Did you choose a film you had not seen before? No. I wanted to watch Schindler’s List again for a new experience than just watching it in school as a forced activity.
Choose one of the characters. Describe the characterization. Is the character round/flat, dynamic/static? What is the character's motivation? Schindler is a round and dynamic main character that definitely changes throughout the film. With each new action, we see his character grow to a righteous man who sacrificed everything for justice in an insane time period. The character's motivation is to help others at the end of the film. We see him never satisfied because he wanted to save all and he wasn't able to. At first we see him as a pure business man but then we see him transformed into a self sacrificing character.
What is one of the themes in the film? How is this theme portrayed? Justice at all costs. The whole movie is about trying to obtain justice in a world that seems so far from it. Schindler's character simply moves this theme from being in the background to the very central focus. When we watch movies about the Holocaust, we often simply feel pity. But in this movie, I couldn't help but feel for Schindler at the end. His devotion to find justice made me feel more than just pity, it made me feel an uncontrolable urge to do the right thing.
How might watching film as literature (instead of simply as entertainment) change the way that you watch movies? It helps me understand how a movie is more than just action and plot driven entertainment. Instead of looking at it from a mere pleasure perspective, I get to see and understand how the director made this movie for a true purpose.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Fancy But Empty Words
I know a lot of fancy words.
I tear them from my heart and my tongue.
Then I pray.
This is a simple and elegant poem from Mary Oliver. The words seem pretty up front and straight forward to when you look at it from first glance. First we see that the writer knows a lot of “fancy” words which just means an extended vocabulary. They then tear them from their heart and tongue which means they separate themselves from those words. Because after they have simplified their way of speech they can communicate honestly with God.
Now, this seems like this is it to the poem. It’s short so the analysis must be short as well, right? We see that the writer is intelligent and they must simplify the way they speak in order to talk to God. It might make us feel like we too should re-examine our thinking and prayers. However, there is more to this than the surface. If you look deeply and are willing to open your mind, you will begin to ask the questions of why and how and who really is the author.
This poem is about the prayer of any person. We can put ourselves and read aloud the poem as if we were saying the words ourselves. We often find ourselves needing and longing to say the right things. Our own sanity relies on how well and how often we can communicate with others around us. The words we say take up so much of our time and prioritize our thoughts. Words help mold and represent who we are as people and how our relationships are formed and strengthened. Most people rely on words than actions because it’s quicker and more efficient. So if we are striving to keep our relationships here on earth due to the utmost importance they hold to our lives and sanity, think about how we need to strive for us wanting to pray to God. There are many days where I know I just wait and yearn for the voice of God. I sometimes buy into the fact that if I just talk enough or say the right thing, He will respond in a voice that is similar to Morgan Freeman’s. This is a wrong thought though that many people give into.
Oliver has the right frame of mind when she admits that she knows a lot of fancy words. She is using the first sentence to declare her intelligence. And at first you might think that this is a good thing. But then when you go down to the second line you see her say that she tears them from not only her heart but her tongue. Oliver uses the word “tear” because of the urgent and drastic connotation the word has to the reader. Usually a tear is something that is pulled apart by force. Oliver shows us that we must tear away our fancy words from our heart and tongue. We must force ourselves to separate from what we usually rely on which are words. She tears the fancy words away from her heart so she might be more sincere, and then she tears away in the same manner from her tongue so that her words might be genuine.
Finally, Oliver prays.
Praying simply; praying beautifully; praying sincerely. This is what Mary Oliver does. In the midst of silence, without the needs to speak correctly or “feel” what we are suppose to feel, Oliver can truly pray. She trusts that the Father will know not what she says but what she means. Often this cannot not be expressed in words of man but words of the Spirit.
You see, there is something about this poem that we fail to realize which her utter surrender to God is. This poem shows that she stripped herself from fancy words (which she must be good at because she is a poet) and those fancy words must be part of her security and safety. We must be like Oliver and when we pray not to focus in on what we say or how we say it. Our words are empty if we only try to say the right thing. The Creator of everything knows our hearts yet we still feel like we have to communicate in such a manner that will appease Him. We only need to say what we feel, not what we think we should say.
Oliver calls us to strip away the words and to be comfortable in the silence. Are we willing to get rid of our securities such as words and need to please? Because if we are, then I truly believe we will understand what Mary Oliver wrote. We simply need to cast away such things that we think might help in order to rely on what true praying is: talking to God, our Savior.
We make things so complex. We try to say the right things. We even have thoughts that are so audacious as if we reason with God when we heavily rely on words.
Mary Oliver breaks down prayer into what it means. It is simple and not too complex. However, our natures make us tend to over complicate things.
God just wants our hearts and our tongues to praise Him. Our words cannot even express how much He has done for us and how awesome He truly is.
I tear them from my heart and my tongue.
Then I pray.
This is a simple and elegant poem from Mary Oliver. The words seem pretty up front and straight forward to when you look at it from first glance. First we see that the writer knows a lot of “fancy” words which just means an extended vocabulary. They then tear them from their heart and tongue which means they separate themselves from those words. Because after they have simplified their way of speech they can communicate honestly with God.
Now, this seems like this is it to the poem. It’s short so the analysis must be short as well, right? We see that the writer is intelligent and they must simplify the way they speak in order to talk to God. It might make us feel like we too should re-examine our thinking and prayers. However, there is more to this than the surface. If you look deeply and are willing to open your mind, you will begin to ask the questions of why and how and who really is the author.
This poem is about the prayer of any person. We can put ourselves and read aloud the poem as if we were saying the words ourselves. We often find ourselves needing and longing to say the right things. Our own sanity relies on how well and how often we can communicate with others around us. The words we say take up so much of our time and prioritize our thoughts. Words help mold and represent who we are as people and how our relationships are formed and strengthened. Most people rely on words than actions because it’s quicker and more efficient. So if we are striving to keep our relationships here on earth due to the utmost importance they hold to our lives and sanity, think about how we need to strive for us wanting to pray to God. There are many days where I know I just wait and yearn for the voice of God. I sometimes buy into the fact that if I just talk enough or say the right thing, He will respond in a voice that is similar to Morgan Freeman’s. This is a wrong thought though that many people give into.
Oliver has the right frame of mind when she admits that she knows a lot of fancy words. She is using the first sentence to declare her intelligence. And at first you might think that this is a good thing. But then when you go down to the second line you see her say that she tears them from not only her heart but her tongue. Oliver uses the word “tear” because of the urgent and drastic connotation the word has to the reader. Usually a tear is something that is pulled apart by force. Oliver shows us that we must tear away our fancy words from our heart and tongue. We must force ourselves to separate from what we usually rely on which are words. She tears the fancy words away from her heart so she might be more sincere, and then she tears away in the same manner from her tongue so that her words might be genuine.
Finally, Oliver prays.
Praying simply; praying beautifully; praying sincerely. This is what Mary Oliver does. In the midst of silence, without the needs to speak correctly or “feel” what we are suppose to feel, Oliver can truly pray. She trusts that the Father will know not what she says but what she means. Often this cannot not be expressed in words of man but words of the Spirit.
You see, there is something about this poem that we fail to realize which her utter surrender to God is. This poem shows that she stripped herself from fancy words (which she must be good at because she is a poet) and those fancy words must be part of her security and safety. We must be like Oliver and when we pray not to focus in on what we say or how we say it. Our words are empty if we only try to say the right thing. The Creator of everything knows our hearts yet we still feel like we have to communicate in such a manner that will appease Him. We only need to say what we feel, not what we think we should say.
Oliver calls us to strip away the words and to be comfortable in the silence. Are we willing to get rid of our securities such as words and need to please? Because if we are, then I truly believe we will understand what Mary Oliver wrote. We simply need to cast away such things that we think might help in order to rely on what true praying is: talking to God, our Savior.
We make things so complex. We try to say the right things. We even have thoughts that are so audacious as if we reason with God when we heavily rely on words.
Mary Oliver breaks down prayer into what it means. It is simple and not too complex. However, our natures make us tend to over complicate things.
God just wants our hearts and our tongues to praise Him. Our words cannot even express how much He has done for us and how awesome He truly is.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Problems
I think the essay we read for Friday’s class was pretty inspiring. Even though I might not have a disabled child or close relative, how often have I thought that people with disabilities only just need to touch the cloak of Jesus’ robe or have mud rub over their eyes to be “cured” from their circumstance. Often times we just think that…that if we only had enough faith or enough belief in God then surely would our problems cease.
But when we look at it from a different sight, maybe our problems aren’t really problems. Perhaps they do make our lives inconvenient or difficult, but are they really problems?
I think about all the times that I have grown and matured as a human being. It was with trials and tribulations that I was able to grow. The easy times – full of happiness and contentedness- those were times were I didn’t grow but kept skimming across the waters of easy living.
I even listen to today’s radio and all it talks about is living the good life which is easy. One song that I find rather catchy but stupid goes “If we could party all night and sleep all day, and throw our problems away: our lives would be easy” and despite the catchiness that makes my feet tap to the beat, the song itself is complete bologna.
This easy life is not a good life. The hard life is the good life. Your struggles help you believe that there is something more than just pain.
In that essay, he was a father who loved his son regardless of what others might have thought of him. He was ready to deal with the struggles of life, but he was willing to do them without judging his son and without praying for a “cure”.
I believe sometimes in life, our cures shouldn’t be for illness or sickness but it should be for our minds to be opened to what God wants. This certainly wouldn’t make things easy but it would help aid us in our trials to live.
But when we look at it from a different sight, maybe our problems aren’t really problems. Perhaps they do make our lives inconvenient or difficult, but are they really problems?
I think about all the times that I have grown and matured as a human being. It was with trials and tribulations that I was able to grow. The easy times – full of happiness and contentedness- those were times were I didn’t grow but kept skimming across the waters of easy living.
I even listen to today’s radio and all it talks about is living the good life which is easy. One song that I find rather catchy but stupid goes “If we could party all night and sleep all day, and throw our problems away: our lives would be easy” and despite the catchiness that makes my feet tap to the beat, the song itself is complete bologna.
This easy life is not a good life. The hard life is the good life. Your struggles help you believe that there is something more than just pain.
In that essay, he was a father who loved his son regardless of what others might have thought of him. He was ready to deal with the struggles of life, but he was willing to do them without judging his son and without praying for a “cure”.
I believe sometimes in life, our cures shouldn’t be for illness or sickness but it should be for our minds to be opened to what God wants. This certainly wouldn’t make things easy but it would help aid us in our trials to live.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Holding A Hand
Reading The Boys Next Door is an incredible opportunity to let the text transform my mind.
This play has introduced me to a more realistic life style of people who are in fact handicapped. I always assumed that people with disabilities often were helpless. I gave pity and sympathy. These are pretty apathetic emotions. I mean sure you can feel sorry for someone, but honestly – what’s the point? Save your emotion and “care” and actually show what you mean. If I thought: “Wow. That sucks that someone is born like that” but never actually act upon my upset emotions it’s meaningless and fake. Why should you feel sorry for someone? The only answer I can come up with is because we know that something is wrong, but we are too self-centered to actually act upon it. Feeling sorry only makes us feel good; like we actually did something about it when all we are doing is being in denial.
So after reading the play, I had to think about what I viewed. Saying all these harsh things, I feel like I only got these thoughts after I decided to stop hiding underneath my security blanket.
Getting the opportunity to go see and interact with disabled people made the play more life altering. In the book, you see characters and read in your head what they say and do. In class we got to act out how we thought they would be. On our trip, we witnessed reality and what a precious thing it was.
I learned that mentally handicapped people learn and they work and they can sew and they can have hard times just like anyone else.
I sat across a lady who was eating chocolate and vanilla cookies and barely touching her Coke. She and I had the same conversation about 7 times and each time she opened up more and more of herself to me. She went home last night with a terrible headache. She wanted to cry but couldn’t. She then took pills that took some of the headache away. Today she didn’t want to be there. Today she was having a poor day. Today she wanted someone just to hold her hand.
I feel like maybe if we gave a little bit of our time out to those we feel we already know, we can change ourselves for the better. Instead of assuming that we are the lucky ones and those who are handicapped are the unfortunate really is insulting. Pity and sympathy are really slaps in the face to those who try their very best to live life.
Instead of feeling sorry, we should be encouraging.
Instead of shaking our heads, maybe we should just reach out our hands one at a time.
This play has introduced me to a more realistic life style of people who are in fact handicapped. I always assumed that people with disabilities often were helpless. I gave pity and sympathy. These are pretty apathetic emotions. I mean sure you can feel sorry for someone, but honestly – what’s the point? Save your emotion and “care” and actually show what you mean. If I thought: “Wow. That sucks that someone is born like that” but never actually act upon my upset emotions it’s meaningless and fake. Why should you feel sorry for someone? The only answer I can come up with is because we know that something is wrong, but we are too self-centered to actually act upon it. Feeling sorry only makes us feel good; like we actually did something about it when all we are doing is being in denial.
So after reading the play, I had to think about what I viewed. Saying all these harsh things, I feel like I only got these thoughts after I decided to stop hiding underneath my security blanket.
Getting the opportunity to go see and interact with disabled people made the play more life altering. In the book, you see characters and read in your head what they say and do. In class we got to act out how we thought they would be. On our trip, we witnessed reality and what a precious thing it was.
I learned that mentally handicapped people learn and they work and they can sew and they can have hard times just like anyone else.
I sat across a lady who was eating chocolate and vanilla cookies and barely touching her Coke. She and I had the same conversation about 7 times and each time she opened up more and more of herself to me. She went home last night with a terrible headache. She wanted to cry but couldn’t. She then took pills that took some of the headache away. Today she didn’t want to be there. Today she was having a poor day. Today she wanted someone just to hold her hand.
I feel like maybe if we gave a little bit of our time out to those we feel we already know, we can change ourselves for the better. Instead of assuming that we are the lucky ones and those who are handicapped are the unfortunate really is insulting. Pity and sympathy are really slaps in the face to those who try their very best to live life.
Instead of feeling sorry, we should be encouraging.
Instead of shaking our heads, maybe we should just reach out our hands one at a time.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Museum
Disclaimer: "I went to the Polk Museum of Art for this assignment, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes."
In the museum, I was lost for words. Each painting had its own story. Each was thought up and created due to some spark of inspiration that the artist had. What makes me ponder the most is how much each artist had to give and to risk creating something that they loved.
I am a big music lover. I enjoy the sounds that come into contact with my ears. I love listening and actively participating with music by singing or dancing. With art, I’m not avidly as active with it as my friends back home would be. But while I was on this trip, I incorporated the art of literature with the visual art and then listened to the sounds in the museum and somehow I was stuck with not wanting to move. It was interesting to see how they all can work so well together if you just take the time to notice it.
So, after my mini-epiphany, I started to think about how hard it would be to sacrifice something like security to produce something that you were passionate about. I learned in high school that most famous artists were not famous until after they died. After they could no longer care for success or feel the adoration of fans was when the most pivotal points of their careers took place.
Am I going to let the uncertainty keep me from being passionate about my dreams in life? The artists at the museum weren’t afraid of jumping into the abyssal of ambiguity. The security of a 9 to 5 job and health benefits is not what most people would give up for a whim – for a dream? It takes a lot of strength to sacrifice the “good” life for a “meaningful” life. And I just hope that once I graduate college I’ll be able to look back and see how I sacrificed the comfort for a purpose.
Staring
I stare at you,
A painting with
So many and yet few
Brush strokes of the hand.
A flick of the wrist,
A dab of blue,
A dollop of yellow,
And soon the paint is more
Than just that.
It is ever flowing
Ever animated,
Awaiting to take me on a journey.
Sacrifice
Each name
Remembered or not
Has led a meaningful life
Without the title
It might seem invisible
But the action is more than word
And the product is more valued
Than the paper in the wallets.
In the museum, I was lost for words. Each painting had its own story. Each was thought up and created due to some spark of inspiration that the artist had. What makes me ponder the most is how much each artist had to give and to risk creating something that they loved.
I am a big music lover. I enjoy the sounds that come into contact with my ears. I love listening and actively participating with music by singing or dancing. With art, I’m not avidly as active with it as my friends back home would be. But while I was on this trip, I incorporated the art of literature with the visual art and then listened to the sounds in the museum and somehow I was stuck with not wanting to move. It was interesting to see how they all can work so well together if you just take the time to notice it.
So, after my mini-epiphany, I started to think about how hard it would be to sacrifice something like security to produce something that you were passionate about. I learned in high school that most famous artists were not famous until after they died. After they could no longer care for success or feel the adoration of fans was when the most pivotal points of their careers took place.
Am I going to let the uncertainty keep me from being passionate about my dreams in life? The artists at the museum weren’t afraid of jumping into the abyssal of ambiguity. The security of a 9 to 5 job and health benefits is not what most people would give up for a whim – for a dream? It takes a lot of strength to sacrifice the “good” life for a “meaningful” life. And I just hope that once I graduate college I’ll be able to look back and see how I sacrificed the comfort for a purpose.
Staring
I stare at you,
A painting with
So many and yet few
Brush strokes of the hand.
A flick of the wrist,
A dab of blue,
A dollop of yellow,
And soon the paint is more
Than just that.
It is ever flowing
Ever animated,
Awaiting to take me on a journey.
Sacrifice
Each name
Remembered or not
Has led a meaningful life
Without the title
It might seem invisible
But the action is more than word
And the product is more valued
Than the paper in the wallets.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Transformation
Lectio Divina is a practice that I’ve never heard about or thought about until this year at Southeastern. I guess this is my second post on such an amazing concept which therefore I think is worthy of such appearances in my blog.
In this essay, another new concept is brought forth which is how when we read it’s not only for just the reading part; it’s also so “we open ourselves to the possibility of spiritual experience”.
I’ve read the Bible. And often I approached it with the thought process that God was going to slap me across the face with a Biblically led revelation. Or sometimes I just opened the Bible randomly and thought “Here is where I’m supposed to read today.” I’m sure I’m not the only one who has done this. But to say that I’m reading the Bible (or any other form of literature) to be spiritually transformed in mind isn’t really my goal. Like, I hope something will change inside of me because what I’m reading is God breathed, but I don’t expect it.
Simply by reading something, we open ourselves up to new thoughts and ideas that transform us into who we are today without us knowing it! This is simply amazing to think about.
I look back on what I’ve read in life and how I live life now and I can significantly see how my life has been influenced by literature.
Think how much our minds would be transformed if we actually approached it in that way!
Instead of flipping through or wincing after every page turn because we know the spiritual revelation is coming, we just simply use lectio divina and approach it in a transformational way, I’m sure our results would be faster and more obvious than ones that are often left in frustration after reading a proverb or pslam.
In this essay, another new concept is brought forth which is how when we read it’s not only for just the reading part; it’s also so “we open ourselves to the possibility of spiritual experience”.
I’ve read the Bible. And often I approached it with the thought process that God was going to slap me across the face with a Biblically led revelation. Or sometimes I just opened the Bible randomly and thought “Here is where I’m supposed to read today.” I’m sure I’m not the only one who has done this. But to say that I’m reading the Bible (or any other form of literature) to be spiritually transformed in mind isn’t really my goal. Like, I hope something will change inside of me because what I’m reading is God breathed, but I don’t expect it.
Simply by reading something, we open ourselves up to new thoughts and ideas that transform us into who we are today without us knowing it! This is simply amazing to think about.
I look back on what I’ve read in life and how I live life now and I can significantly see how my life has been influenced by literature.
Think how much our minds would be transformed if we actually approached it in that way!
Instead of flipping through or wincing after every page turn because we know the spiritual revelation is coming, we just simply use lectio divina and approach it in a transformational way, I’m sure our results would be faster and more obvious than ones that are often left in frustration after reading a proverb or pslam.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Darkness
It’s said that darkness is the absense of light. However how are we suppose to know its light without the darkness? And what really is the point of light if we do not have a way to use it?
I think we all can relate to anyone of those stories in the article written by Professor Corrigan. Each one of us can relate to pain and suffering. For me, it was the loss of my grandpa that I connected with. However, my pain was different than the pain of our Professor. And it’s pretty amazing how even though we all hurt, we all hurt differently. No matter if our situations seem the same, each story is different. Each pain more painful to one than it is to the other.
I guess, even if it is cliche and empty wording, there is a consistent love we can run to. A love that is the same for everyone even if the pain is different. Perfect, infinite love to our finite problems of pain and misfortune. We view this Love sometimes as empty wording to a situation that seems to be so far deep in trouble because we can’t see how love can be in pain. Which makes me wonder:
Why do we hurt then? Why is the pain so unbearable at times? Its because we love that pain is the way it feels. If we hated everyone and was apathetic towards life, wouldn’t that pain become numb? If we loved life and appreciated everything though, the pain would be worse because we would be in a more vulnerable position. Depending on the ammount of love we use and gather is a big variable in the problem to pain.
Random thoughts on the abyssal amount of pain to one’s thought. I just know though that there is more to the words we speak to someone when we say that God loves them or that it’s in God’s will or anything pertaining to God that seems cliche and effortless. There is more to the Lord’s love that we sometimes dismiss because we are too caught up in our pain. However, just because we are in pain does not make God’s love any less powerful. It might seem like it’s effortless and redundant when we say we are praying but it isn’t. And the more that we believe in it, the more that we will feel His love. And the smaller amount of pain we go through.
I imagine Paul and all his trials. However, how could he keep living the difficult life full of pain and misfortune? It was beacause of God’s Love - this ever present, abounding, endless love - that he was able to finish the race.
I think we all can relate to anyone of those stories in the article written by Professor Corrigan. Each one of us can relate to pain and suffering. For me, it was the loss of my grandpa that I connected with. However, my pain was different than the pain of our Professor. And it’s pretty amazing how even though we all hurt, we all hurt differently. No matter if our situations seem the same, each story is different. Each pain more painful to one than it is to the other.
I guess, even if it is cliche and empty wording, there is a consistent love we can run to. A love that is the same for everyone even if the pain is different. Perfect, infinite love to our finite problems of pain and misfortune. We view this Love sometimes as empty wording to a situation that seems to be so far deep in trouble because we can’t see how love can be in pain. Which makes me wonder:
Why do we hurt then? Why is the pain so unbearable at times? Its because we love that pain is the way it feels. If we hated everyone and was apathetic towards life, wouldn’t that pain become numb? If we loved life and appreciated everything though, the pain would be worse because we would be in a more vulnerable position. Depending on the ammount of love we use and gather is a big variable in the problem to pain.
Random thoughts on the abyssal amount of pain to one’s thought. I just know though that there is more to the words we speak to someone when we say that God loves them or that it’s in God’s will or anything pertaining to God that seems cliche and effortless. There is more to the Lord’s love that we sometimes dismiss because we are too caught up in our pain. However, just because we are in pain does not make God’s love any less powerful. It might seem like it’s effortless and redundant when we say we are praying but it isn’t. And the more that we believe in it, the more that we will feel His love. And the smaller amount of pain we go through.
I imagine Paul and all his trials. However, how could he keep living the difficult life full of pain and misfortune? It was beacause of God’s Love - this ever present, abounding, endless love - that he was able to finish the race.
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