to engage and learn more through the reading process and blog discussions. I now have nothing but positive feelings towards Blogs and discussions!