FINAL POST!

“Sure Thing”

1)      The story that I have been real fond of was the play by David Ives “Sure Thing”. This playwright is about this guy who is interested in a woman he sees in a café table. It starts off with a gentleman walks in and sees a woman he is interested in, so he goes up and tries to pursue her but it doesn’t work out at all the first couple of times. So there is a bell that allows the guy to go back in time to say the right thing to get her and each time he messes up the bell rings for another try until he gets her. This bell acts as time sort of cosmic time warp that allows the conversation to work out for the favor of the gentlemen in the pursuit of the woman. For example, each time that the guy would say something to turn the woman off the bell is rung so he could have another chance in talking to her in a way that would win favor with her. So pretty much the story is about an average Joe that gets a bunch of times to actually get a date with a woman.

2)      At first the playwright is not that straight forward and easy to understand it sort of takes awhile before you could get what’s going on. When you read the first couple or few lines all you read is a dialogue between a guy and a girl that repeats it’s self after a ringing of a bell. It seems as though you’re reading the same lines over and over again but you’re not, if you pay close attention you see that the flow of the conversation changes and the words are different. At first the changes are very subtle and undetectable but as the play unfold the changes are made more obvious.

3)      This story is about a guy named Bill and a woman named Betty. Bill is interested in Betty and sees her sitting by herself and decides to himself to pursue her. It begins with him wanting to sit and speak to her but it doesn’t work out for him and she immediately shuts him down, then the bell rings and another opportunity comes and here is where his pursuit is being dependent on a time shift and favor of the words that he says and how the woman responds. The play in my opinion is about chances, and how many of us need chances in life to make things right and better. Here I see an average dude and before he is even given the opportunity to get with this woman is shut down, without the woman given herself a chance to get to know him. I believe that the story is showing people how sometimes we don’t give people and even doorways of opportunity a chance to see if this path is for them or not. Many times we shut the door on our very destiny without allowing the possibility of it being a blessing in disguise. If you read the story in the beginning the woman immediately shut the doorway of opportunity in the man’s face, not realizing that she was closing the door on her also. As the bell rings it shifts more and more not just for the favor of the man but then the woman also, and before you know it you read lines like this at the end “Bill: Do you still believe in marriage in spite of current sentiments against it? Betty: Yes. Bill: And children? Betty: Three of them. Bill: Two girls and a boy. Betty: Harvard, Vassar, and Brown. Bill: And will you love me?
Betty: Yes. Bill: And cherish me forever? Betty: Yes. Bill: Do you still want to go to the movies? Betty: Sure thing. Bill and Betty (together): Waiter!” You never know if love is at the door unless you give it a chance.

4)      I interpret the story this way because of the evidence that is given and supported in the play, if you read the lines you will see that a theme of chance is given. Look at the first lines and see how Bill gets turned down “Bill: Excuse me. Is this chair taken? Betty: Excuse me? Bill: Is this taken? Betty: Yes it is. Bill: Oh. Sorry. Betty: Sure thing”. Before Bill could barely get his name across he is shut down, but the moment chance because the salvation of the story and Bill by the bell they are so in love with each other they want to get married. If chance was never given to Bill it would never have had such a happy meaning, and not only was Bill benefited by the bell but Betty also. Though the story is unrealistic there is some truth that is giving in the play. If anyone should read this story no matter the interpretation that many possible people could get no one could negate that fact that if the bell did not introduce chance Bill and Betty’s story would have ended in the first five lines. In my opinion the bell is the salvation and instrument of “chance” used.

5)      This interpretation does matter in reading this story because if the reader does not realize the grace of chance that is given to Bill and Betty the whole purpose of this play would be diminished. In order to get a good solid understanding and even enjoyment in reading this you would have to entertain the thought of the universe working in your favor through time lapses and opportunity.  I ‘am not ruling out any other possibility of another interpretation and there even might possibly be a more complex deeper meaning to what I received from this story that may add more towards this interpretation. All that I’m saying that there are many people including myself in this world that would die for a second chance to make something in the past better. And I believe that this story does not just speak to just the characters of the play with the idea of chance but to us all, did not Jesus give us a second chance when Adam fell? So as we see here Christ is our bell of salvation that allowed a second chance of life after we all deserved death.

A Temple of the Holy Ghost

The story “A Temple of the Holy Ghost” was very confusing and left me in bewilderment. At first I thought the story was going to be about these two demon possessed girls, especially how the described the laughter of theses girls, it almost seemed demonic and me putting the title together with what I was reading I thought it was about an exorcism that was going to happen in Church. But as I began to read I saw that it was about these two teenage girls that are very strange and weird in my opinion. I became much dumfounded based on how the story began to unfold. What I got from it was that there were two sisters that were very hard to control or discipline. These girls almost seem like a couple of girls I know from back home, always giggling at stupid things, don’t know 1+1 to save their lives and the biggest thing they have in common with the girls back home is that they a very boy crazy. Most girls around there age from my neighborhood that are that boy crazy like they are usually barley make it through high school and get pregnant before the option of college could come up for them. It was really hard to follow what was going on in the story, one thing that really confused me is that the parents sort of could figure out that these young girls were boy crazy and still invited two boys from the neighborhood to show them a good time. It was as though that they were willing to do anything to get rid or please these girls because they were just too unbearable to be around so they decided to dump them off to two country teenage boys. I really didn’t like this story so much, and didn’t get much about it but a memory of how young girls in my neighborhood are and how crazy they are. Hopefully in class we could dissect this piece of literature and figure out what is really going on. I will admit there were some parts that were sort of funny, and I guess the strangeness of the story kind of kindled and interest and wanting to know more about these girls and what was the author’s purpose for writing a story like this one, weird could be good sometimes I guess if it has a prupose.

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"

During the first couple pages of reading this story it honestly seemed as though I was trapped in someone’s dream bubble, which dreamt on how they would want their community to be. It seemed to me to be such a fallacy in comparison to most places in America. As I read on I almost kind of felt that if there was so much happiness in one place how would sorrow and suffering even look like there, would the people of Omelas even know how recognize it or even knew how it felt. As the story began to unfold a little more it got somewhat confusing to me, it was as though happiness wasn’t built upon morality, but happiness was belt on fleshly desires that would be deemed immoral in a regular society. It was as though happiness wasn’t things that would better a community but happiness was built upon the freedom of man’s will without consequences. The section of the story that talked about orgies and drinking really brought out my assumptions of what this book or writer might think happiness may be. I really do not see how the freedom of sexuality and alcohol is a form of pleasurable happiness. I always assume that love played a big role in happiness, what is sex if it’s not with the person you are married too and want to spend the rest of your life with. Love plays a big role in happiness in my opinion; a community may not be as “perfect” as the one that is described early in this story but if neighbors would share love no matter the state of living condition I think it would make any place not only happy but joyous to be in. While I was growing up I lived in the worst neighborhood, filled with prostitution, drugs, gangs, and violence but I always had the love of my family and neighbors that made things better. Don’t get me wrong it didn’t change much but it must of have some effect because look at me now writing a blog at Southeastern University for a class I need to be an aspiring young pastor with the hope of going back and to bring more love and change into my community.

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"

This story was really confusing I could only make some sense on it based on some of the reactions and comments made by the characters in the story. All in all it was pretty interesting especially when the old man they found in their courtyard end up being an angel, that part really caught me off guard I had to reread that section like three times because I thought that was some type of typo or misread on my behalf. I really could make just a little sense of the story. Based on what the old little woman said. She made comments about this angel was trying to take the sick baby, so it seems as though that the angel was an angel of death summoned because of the baby. The angel was on its way to take the baby away but got caught in the storm because the angel was old and wings could not fight against the high winds. Honestly putting myself in this story if I seen some guy in my backyard with wings on the ground I mean after I woke up from fainting, I probably would have called police or screamed in fear. It was real hard to draw a meaning from a story like this because I couldn’t really see the whole meaning and purpose of it being written, it did kind of remind me of the good Samaritan story found in the bible but even then some lines through my head in a whirlwind in trying to figure out a theme to the story. At first the couple seems as though that they want to care for the angel, but then you read lines like “She felt a sense of relief when the angel flew away because the he was no longer an annoyance in her life but an imaginary dot on the horizon of the sea”. So reading that shows that instead of wanting to care for the angel like the Samaritan story they were just tolerating the angel unit it was able to leave.

"In the Stillnesss of Nature" by Jean Labranche

Nature is beauty

Nature is Fun

Nature is bright

Nature is the sun

Nature is all around

Nature is within

Nature lives in you

Nature lives within

Nature capture

Nature loves

Nature seems blue

Nature is never done

Nature is growing

Nature is wild

Nature is God

Nature seems mild

Nature is still

Nature is fast

Nature is kind

Nature is vast

Finding nature is easy to do, just look out your window and Nature will find you

I spent 45 min at Lake Bonny.

Mary Oliver

As I read these poems and short essays I can notice a sense of emotions that is being exploited through the words of these poems.  It’s as though the writer of these poems is not just showing off her skills of writing but, trying to get the reader to engage and sense the same thing she is feeling. As I read I could not help but to imagine in my mind the many things she describes in these poems, just vividly paints a picture of nature with each stroke of her pen. You could also tell with each stroke of her pen she was not just heartlessly writing but writing with her heart and mind. Most poetry is comedic, romantic, or dramatic this type of poetry really catches me off guard, because it is inspired but what’s just outside. It’s funny how the very thing we drive by everyday and not give a second look to could inspire someone so much. It kind of makes me think do we as a culture and community really appreciate what’s outside are window, or are we just taking nature for granted and that’s why America is so poor in preserving our environment. Whatever the case is these poems really inspire me not just to look at nature at the surface level but to really dig deep to really uncover the beauty of nature that is hidden so deep inside. I love the spiritual aspect that is also incorporated in these poems, because it shows that even God is a tree hugger if I could say that, LOL! It shows that with prayer and nature you could really have a very sacred time of inspiration and devotion, by incorporated spirituality and nature. I love the line she uses in the Poem “The Uses of Sorrow”   “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness, It took me years to understand that this too was a gift” This line is so powerful words could not even explain what I think about this.  It makes me think that majority of the time we incorporate sunny days with thanksgiving but times of darkness we automatically assume its evil and not for our good, but sometimes God causes those storm so he could make us stronger

Cricle B

I know I’ve said that other field trips have been my favorite, in the past but I would have never knew that I would have experience that I had at Circle B. At first I thought that I would be getting a whole bunch of mosquitos’ bites, and stepping into hog crap. But I guess this trip took me by surprise I might sound like a geek when I say this but I think I was one with nature??!! I know that sounds crazy but I guess I actually understand what people mean when they say things like that. You could just call me the tree hugging geek LOL!! But all jokes aside I enjoyed seeing nature, the wildlife and the many lakes. There was a sense of tranquility and peace that I needed to experience, this semester has been so crazy and that visit at Circle B really help me to unwind the stress and pressure of class work and assignments, staring out to those lakes and trees help me to realize how beautiful God’s creation really is. What really brought me to Awe were the many colors and patterns that were on the birds and plants. It’s really crazy to image how God took His time to make every single color and detail on each bird and plant. If God took His time to make every living creature and vegetation so beautiful I believe we should do our best to take care of our environment, I used to think that mankind was God’s best art piece but as I began to take notice to my surroundings I see that we all make up this beautiful painting call creation, birds, plants, trees, lakes, and us humans too. We are all apart of Gods beautiful creation and need each other to survive. I’m so happy that I had that time to really stop and notice, sometimes you get so caught up with your own busy schedule you  kind of neglect the smaller things in life that really do matter. Sometimes we just need to stop and smell the roses LOL!!! This experience really brought out the reading by Hass. At first it was very difficult and frankly it is still difficult to understand but the experience did help bring some of the words in the poem to life. There was one line and storms that Corrigan read in the book while we were out there and becuase of the weather it felt as though we were all in the story because the imagery was so perfect for the poem. I really did enjoy the poem and the feild trip but I will say without that outing the poem would have been very hard to intellectually engage in.

Robert Hass "State Of The Planet"

I’m going to be honest this poem seems very deep to a person that might understand what’s going on. I on the other hand can’t really get into the flow of the poem, maybe it’s the poetic terminology that the author uses but I don’t really get what’s going on. There are some lines that honestly do give me great vivid images in my mind, but then there would be certain words or phrases being said in the very next line  that would I guess through everything into a big ball of confusion. I did enjoy the line when the other said “Poetry should comprehend the earth” I thought that was very intriguing, but I wish Jean could comprehend Poetry.LOL!!!! Poetry to me is sort of a flow of rhyming or non-rhyming words like the Songs of Solomon. I will admit I’m ready to how to read and really comprehend this type of poetry that really talks in more complicated metaphors, and symbologies. But I guess with the level of ignorance I have towards this type literary poetry I’m not doing to well. Their some parts I really do enjoy and can sort of follow in my mind with for example, the great depicted illustrations of nature like the descriptive words used to illustrate the leaves that are blowing in the wind, do help me to see and feel what the author is feeling, but when I read lines like how the “Pacific salmons are making noise against dams of Yokohama” my mind is sent back into a whirlwind of confusion. How can salmon make noise against something? This sort of writing does discourage from trying to understand and read literature like this, because I feel only the elite minds of literature can understand writings like this, but just as we learn during our first reading in the class that’s not the case at all. We just all have to have an open mind in trying to learn and engage form this type of writing which I’m excited to do and learn.

AFI FEILD TRIP

The AFI field trip was one of the most impacting and influential place that I have ever been. This field trip also brought the reading “The boys next door” to life for me. Anytime I would look at each client there I would think about the different characters of the reading. There was one lady at AFI that knew everyone by name but had some form of speech impediment as she would point out everyone and stated their name, she kept saying how everyone there is her friend and that reminded me with the character Lucien. The reading that I felt was best for this outing was the essay by Steven Fettke. The word that was burned into my brain and heart as I looked at all the mentally and physically challenged people was “imago Dei” which was in the essay. Fettke posed a challenging question “Does imago dei mean the same thing for all of God’s creation”. This challenging theological question would be in my mind during this whole time of this visit. At each glance I took at every client I asked myself why God would create some in what society would deem as a “normal image” and why would he create others in an abnormal image. Is the imago dei just for “normal” people, if so then why, if not then what does the imago dei really mean for all people? I believe all creation is made in the image of God but sin has corrupted the physical and spiritual man. Who is really normal with the effect of sin on all man, what is the standard of normality, are you who are reading this normal? There is no such thing as normal but there was One man who came for all of us who were deemed as abnormal because of sin, and he was not just normal but perfect and because of Him we are all normal in the eyes of God

Steven M. Fettke, “The Spirit of God Hovered”

I’m going to be quite honest about the beginning of this article; it showed me so much passion. You could really tell that the writer of this article must of have a personal experience with the issue of mentally and physically challenged people. I loved his position on the imago dei and how he made it in the comparison to what people called “normal” and “abnormal”. He also phrased his position on the imago dei as a challenge to all creation. It was probably the most brilliant arguments or challenges I’ve ever read or heard. If we are all created in the image of God doesn’t that mean mentally and physically challenged people fall under that category also. I always used to ask myself that same question when I seen other people with physical deformities or mentally disabled, the first thing I ask was why not me, and why did God cause this to happen? I asked many people and friends and many tell me that, all of these imperfections of human beings are caused by the sin of Adam. I could really see some truth in that because man became finite at that moment and aged and illness and infirmities corrupted the creation God intended to be perfect morally and spiritually. It does hurt sometimes to see how some people would never experience life to the fullest and do the things most “normal” people can, but it does make me think about how grateful I’m to be what society would deem as “normal”, but this article gives me and should give the church a wakeup call to answer and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Isn’t that the true calling of all Christians anyway, to defend and rescue those who cannot rescue themselves that ladies and gentlemen is the message of the CROSS!!!    

Act II

After reading Act I, I had a better intake and gotten better acquainted with the characters in the story. During Act I I was sort of confused and didn’t really know what to expect from most of the characters, and it was hard to follow and understand the relationship of the characters, but since I’m now familiar with them I had a better mind in reading and pretty much know what to expect from each of the characters. At the beginning of this Act I see the character Lucien being introduced as doing one of his impersonations of a portrait he notices in the Library. One thing that sparked my attention is can why he is always starting the Acts in the library or carrying book and could really even read. What I do admire about these groups of guys is that they are not willing to let their disabilities to hinder them to continue to live. I admire the fact that though they may not be all the way their mentally these guys are stilling willing to act out daily shores that a “normal” person would be doing. For example you have Lucien going to libraries and trying to vacuum to the best of the mental capability, then you have Norman who might even be romantically interested in a girl, and then you have Arnold being Arnold over analyzing things and still laboring as any “normal” person would. I think that these guys are even more ambitious and more willing to want to do things then the average person would. I also build a little more respect for Jack who takes the time to take care of these sick guys, a person like that should be well respected for his line of work. I also respect all of those guys who are challenged mentally who desire to live free.

The Boys Next Door Act I

The beginning of Act I was so funny, I absolutely loved the comedic lines and description of Arnold, and it was kind of interesting reading about how someone would describe themselves as so nervous and actually act out in there nervousness through dialogues with the other characters in the first Act. At first the dialogue between Arnold and the manager I thought it was a joke, I would never think that the manger would have been serious of telling a customer to buy 17 boxes of cereal. But this point actually showed I guess the weirdness and naive nature of Arnold who actually went out to buy 17 boxes of the cereal. I found that to be very interesting. Another dialogue which sort of first confused me was the dialogue between Arnold and Lucien. At first I thought the book had a typo when Lucien was talking to Arnold, but I began to notice his speech impediment. I began to wonder at first what was his relationship with Arnold was. What made me laugh a little but it made have been cruel was your in a house with someone who is mentally challenge and a nervous wreck, how could they possibly survive together! But I guess their relationship is more of Arnold taking care of Lucien. What my question is about Lucien is what is his story and why is he the way that he is. I see in the small introduction of Lucien he is a black old guy, so I began to wonder if his handicap was based on a lack of a good education while he was young, or was he mentally disabled at birth. And then I began to wonder about Arnold and what happen to him that made him sort of socially handicap the way that he is. Its as though they both have issues that spark of concerns.  

Sonny's Blues

At first glance of reading this story I was really interested, based on how the author kind of sold this mystery of who Sonny was. It was as though the first page was a long hook and kind of teased the reader to who this man was or relation he had with the writer, at the moment the writer stated it was their brother the anxiety died and your interest level of what this story is really about begins to climax. As I read more and more I begin to really find the way the writer wrote and described the emotion that was felt by his abandonment of his brother and the emotions felt about him hearing that he was in jail for heroin. At that moment I begin to really fall in love with the story line because this type of plot is very similar to where I am from and what goes on in my neighborhood. Every other day I would always find out about friends that I grew up with since I was small was doing serious time for either drug usage, credit card scams, and gang related violence. I begin to really feel where the writer was coming from. So I began to really put myself in the story. What I found out to be very interesting is that he hasn’t had any type of communication from his brother for about a year, and the only way he even found out about his brothers situation and where abouts is from a the newspaper. Now I could only imagine how a person would feel about finding out that a close sibling was found arrested for drugs and not finding out from a relative but on the morning paper, is crazy. But the point of the story that I found to be very shocking was when the two brothers begin to dialogue through the letter. I had never thought about writing a letter to even my closest friends that got caught up, I always thought they were to embarrassed and wanted to be left alone.   

The Graveyard experience

During the reading I really found it very interesting to read when C.S Lewis began to talk about biblical suffering and the relation it had to the situation he was facing. Lewis made some very good points that many Christians have not thought about it. Lewis says that Christianity is promised with a life of suffering that we so willingly say yes to. He goes on to say that he hadn’t received anything that he hasn’t bargained for. This made me think about suffering and how zealous we could be about it, and how many sermons we could preach from it, and how many scripture we could recite about it but when it happens to you, an imagination just became a reality that you were not truly looking for or wanted. And I feel that a lot of Christians including myself are in for a rude awakening!! Also the visit to the cemetery was such an eye opening experience. I went with Tiffany and Sianna and what made this experience such an eye opener was the conversation we all engaged on when it came down to the realization that life does come to an end. The visit was great but the conversation we began to engage in about literature and life was so amazing, I learned so much from these girls that I would of never knew in a class that meets up twice a week. We actually didn’t side track to other conversations which I expected but we stayed on topic there and even on our way back to campus, which was cool. I think that this class and these many learning ventures are very beneficial to me and my future in ministry. Professor Corrigan was kind of weird at first but there is a reason behind his madness, if you keep an open mind…lol… I can honestly say I thought my religious professors and classes would speak into me but this one class has impacted me more than any religion course I took this whole semester.  

A Grief Observed

At the beginning of me reading this I was a little confused, at the narration. But as I began to read the story began to unfold. As it unfolded each line I began to read was deeper and deeper. It was as though someone was in my room reading me their experience of losing someone.  As I began to read I could just picture someone sitting down and telling me their experience with losing a loved one love one and how it spiritual affected him/her. As I read the lines of the story and the narrator spoke about how they felt that God is not present in our time of trouble but in prosperity. I really picture myself counseling this person to the hope and love of Christ and how He is our present help in trouble. I guess I really got into the story and really began to put myself in the situation, I engaged each line as though I was talking to a friend about grief and the lost of someone. This article sort of reminded to the story of Joel only because of the mood of depression it really set. But in Joel later there was a sense of hope that was birth through all that grief and pain which was exploited in the beginning of this passage of reading. Another portion of the story I found kind of interesting was the description of “H” it kind of made me interested into to knowing more about that character and little bit more about the authors relationship with her, even though he did describe some a little bit about it I wanted more, because it would have gave me a little more depth about their relationship. But I did enjoy the story because it brought a sense of personable emotions and questions that do come into the minds of people who have grieved over a lost one.

Joel "Image"

During my reading of Joel I couldn’t help but to see continuous vivid images in my head during my reading.  It is as though the whole purpose of this passage of the bible was meant to paint an image in the readers mind. I couldn’t tell you how many times I seen flying locust in my head eating up the land, and leaving crops for dead. While reading this whole passage it sort of played a dark and image of despair during the beginning I couldn’t help but to continue to see darkness and the reading even played with my emotion I begin to really get into the story. One of the many lines that definitely really painted a picture was “ The sun and moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness”. When I read this line I just pictured a very cold and dark world. Just imagine the sun and moon and stars lose their shine for just a night. Not only will chaos break out but also anything that depends on the sunlight would perish. But the whole passage is just dark and gloomy it does paint a picture of hope towards the end that I really loved reading. I even posted that same line on the blog before    

And the hills will flow with milk,

And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;

And a spring will go out from the house of the LORD

To water the valley of Shittim.

This line painted such a picture of glory, provision and hope to me. It was as though God was saying despite all the chaos and darkness there is still hope for me people, and I will give them more and provide for them more then they ever pictured or imagine. This  really spoke to my own life because no matter how dark the situation might be, there is still light in Christ

Joel

Well reading Joel I had to really continue to read to find anything beautiful in this passage of scripture. In the beginning of this scripture you really see the wrath of God being poured out on those who rebelled against His will. Knowing that we were reading one of the books of the prophets I sort of expected this type of revelation, because prophets back then didn’t play at all so it wasn’t that much of a surprise reading some of the wrath that was going to be poured upon the people. But as I continue to read there is something I never noticed in the book of Joel which was some like a poem of promise to the people of God.

“And in that day The mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of the LORD To water the valley of Shittim”

This Line is found toward the end of the book in Joel chapter 3. Now reading this and the other lines of promise this sort of showed a poetic side of God I only noticed in the Songs of Solomon never in another passage of reading. Reading these lines aloud sounded too beautiful to me this in something I wouldn’t mind stealing and saying to my future wife. These lines almost sound like a wedding vow to the church, it’s a promise of an unconditional love and blessing that will always follow the children of God if they continue to be faithful to His laws and commands. This showed me that even in the midst of destruction and evil God can still make beauty come from the wicked of things and situations and I’m one of those things God turned to something beauty though I was an instrument of wrath God turned it around and created something beautiful out of dust.

A Story about a Body

I’m going to be honest I never read a short story like that, that impacted in me in such a big way. A Story About the body was about one paragraph give or take but it had so much meaning. People might read this blog and think I’m buggin right now but I would have never thought some men were just the shallow in my opinion, some may disagree with me but I don’t feel like two breasts can change the way a woman could love a man. It’s not like he is going to be telling the two breasts I love you every night, and if he does then he sick. Its funny how in the beginning of this story he was so enthusiastically excited and emotional about being with this woman, even though she might have been older than him, he seemed very much into her, he compared her art work to her body and how she moved so here it shows his deep interest in her. But when the truth was revealed it is as though those feeling just went away faster than a blink in the eye; and I commend the woman’s honesty because many people wouldn’t be that straight forward as she was, and given the man also even though I felt that was a shallow move. It also made me think that when the writer poses the question that “he thinks he is in love with her” right here we could answer that question later in the short story and that is no. It seemed to just be a lust thing and no love at all because love doesn’t leave because of physical handicaps but love, loves despite all of those physical mishaps. This dude got a lot of growing up to do, and he just made the rest of us just look real bad. But in all honest this is my favorite  short story we read in this class.

Special Post

So it was the first time that I was going to hear and meet my most favorite preacher and pastor for my first time, I been anticipating this day for months now. Bishop Jones was finally going to be preaching in my hometown in Miami, I been following his preaching tour for the past months and someone gave me a free ticket to hear him speak and to have free lunch with him. Bishop Jones was known to be one of the best and anointed speakers in America. I looked up to him so much he had so much eloquence and modeled such a godly and holy lifestyle to many people who liked hearing him. The moment and day finally came where I was heading to the church he would be speaking at; I put on my best three piece suit, it had a multi style of brown and black patterns all over it. It had a brown seam along the pants that complemented my brown dress shoes; I also wore a three button black and brown vest that brought out the lines along the jacket. I put on my best cologne on which was the Unforgivable line from P.diddy, figuring that maybe the cologne would spark a mini conversation since he mentioned on an interview that was his favorite cologne. I even washed my car because if I was going to look and smell like a million bucks it’s only appropriate to pull up like one. So as I was pulling up my heart began to race in excitement to finally see Bishop Jones speak live for the first time, and got out to lunch with him. As I was lead to my seat by the usher the worship leaders made their way up to begin worship. After 45 minutes of worship and a couple announcements made by members of the clergy finally Bishop Jones was being introduce while he was being introduce the whole crowd stood up and cheered like a crowd of people at a football stadium the pews rang with people’s applause and shouts of excitement all over the church. After Bishop Jones spoke I was lead to the back to meet him personally, I heard a little yelling from his dressing room but didn’t put too much thought about it, I guess the anxiety sort of ruled out my suspicious of who that might be. As I was let in his dressing room his armor bearers patted me down and allowed me in, I looked and their he stood with a smile on his face. He greeted me by name and asked for me to sit on his couch. I began to sweat in nervousness as he asked me to him little about myself. I began to tell him and he told me a little things about himself and ho he accepted the call to ministry, after 15 minutes his assistant brought in some food from a nearby restaurant so we could eat, and continue to talk, he seemed very nice and everything I imagine him to be, he was humbled and very practical, we spoke as though we knew each other for years. We laughed about different things and life situations all of a sudden I began to ask questions.

Me: Hey Bishop I heard rumors about money being stolen from a lot of the churches you oversee what you say about that

Jones: Ummm I have nothing to say about that you know people will always try to destroy God’s establishments with false accusations.

Me: But I also heard about you getting accused with buying expensive items such as cars, jewelry and electronics from you many ministries account.

Jones: Well the word does say you will get persecuted for the sake of Christ

Me: what do these accusations have to do with being persecuted for Christ?

Jones: well when you get successful in ministry people will always have something to say, it is as though just because you preach the word people and Christians expect you to live dirt poor like  them!

Me: (I notice a little irritation in his voice, but my curiosity got the best of me) So what about rumors of your flirty comments to the women in your congregation.

Jones: (silence)

Me: Or your wife giving you a certificate of divorce because of rumors of adultery being committed.

Jones: Why did you really come here? To accuse me?? Or judge me based on what you heard?

Me: No I came for truth, its hard defending you when media and the church is dismissing you as being a Man of God, sure you still have followers but for how long will they sit under you while all of this is still being circulating?

Jones: (clearing his throat) Listen ministry is full of dumb ignorant Christians that think they know what they are talking about but no one knows squat! What I do is between me and God and no one else.

Me: And Bishop what is it that you do?

Jones: As I said it’s between me and God!

Me: (Noticing his anger I paused) All I ask is one thing Bishop is all the rumors correct

(A silence haunted the room as I waited for his response, wanting to hear a no but believing deep down it was all true)

Me: Well Bishop is it true or not, tell me

(His assistant walked in as though it is right on cue)

Assistant: Jean sorry but Bishop has other engagements and meeting

Me: (At that moment I knew everything I heard was true, I looked over and seen his head hung over and my heart broke to know that my biggest inspiration had fallen and lied too many about his lifestyle)

He stood up and coldly shook my hand and walked out

Months after my encounter with the Bishop I was watching TBN and he was on it, I felt like changing the channel but something sparked me to watch, he took the mic and said

Jones: I have decided to step down from my position as Bishop

My mouth dropped and tears fell down my eyes as my superman hung up his cape.

Sanjeev

I think the character I had the most mix feelings about that I sort of like and didn’t was Sanjeev. I chose Sanjeev because, he sort of reminded me of myself. He seems kind of rigid and strict and sometimes that’s how I can be at times especially when it comes down to ministry. Sanjeev seems to have a very stern and serious personality, it is as though you can even breathe so much around him without you feeling a little subordinate to him, and he seemed very uptight.  Based on the description of the story he seemed as a short little man with a tan complexion. Sanjeev has a very strong educational background and very successful in his profession. Sanjeev was a thirty-three year old engineer, who graduated from MIT, so he was a very intellectual inclined young man, who also worked in an office which he was the supervisor of twelve others under him. This showed that Sanjeev had strong leadership and business mindset which maybe would of influence his uptight personality. Imagine a person graduating from one of the prestigious universities in America, with also a high grade point average, and a very sophisticated job, putting all those elements together you get an uptight, boring man named Sanjeev.LOL!! You really see this when Sanjeev is listening to his classical symphony, and sounding very intellectually sound by describing the many notes of the piece, all of a sudden you hear is his vibrant wife Twinkle shout out how boring that sort of music is. So hear that Twinkle is pretty much the opposite of Sanjeev which I think is a good thing. Great couples usually have good balance you can’t put to egg heads in a relationship or two loud eccentric people together. Opposites always attract but I think in this relationship it isn’t working out for their good. It sort of weird to see that a person like Sanjeev would pick a girl like Twinkle but I guess that type of choice could had only been arranged.

The Blessed House

I wasn’t that really enthusiastic about this story at all, it was sort of hard to really catch on with what was the whole point of it. This was sort of the worst story I read in this class, a lot of the stories that we have been reading has some kind of excitement to them or a sense of secrecy that would compel me to read more and more until I figured out the plot of the story or essay, but this story wasn’t that at all. The story kind of sparked some interest when Twinkle kept on finding different Christian statues and other Christian items around the house so I guess I became anxious about what else she might find but it did bore me after the Virgin Mary was found out in the yard. But what did begin to strike an interest bug in my mind was the way that Sanjeev met Twinkle. I never knew that “Hindu” people still did arranged marriages. I sort of laughed when Sanjeev noticed how that he might have made a mistake picking Twinkle, especially when he started to pick out her immaturity, and how he had other choices and he picked her, which was funny. I would think that Sanjeev put himself in the position why would anyone marry someone that the only known for only four months. Even though the story really didn’t capture my interest I did like the theme of the story on how Twinkle felt as though the “The House is blessed” because of the many Christian influences that are found around the house. When everything was unfolding and Twinkle was finding those things I thought about my house because when we first moved in we was finding things all over but they were far from being Christian..lol

Interpreter Of Maladies

One word for this story is WOW! My first impression of reading this was disinterest I honestly almost just gave up on it but as I began to continue to read I notice that there was something strange about Mrs. Das and I was determine to figure it out. I notice even from the beginning of the story there seem to be a sense of unhappiness and bitterness in Mrs. Das, especially they way how she treated her kids. It really shocked me about the parents arguing about taking the little girl to the rest room, and how Mrs. Das dragged little Tina out the car. At the moment I thought that she was some evil step-mother that didn’t like any of the kids and Mr. Das referring to Mrs. Das actually name and not mom to the kids definitely confirmed my suspicion. But as the story began to develop I noticed that even when Tina did refer to Mrs. Das as “mommy” I went back to creating a new hypothesis about Mrs. Das. When I seen that Mrs. Das declined her daughters request to paint her nails  in such a non-caring attitude I just came up with the idea that maybe she was just unhappy with her marriage and family, and as I read I seen that being more true with each page I turned and read. And then when Mrs. Das told her confession to Mr. Kapasi my mouth dropped. I knew that it had to do with her unhappiness but I didn’t know it was to that level of unhappiness. I seen that her telling Mr. Kapasi about her life of deception and her adulterous relationship I notice her desperation of her wanting to get out and wanting help because she opened up to a total stranger, instead of confessing to her husband.

DARKNESS, QUESTIONS, POETRY

I could really relate to a lot of the questions that this essay is addressing. In my baby days of Christianity before I understood the theology of Suffering I would always pose myself and my peers that very question. Why does it say that God is everywhere but when there is calamity and tragedy it seems that either God is not there or how can he allow so much darkness and despair happen to those the bible says he so called loves so dearly? I really wrestled with that question a lot in my high school years of Christianity, but as I began to become more mature in Christ and study the scripture more diligently I seen that even evil and darkness in the world are done by God for an ultimate purpose and plan. It lamest terms even evil has a purpose in Gods eyes. I think the poem got a little deep when the different scenarios and questions came up in the essay about how instead of trying to quickly responding dark areas in society and circumstances with quick religious cliché we should just face our darkness and not allow it to defeat us but to rise up under to darkness and stand on the light of Christ. One point that the essay pointed out that I agreed on was that if we don’t deal with our past pains how can we have a testimony that might help save someone that is facing the same pain you once was going through. I think that if we would just wipe our tears and dance while we are in our storms and not run away we would get stronger and am more efficient and better equipped to handle other obstacles that may seem greater than the one that first consumed us.

Raymond Carver

My first reaction of me reading this passage was an instant sense of interest, the subject the couples are talking about is something me and my friends discuss all the time, and to hear the same subject being brought up in the story immediately struck an interest in my mind. I feel that that is a question many people are still trying to figure out, “what is real love”. As I read and heard the story about Terri and her ex Ed story I was shocked. To hear how a man abused a woman and for that women to still feel as though she was loved by him really shocks and even scares me, because if this woman could say that even in an abusive relationship she feels that she is loved I can only imagine what about the rest of the woman that are stuck in relationships like that, and still feels as though a man loves them. Another thing that struck me was Laura’s response when asked does she feel when Terri was in her abusive relationship would she categorize that as being in love. Laura responded that she had to know Ed and really know the situation??!!! WHAT!!!!! It’s pathetic that people act so ignorantly and can’t call it as they see it. Clearly if a woman is getting abused in the relationship love had been left that type of relationship. God calls men to love our bride just as Christ loved the church, not to beat them like our child and on type of that calling it LOVE?!!?! I feel that Ed has the only sound mind and judgment in declaring that whatever Terri was in was not love, sure he acted very sarcastically to the idea and very insensitive to Terri’s feelings in that situation.

"ACTIVE READING"

I can really relate with how what you read is determined by how you read, it because just as the article stated in the reading “Active reading of Literature” I noticed that I was a passive reader and because of that I really don’t receive the insights and other understandings of the text like other readers would get. I used to really think that interpreting literature and other form of artistic writing was a gift actually, but I realize that it’s not a gift but just the way you read and pay attention to the words. When I read papers, magazine, web pages, and books I have a very nonchalant attitude and very uninterested passive style of reading, and because of this I can never get the deeper meaning, or even understand what the story is about because of my reading strategy. The book article “Active reading of Literature” also gives a lot of different reading techniques to help comprehend and analyze the literature, so that the reader can get a better interpretation of deeper understanding of the text presented to the reader. As I read these techniques I see them as helps and tips to help me to be a comprehensively sound reader.

 I think if I would adhere to some of these techniques I would be a more efficient reader. But honestly I think not being a passive reader is still something hard I’m going to have to beat, because I’m not really big on reading. And reading literature doesn’t spark any sense of active reading in me. But I guess this semester I will try to spark up a sense of active reading in me, and also use those tips and helps to broaden my mind in comprehending literature and poems. Hopefully it works out for me.

Self Profile

My first and earliest form of literature I encounter was honestly the Scriptures. When I was growing up my mom always enforced and forced me to always read a chapter or a narrative of the bible each night. But honestly I was so young I couldn’t even pronounce some of those words, so she brought me a book called "Bedtime Bible Stories", and I kid you not my whole theological and hermeneutical perspective has been founded by those "Bedtime Stories" LOL!!!!! That early exposure of scripture helped me to continue to study and break down the stories that once just made me smile and laugh in disbelief. I noticed how that piece of literature also helped me to grow ethically as a man of the Lord Christ Jesus. I was around the age of maybe 9-10 at my first reading and now I’m nearly 21 and I haven’t lost passion and interest in reading it. Honestly I can say the most significant book I have ever read has been the Bible if that counts as literature.

I thought the essay Prof. Corrigan wrote was kind of funny especially the smart comments about literature I could tell this class is going to be very interesting and something different I never encountered before. I’m ready to see what the world of literature has in store for me from the perspective of Prof. Corrigan. What I think I’m going to enjoy the most is the hands on and outdoor activities I will be taking part of. I like the statement Corrigan made about how literature is not just for “egghead” but is a part of everyday life, I always thought geeks, and overachievers enjoyed literature, but bringing in the perspective that literature is not so inclusive as some make it seems, it made me interests in finding out what is so good about literature.