Just got done reading the essay assigned for class this Thursday; it was very interesting. It gave me a totally different perspective about poems. I'm not really that into poetry I guess you can say. I never really read it in high school, so i guess it kind of carried over to college. Its not that I don't respect the writer, its that most of the time I don't understand what the author is trying to communicate.

Well this essay helped me understand a little more. I found out that the reason most poems are so hard to understand at first is because they aren't just meant to be read one time. Authors of these poems make them like that so that the reader has to do some work too. He compared it to rock climbing; you can't just expect to climb a mountain, you actually have to do some work. And the same goes for reading and understanding poems. The author of the essay also compared poem writing to jazz music, and how some authors format their poems to flow like the music of a saxophone.

I think if I was to take anything away from this essay, it would be to give poetry a better chance. Maybe re-read it like the essay says and then read it aloud to yourself. I'm understanding more and more that in today's world, the more areas you are experienced in the better off you are in society. This essay opened my eyes a lot to why authors of poems write what the write, or how they write. It even mentioned that even the authors admit the poetry is tough to understand. Make me feel a heck of a lot better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sjYWrpNoCs
(this is a song calle "Overcome" by Desperation Band)

I haven't scanned my painting yet, but i will before the night is over. In my painting, I kind of divided the paper in half's, vertically. One side is a dark gloomy scene; almost showing no hope. On the other side, the sky is bright and a tree represents new life. A river is flowing from the nice scene to symbolize God's mercy and love. While I was painting this and even after, it made me think. I was thinking about how God, uses certain situations to mold us and make us better. Although it might seem dark and gloomy sometimes, God promises to never leave his children. Sometimes we as humans are so narrow minded; I'm guilty myself. When are going through a rough time it is so easy for me to blame God and ask why? But really it more then likely me. Instead I should examine myself; am I going through this rough time because of God or because of myself?

I feel like I'm all over the place with this blog, but I have a lot on my mind. The word that keeps coming to my mind is OVERCOME. Like Jesus overcame the cross, we need to overcome our worldly desires and problems. So many times we just lose sight of God and his plan for a split second and BOOM, we are completely walking in the wrong direction. No matter what this world gives us, it will never even be close to what Jesus already did for us. Just like in my painting; on the one side the tree is almost dead and lifeless (signifies life out of God's will). On the other side the tree is replenished and full of life (signifying being in God's will). No matter what, we are always trying to overcome something; whether it be big or small. A preacher back home says, " you're either in a storm, going through a storm, or just coming out of a storm". If we could just grasp the concept of keeping our focus on what really matters, life would be perfect. But we aren't perfect, and that's why we need Jesus. Overcome!

In reading the book of Joel, it made me reflect on a lot of things in my life. In this chapter of the Bible, you see both sides of God's love, to two different extremes. First he takes everything away from his people, and then gives everything back in full, if not more! This can be compared to our lives, our country, even our world. When you are out of God's will, he allows you to follow is permissive will; which means he allows you to make your own mistakes. So many times that happens to us. We think God just left us or abandoned us, but really he is there waiting with open arms. Makes me think of the song “when God ran”; basically it talks about how God will never run away from you; he’ll only run towards you. He doesn't like to discipline us by any means, but if that's what it takes for us to realize we need him more then anything on this earth; then he'll do it.
There was a time in my life where I felt as if God was gone; up and left. I was very content with my life, almost too content. I wasn't really into anything horrible, but I wasn't into anything good either (if that makes sense). I was Luke warm. As I look back now, it’s easier for me to see how certain circumstances at the time played out how they did. It took me sometime to realize that I was out of God's will; it was almost as if I was in some sort of denial. As soon as I repented and turned my life back towards the right direction I felt as if a huge amount of weight was lifted from my shoulders. Almost immediately I felt God's love overwhelm me and fill a void that I had for so long. Just like in the book of Joel.

I just read Walt Whitman's Eulogy, and it was beautifully written. It was given by one his grandchildren who plainly displayed the love he has for his Grandpa. Writing a Eulogy obviously gives you a chance to take time and reflect on someone’s life, and at that moment you can look back and evaluate if that person lived a meaningful life. We all want to believe that our eulogy will be as beautiful as this one. But now it makes me wonder, what would mine look like. When the good Lord calls me home, and someone writes my eulogy, will mine reflect a meaningful life? So many times we get caught up in life styles that make us think we are leading a meaningful life because we are happy at the moment. But what is it that is making us happy? Money? Worldly pleasure? What is a meaningful life? Feel free to comment and share.
A perfect example of a meaningful life is my mother. She is truly a servant, and is always there for whoever needs her. I can think of just little stuff that she did for, like bringing my gym clothes to school because I forgot them or buying me new shoes when my dad told her not to ha-ha. To me, someone with a servant’s heart is leading a meaningful life. Putting someone else before you, whether it is a stranger or your best friend, really means a lot. This is what God calls us to do, because that’s what Jesus did a little over two thousand years ago. He put his LIFE down so that we could be set free. Now I know that I'm not in the mind set all the time, because I'm human. But if we strive to be a servant after God's own heart, I feel like we're living a Christ filled meaningful life!

Going back on the text from last class, and even the picture I drew in class. My question was; why do we as humans, find a physical object comforting? What is it about something that makes us feel that way? Maybe its a memory, that everytime we hold the object or see it, it brings right back to that moment in time. I know for me, being so far away from home I have many objects that I brought down to school to possibly comfort me when I'm home sick.
I think it also shows our human side. If Jesus is all we need then why do we cling to this physical objects. Thats where our flesh takes over. I'm not saying its a bad thing by any means. Maybe somethings serve as a reminder for people. Like in the story, one of the soilders carried around a thumb of a little boy; from my point of view he carried that with him as a reminder. For some people a tatoo could serve as that physical comfort. So many times we see people who have lost a loved one go out and get a tatoo in memory of their life. Its comforting for some people; its almost like a peice of their loved one is attached to them in a sense. These are examples of ways us humans try and comfort ourselves. If only we could grasp that the only thing we need is Jesus.
In some ways, physical objects can even become an idol. If you're turning a lucky rabbits foot instead of praying to God, then you seriously need to examine your heart and be real with yourself. God knows we're human, and I'm pretty sure he gets why we do what we do but we need to understand that there is know object in this world that will ever show us the comfort and love of Jesus. To make it a little more biblical, take Jesus' scars for example. Those serve as a reminder to us the pain and suffering he went through to set us free.

I just read the story What We Talk about When We Talk about Love by Raymond carver. It was very interesting to say the least. The story was very well written; I could practically picture the four characters sitting around the table drinking their gin. The two couples went back and forth sharing stories of what they thought true love really was. One of the character, Terri; thought that her ex-husband displayed true love because he tried to kill her and ultimately ended up taking his own life. Now to me that’s not love, that’s psycho and someone who is an obsessed person. The next story given by Terri's husband Mel was a little easier to see the love taking place. It was an old couple that got in a horrible car wreck, and managed to pull through many hours of surgery. Now, both of them were alive and expected to recover, although they were covered with bandages from head to toe and completely immobilized. But the older man was still depressed for some reason. When Mel asked him why he was still depressed, the old man simply told him it was because he couldn't turn his head and look at his beautiful bride. At one point of the story, the two couples got on the subject of whether or not you could love someone and then later in life, not love them. Personally I think it’s totally possible. Love is an amazing thing, but people change, and that’s why our love for people can change. If you love someone for certain attributes or qualities that they may have at one point in time, and that person decides to make some changes; then the love isn't there anymore. I may be completely out of line saying that, but that’s what I'm thinking right now.

Literary Profile

I haven't really thought about it much, but literature has been in my life since I was a youngster. I was never really into just sitting down on my own and reading a book when I was a little kid; but I always loved getting read to. I can remember my mother reading to me when I was just a toddler; books like "Where’s my blanky" and "My baby you'll be". They used to make me feel so good just before bed. Honestly, I think my mom liked them more then me ha-ha. Sometimes we joke about them to this day; in fact we still have them laying around one of the bookshelves at home for my nieces and nephews. Those are just two of my earliest literary examples in my young life. More recent memories of literature consist of mostly biographies, the bible or books we have to read for classes. I can't really explain it but, reading about other peoples lives interests me. I feel like you can learn a lot from other people experiences, whether they be positive or negative. Right now I'm in the middle of reading Joe Torre's book call "The Yankee Years". It would be stupid for me to say that none of these books or works of literature have had a significant difference in my life, because I have many that have changed my eyes and thinking. A book by Charles Stanley called "Walking Wisely", has spoke volumes into my life, and sometimes I still open it to find answers. Literature matters a ton; it can be very influential for people and how they think or act. I think it’s almost impossible for someone to say that a piece of literature hasn’t had some kind of an effect on their life. Now, if you just flat out hate books and stories, then I could see why literature doesn't matter.