Peace Like A River (Problemize)

The difference between spookism and miracles occur through out "Peace Like A River."  Jeremiah performs various miracles through out the story such as healing Mr. Holgren's face, touching the broken saddle, ending up near Davy at Roxanne's, gasoline not running out, etc...  As we are reading the book, we notice that the miracles are an overflow of who Jeremiah is.  He never manipulates the miracles to happen.  They just happen in and through his lifestyle so naturally.  I personally do not find this challenging, but I believe this lifestyle would raise many controversies within our SEU culture.  In the Bible, Jesus performed various forms of miracles.  He was one with the Father, so this was a natural overflow of his personhood.  A challenge to many Christians today would be the question of why aren't Christians living a life like this and seeing the miraculous happening as part of a normal Christian life.  Many take a step back and say that it is not for today or these miracles are not realistic.  I believe this is just a path of doubt and unbelief.  So how exactly did Jeremiah live a life like this?  I believe he had a very personal relationship with God.  He sought "1st the Kingdom and His righteous."  Everything flowed from there.  Another way to see why these miracles happened as an overflow of Jeremiah is his character.  Jeremiah had the fruits of the Spirit. He was a lover, yet strong.  I believe that if we are striving to become like Jesus in character, miracles like this will happen as an overflow.  Spookism is something that comes into the church as a form of manipulating who God is.  People use the supernatural to meet their selfish needs when miracles should just occur as part of the normal Christian life.  People get weird and end up using their emotions to dictate what they want and call it God.  I think SEU does a good job at staying away from spookism, but this culture may need to develop good character so it creates a move for the miraculous to take place.

"When Sorrows Like Sea Billows Roll" (reflective post)

The chapter, “When Sorrows Like Sea Billows Roll” in Peace Like A River, explained an instant that occurred in the past of Reuben’s dad.  He was being fired and humiliated in front of his son and other children in the elementary school.  By reading this chapter, we can tell that Reuben dislikes Mr. Holgren (dad’s boss) and believes that he is an injustice of a man.  Mr. Holgren accused Reuben’s dad of being drunk at work which sounds very opposite of anything he would do.  After Mr. Holgren was done accusing him and firing him, dad went right up to Mr. Holgren’s face and slapped it.  Reuben saw it.  His dad had healed Mr. Holgren’s face into a beautiful, young, radiant looking person.  Dad had healed the man that fired him and treated him so poorly.  Reuben did not think it was fair. 

            This chapter confirmed a few thoughts I had towards the dad.  As the book is being read, I am starting to see many instances in which dad performs miracles and am seeing that he has a deep relationship with God by his actions and his character.  This particular instance in this chapter really shows an act of love.  Not only did he forgive his boss for treating him so poorly, he healed his face into a “skin of a healthy tan, a hale blush spread over cheekbones that suddenly held definition; above his eyes the shine of constant seepage had vanished, and light lay at rest upon his brow.”  This really relates to me personally in the way I want to view my “enemies.”  I should not only love them, but also offer them something that they do not have. 

            It is interesting to me the way Reuben responds to the miracle.  He does not believe that the way dad acted towards his enemy showed justice.  Why would Reuben even care so much when this was really nothing to do with him personally?  This was his dad’s issue and his choice to respond back to Mr. Holgren in love.  I think that this made me reflect on the way I sometimes get upset when people are doing well when they do not seem to even have a good relationship with God.  It just does not seem fair.  My mindset needs to keep away from myself and always look for the best in the other person.

            

Quake Theory (creative post)

I made this collage on photoshop. I picked out some specific words or phrases in the text and placed them in the collage.  This collage is showing the effects of anger in relationships.  The poem describes how strife between people can cause harm all throughout the world.  It can create a ripple effect that ruins the bond of love that should take place in humanity.  “Quake Theory” is showing that destruction of the world. 

            I personally believe that if God is not present in our world, this is what would happen. Love is powerful and those who do not practice forgiveness and practice pursuing peace in relationships, our world can fall into destruction.

"A Poison Tree" (problematize post)

"A Poison Tree" is a poem about a person who lets bitterness and anger stay locked up inside of them instead of dealing with it.  I find this poem challenging in the way confrontation is not dealt with in society and in relationships.  The outcome of bitterness towards someone usually will be very harmful to both parties.  In the first stanza, the author is showing the contrast between telling a friend their wrath vs. holding it back.  "I was angry with my foe: I told it not my wrath did grow."  The person writing the poem is very angry with a "foe" and because they did not confront the issue, they "watered it in fears."  This person became consumed with the problem, which created a lot of anxiety that probably affected every person they came in contact with.  "And I sunned it with smiles. And with soft deceitful wiles."  This person also hid it from everyone by covering it up with lies and deceitful behavior.  It may be easy to cover up bitterness, but eventually it shines through.  Towards the end of the poem, the bitterness has grown and an apple represents it in a tree.  The foe of the author sees the apple and recognizes his/her bitterness.  By the end of the poem, the foe dies because of beholding the friend's anger towards them.  This death represents the death of the relationship because anger was not confronted in the beginning.  

I believe a lot of people in my culture have anger and resentment towards a person. “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins,” Matthew 6:15.  My faith in Jesus gives very clear examples in the Bible how to love others. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,” Ephesians 4:26. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice,” Ephesians 4:21.  Anger destroys relationships and this is opposite of God’s wisdom.  Our culture must learn the ways of love and forgiveness in order to protect themselves from the evil ways of bitterness and rage.  Un-forgiveness will bring death, but acts of love with bring healing.

 

"Lovesong" by Ted Hughes (Annotation)

Lovesong He loved her and she loved him. His kisses sucked out her whole past and future or tried to He had no other appetite She bit him she gnawed him she sucked She wanted him complete inside her Safe and sure forever and ever Their little cries fluttered into the curtains Her eyes wanted nothing to get away Her looks nailed down his hands his wrists his elbows He gripped her hard so that life Should not drag her from that moment He wanted all future to cease He wanted to topple with his arms round her Off that moment's brink and into nothing Or everlasting or whatever there was Her embrace was an immense press To print him into her bones His smiles were the garrets of a fairy palace Where the real world would never come Her smiles were spider bites So he would lie still till she felt hungry His words were occupying armies Her laughs were an assassin's attempts His looks were bullets daggers of revenge His glances were ghosts in the corner with horrible secrets His whispers were whips and jackboots Her kisses were lawyers steadily writing His caresses were the last hooks of a castaway Her love-tricks were the grinding of locks And their deep cries crawled over the floors Like an animal dragging a great trap His promises were the surgeon's gag Her promises took the top off his skull She would get a brooch made of it His vows pulled out all her sinews He showed her how to make a love-knot Her vows put his eyes in formalin At the back of her secret drawer Their screams stuck in the wall Their heads fell apart into sleep like the two halves Of a lopped melon, but love is hard to stop In their entwined sleep they exchanged arms and legs In their dreams their brains took each other hostage In the morning they wore each other's face Ted Hughes

I am going to discuss the theme of anger throughout "Lovesong" by Ted Hughes.  As I researched this poem, many of the analysis' were speaking about this poem as being a romantic love poem that showed what love should be like in an act of intimacy.  I am going to talk about the dysfunction of this relationship and point out bitterness and anger that is found throughout the poem.

According to Merriam Webster's online dictionary, anger means "a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism," (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anger).  Some connotations of anger are: to inflame, to enrage, to provoke, a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance, (http://ardictionary.com/Anger/5947).

"Lovesong" is about the intimacy between a man and a woman.  The poem is about sex, but there is a lot more going on than just an exchange of love.  The whole poem is intense in it's description of their emotions and feelings.  It is not sweet to say the least.  Anger, bitterness, and envy are clearly evident to me in this poem.

In the first stanza, the two are kissing intensely, but discontentment (anger) is shown by the use of words/phrases such as "kisses sucked out her whole past and future or tried to," "she bit him," "wanted him complete inside her," "their little cries."  The way they were acting towards each other wasn't gentle or soft, but out of rage and anxiety to gain something and long after something they did not seem to have.

In the second stanza, Hughes adds a phrase "He wanted all future to cease."  The boy in the poem was so passionate and desperate to stay in this pleasure and not face reality.  He wanted to stay in this high emotion with this girl because he was angry and did not like his life.  "Off that moment's brink and into nothing Or everlasting or what there was."  This boy in the poem had no hope. All he liked was this quick pleasure right in front of him. He must have been angry.

In the third stanza, "His smiles were the garrets of a fairy palace Where the real world would never come."  The girl was caught up in the enjoyment, but was realizing that this pleasure would not last.  She was angry with life.  "Her smiles were spider bites So he would lie still till she felt hungry."  This does not sound like a romantic relationship, rather, they are using each other because they are empty, hurt, and angry.  The rest of the stanza gives more descriptive phrases of intensity and anger.  Anger for these two is found in the action of intense pleasure.

"Their heads fell apart into sleep like the two halves Of a lopped melon, but love is hard to stop."
What a description of someone in love...  "Two halves of a lopped melon."  This shows the dysfunction.  They are addicted to each other.  They are using each other for pleasure because they have anger in their lives.  They are taking out their anger in a way that is gross and selfish.

"In their entwined sleep they exchanged arms and legs In their dreams their brains took each other hostage."

"In the morning they wore each other's face"

Even though Ted Hughes makes no mention that this relationship is dysfunctional or admits that they are using pleasure as a means to let out anger, it is read in between the lines that this is the case.    I think that Hughes wanted the reader to come to the conclusion that this relationship is not healthy and wanted to reader to figure out why.  This why would lead to an anger and discontentment with life.

. "Anger." Accurate & Reliable Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb 2012. <http://ardictionary.com/Anger/5947>.


. "Anger." Merriam-Webster. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb 2012. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anger>.

Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (reflective post)

"The Times They Are A-Changin" written by Bob Dylan was constructed in the early 60's during the hippie movement/civil rights movement. I enjoy Bob Dylan and have heard this song before, but I have never stopped to analyze the lyrics. The only line I ever really heard was "For the times they are a-changin.'"  What exactly is Bob Dylan talking about?  


In the first stanza of this song, Dylan is calling people to gather together.  He is asking for unity to take place and for others to "admit that the waters around you have grown."  This is pointing to the flaws of the government and that if people do not see what is happening with racism and poverty and realize that something needs to change, than nothing will.  "Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone," represents the call for people to stand up against what is going on in the United States so things don't end up worse.


In the second stanza, Dylan is speaking directly to those I am assuming who write for the media/newspaper.  The news has been talking badly about the times they are in and about the crisis of poverty and discrimination.  But, Dylan makes sure to tell them to not be to quick to speak, for times are changing and the good is arising.


In the third stanza, Dylan addresses the senators and congressmen and those involved in government affairs.  Bob Dylan is telling them to hear the call from those who want change and don't block those fighting for freedom.  "Don't block up the hall for he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled."  If senators and congressmen don't to anything to improve the country, then they will be hurt.  "There's a battle outside and it is ragin," could mean that there is about to be a battle for civil rights.  When I first read this, I thought it meant that there is a battle of government trying to keep control, but I believe Bob Dylan is talking about the good that is rising in the country.


In the fourth stanza, Bob Dylan addresses mothers and fathers and tells them not to criticize what they don't understand.  I believe this means that the youth are probably fighting for freedom and mothers and fathers look down on their kids for "rebelling," but Bob Dylan is saying that there is a need to fight for this freedom.  "And don't criticize what you can't understand your sons and your daughters are beyond your command your old road is rapidly agin' please get out of the new one."  

"The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'."

In the last stanza, Bob Dylan is now speaking of the change that is taking place directly. Those who are standing up for their freedom and for civil rights are now the minority, but soon they will be the ones ruling and making change.  "As the present now will later be past the order is rapidly fadin,' shows that there is change taking place.  "For the times they are a-changin,'" is echoed throughout this whole song.

Even though Bob Dylan wrote this song in the 1960's, this song can be pretty applicable for today. We are currently going through a political revolution.  We are about to get a new president and many people are getting serious about what they want in their country.  People are starting to see what the country needs and the reasons why there needs to be dramatic change.  If we stand up and fight for what we believe in, we can change the course of history and bring positive change.  This year is very important for those to get educated in politics and realize that if you do stand up against what is wrong, change will eventually take place.

Creative Posts (Harrison Bergeron)

This is Sera Manubens.  She currently goes to Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida and is graduating in May.  She is a unique individual. She likes to bike and be with her boyfriend Jason. She likes to travel the world and go on mission's trips. She has a heart for Asia and her family has adopted 3 children from Asia. She is the oldest of 7 kids. She owns a horse named Kye.  She likes goats. She likes to laugh and is lactose in tolerant. She likes eating healthy, but has a weakness when it comes to chocolate. She has hipster glasses, but does not consider herself a "hipster."  She has been to Israel recently and got mistaken for an Arab. Her family is from Chile.  She wants to travel the world while being a missionary. 

This is Jordyn Roe.  Jordyn is a Journalism and PR major.  She is newer to Southeastern this year. She lives in Bradenton, Florida.  She likes watching one tree hill.  She wants a man to sweep her off her feet. Jordyn is compassionate and loves close relationships with others.    She loves all kinds of music and currently loves the movie "The Vow."  She is going to Africa this summer on a missions trip. She used to be in YWAM in which she encountered the love of Christ and has been changed ever since. She is currently on DSF's Arts & Faith team. She enjoys the creative end of life and business. A lot of her friends call her "mom."  Jordan has been to Alaska and she enjoys eating good sea food with her family.

This is Carey Wessel also an almost graduating senior.  She loves psychology and is getting her master's after school. She is a great student. She is also into politics. Carey lives in Florida as well. She is allergic to most foods including soy.  It is hard for her to eat things because most foods contain soy. Carey listens to the lyrics when she is listening to a song, so she gets very irritated with repetition in songs. She likes upbeat music, rather than chill music. Carey likes to dance, she likes beaches, and she currently is starting to like spinning. She rather spin than to any other work out. Carey is a free spirit and is up for anything new. She will not have a dog.

This is Rachel Hill. She is a silly girl from New Mexico. She gets annoyed when people  think that New Mexico is like a desert. She lives where there are mountains. Rachel is very spontaneous and has been to so many countries and continues to travel every chance she can get. Rachel loves her boyfriend Clark. She enjoys doing pretty much anything. She is teaching English in Nepal this summer. Rachel has to stay away from caffeine and chocolate because she gets sick from it.                

                                    Rachel tutors a little black boy that she   loves. Rachel loves sleeping and needs about 12 hours a night.

















The reason why I chose to write about my four roomates in relation to "Harrison Bergeron" is to show the beauty of individuality.  If they all were equal, this would take away their individual personalities, their individual likes/interests, and what makes them unique.  I believe that Kurt Vonnegut made such a dramatic story about freedom from government control to show that communism and equality from the government will take away our personal freedom as a person.  I also wanted to illustrate this concept by showing my friends who are all very different.

"The Christmas Wife" (annotations)

“The Christmas Wife” deals with a man named Tanner who likes to be in control of his life.  The definition of control is “to check, verify, regulate, exert authority, dominate,” (www.etymonline.com).  The connotation of control implies a sense of dominating influence over someone/something.  Also, control is the power to direct or determine (www.thefreedictionary.com/control).  Through out the story “The Christmas Wife,” Tanner, a middle aged single man, is a person who is scared and needs to stay in control of his life.  The text does not directly say this, but there are many places in the text that prove and support this point.

            Right from the start of the text we see that Tanner is a man desiring peace, a measure of joy, and reassurance.  The word desire means that he is searching for these attributes that he does not have.  The text goes on to describe Tanner’s previous marriage (before his wife died).  The line occurs “He had been in control.”  The text is directly addressing control, but this does not imply that he had an insecurity to control his life. 

            Tanner decides to pay for a woman to spend Christmas with him.  The relationship between the woman and John Tanner is very odd from the start.  Tanner starts to dominate the relationship from the start.  As he meets the girl, he immediately starts telling her loving things like, “I’ve been looking forward to this for days.”  Because of the girl’s shyness, he made sure to make her feel comfortable.  He used a lot of words that assumed that he knew how she was, instead of asking her who she was.  “Don’t be uneasy.  I’m really a very comfortable person.  This is new to me too.  But I said to myself, why not, why not.”  He continued to talk to her like he knew her and never initiated a conversation.  Obviously this was because he was using her for company, but also this points to his character and the way he likes to be in control of a situation. 

            Cherry kept on coughing and Tanner made sure that he was going to help her.  He made her feel special by referring to many of the “special” things he was doing for her for Christmas.  “I want you well by Christmas.”  He told her.  Tanner served Cherry food and made sure the atmosphere was nice and festive.  Cherry ended up dropping one of the wine glasses and he made sure that she did not feel guilty about it.  “She fought for control” was one of the lines she said when she tried to explain to him that it was because she did not have glasses to see very well. 

            As Cherry was still sleeping, the text refers to Tanner rehearsing his script for the day.  It said that if his order prevailed, than all things are possible, even tolerable.  “The key of the course is to be in control.”  The story continues to show this kind of behavior between Tanner and Beth (he changed her name to his preferences). 

            At the end of the story, Tanner starts to feel connected to Beth and he starts to sense the relationship forming into a relationship, rather than just control.  He does not like it and gets scared.  “Nothing is simple, he said to himself.  Nothing is ever, ever simple.”  “He saw his own life as an endless struggle to make the complex simple.”  Tanner realized at the end of the text that nothing ever will be perfect and that it is impossible to make it that way.  He realized that Beth was not Florence and he began to realize that he was in deep need of a person to comfort him and this woman was only with him because she needed the money.  As she was weeping, he remembered how he had been controlling this whole time.  He wanted her to be what he wished.

            This text shows the example of a relationship where one person dominates the other.  By the way Tanner talks to Beth, it is obvious that the relationship is not mutual.  When a person talks to someone by assuming things about them, this is a type of manipulation.  Control is a way to try to make an imperfect life perfect, which is impossible, and “The Christmas Wife” shows the outcome of a person holding on to their life.

. "control." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 1 Feb 2012. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/control>.

. Online Etymology Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb 2012. <http://www.etymonline.com/>.

"Death By Scrabble" (Problematize Post)

"Death By Scrabble" by Charlie Fish is an interesting story of irony. It is supposed to be funny in the fact that the outcome is completely opposite of what is expected from the beginning of the story.  In class we discussed that the humor presented in this story is dealing with laughing at other people because they are not in our same state.  Also, we talked about how we laugh at dangerous situations that we know is not real.  It is a sense of release because that event it is not happening to us.  What I find a bit puzzling about this text is that it is supposed to be very humorous.  I get that it is using irony and I get that it is abnormal and a bit strange to be that vocal about hatred towards someone.  I am still wondering what Charlie Fish was trying to accomplish and if that was all he was pronouncing.  The part of the text that I really enjoyed was that at the end, he ended up dying.  The whole story he was plotting to kill his wife and the game returned back on him.  

This text may be a challenge to the way SEU's culture thinks based on the use of words that are dark and evil.  The man playing the game against his wife was clearly hating himself and his wife and he used many words to express it (in the game of scrabble).  I really enjoyed how the words were in depth because I believe people have these deep feelings of anger.  This story was also addressing problems between a marriage with unspoken issues that are not resolved.  They were casually going about their average day playing scrabble, yet had so much unforgiveness.  The challenge for SEU culture would be to get past the general cruelty of the text and realize what it is actually addressing.

Realizing that a story like this is not funny, but rather a very deep introspection on a human’s anger issues challenged my faith.  If I were to read this casually I would laugh and think it was funny because of how casual they portrayed death and hate.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that if we read it with humor we are also covering up and not thinking about what is really happening.  

"My wife sleeps all the time.  She slept through an argument our next-door neighbours had that resulted in a broken door, a smashed TV and a Teletubby Lala doll with all the stuffing coming out.  And then she bitched at me for being moody the next day from lack of sleep," (part 3 paragraph 5).  This sentence is like one of those sentences that are found in most conversations today.  Many people talk like this when wanting to make something very serious, light and not emotional.  It is a way to cover up the pain.  My faith has realized that this kind of humor is a cover up of something greater.

Sonny (reflective post)

"Sonny's Blues" written by James Baldwin could be interpreted in many different ways when it comes to Sonny and the narrator’s relationship.  My thoughts through out the text lined up with what we talked about in class.  In class a few of us explained which character we related to more, either Sonny or the narrator.  I said Sonny even though I am not similar to him when it came to Heroin addiction, but rather, I am similar to him in the way he talks and thinks.  Some others in class related to the narrator perhaps having someone like Sonny in their life to rescue.  The narrator is not a guy I disliked, but I found him not as interesting and alert as Sonny.  In class some of us came to the conclusion that Sonny was a character who was easy to relate to because he was very “real.”  What made him “real” was the way in which he interacted with the world.  When the narrator first picked up Sonny to bring him back home, Sonny was so excited to see his brother.  From the previous letter the narrator received from Sonny, I could tell that Sonny was a very warm and loving person.  He sounded as if he had compassion for others.  His character is shown throughout the story in examples like wanting to drive through the city because he hasn’t seen it in awhile.  He appreciates his past and where he has come from.  Another example of his character is shown when he arrives home with his brother and his brother’s family.  Immediately he talks to Isabel with ease.  “Sonny has never been talkative,” said the narrator (391).  The narrator also addresses how easy it always was for Isabel and Sonny to relate to one another and laugh.  It seems to me that the narrator judges Sonny based on his personal issues with relating to Sonny. 

The text starts to describe Sonny and the narrator’s past.  “Don’t you worry, I won’t forget. I won’t let nothing happen to Sonny,” the narrator said to his mom (pg.395).  This simple statement to his mother explains the reason why the narrator lives with guilt when it comes to his relationship with his brother. 

I want to address Sonny’s character.  Class today enriched my thoughts about Sonny.  I would have never noticed in depth the realness and authentic spirit that Sonny had unless we spoke about it.  I came to the conclusion that both brothers did try to escape their inward suffering.  Sonny used drugs as a means and his brother seemed to harden himself to reality.  This story is a great parallel two different people and two different personalities.  We must recognize that people use different routes to cope with suffering, but we must learn to use good things to cope.  Sonny did not use a good means to cope, we he did work on his inward soul it seems like.