Painting Scripture

***NOTE: I wasn’t able to scan the photo of my painting, so I had to take a picture, sorry if you can’t really see it. But trust me, it’s beautiful! ***

Last week, we were told to read the book of Joel a couple of times. In our class discussion we discussed the theme of the book. I explained to the class that I believed one of the major themes of the book of Joel was restoration. Restoration can be defined as the act of renewal, revival, or reestablishment. In the beginning of the book, in chapter one, locust attack the land, it reads, “The field is ruined, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine dries up, fresh oil fails.” This represents famine in the land and more verses go in describe this pain, “… the harvest of the field is destroyed…how the beast groan… there is no pasture for them…”

Later in the book, we see a change in a pattern of destruction. The Lord decides to restore what was lost in the land, “The threshing floors will be full of grain… I will make up to for the years that the swarming locust had eaten….” The Lord explains that He is in the mist of Israel and He is the Lord our God.

When it came to painting in class, I knew exactly what I wanted to paint. One of the restoration verses reads, “And the vats will overflow with the new wine…” and that is verse I used in my painting, for my painting. I painted I grape vineyard. Half of it is broken down with old and molded grapes from locust, the other half it the half the Lord proclaimed he would restore in order for the new wine.

Scripture & Literature......wha.....?

I made the comment in class about my experience reading the book of Joel as a homework assignment. I said that at first I just skimmed over the reading, not really grasping anything. But then I realized that the book I was reading was the word of God. After my realization, I took the time to really dive into the book of Joel. Since making that statement public, actually hearing myself say those words aloud, I realized that I might be missing out on literature, but not just literature, literature as scripture.

In my mind, literature and scripture was always something separate, never the same. When I actually started reading my bible, my understanding was that it was to be respected, studied upon, the living truth, the word of God. As far as literature goes, I associated it with boring, just another assignment, and a bunch of words that define lame. The books I were interested were the one with action, mystery, and adventure! The page turners and as far as I can remember, literature wasn’t.

My fascination for true literature started in high school, because of theatre. Theatre showed me the passion and the art within literature. Even so, whenever there is a certain assignment that deal with reading, I don’t give it the respect it deserves. Unless that reading assignment has to do with theatre or is a play of some sort, then it has my full attention. Just the simply fact that I never really saw scripture as literature makes me wonder how much have I been missing. It makes me look at scripture reading different. It doesn’t always I have to be to yourself, in a quiet room. There various ways to read scripture and literature and I plan to explore them all. I was to grasp every concept of every verse, see scripture in a new context, and soak it all in. I believe that my journey, as far as literature is concerned, is only beginning.

JOEL

Reading this book of the bible made me wonder what would happen if the exact same invasions and misfortunes happened in current time in America. Would the people cry out to the government, search within them selves to find the answer, or would the cry out to God? How would people react? I couldn’t imagine being attacked by a bunch of locust. I personally HATE insects. I am not fan of them and most likely never will be. But these insects devoured everything in site! The book says, “The field is ruined, The land mourns, For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil fails…” In order grasp the concept of how truly horrible this was you have to understand the biblical times. It wasn’t like today’s world, where we have factories and we can make food fast, in bulk, and preserve it for long periods of time. Back then, it took a long time, hard work, and patience for the little things. The simple fact that the “…new wine dries up, fresh oil fails” is completely devastating, a waist of months of preparation.

The book of Joel also speaks of starvation and drought which is sadly common in most part of the world today. The pitiful thing is, so many people can do something about it. Back then, all was pretty much lost, starvation and drought covered the land, but in current times we can do something about it. Devastation and pain is nothing to be celebrated. Just the simple facts that some of the horrible accounts still go on today make me want to do something about it.

The good thing is, God still intervened. This book reminded me of one of my favorite verses, 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all you anxiety on him because he cares for you”. I don’t think I’ve ever read this book before, but it sure did open my eyes and bring a lot to my attention.

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

I always associated death with sadness and pain. Last year, I got a phone call from my dad saying that my grandfather probably wouldn’t make it through the night. At the time I was in chapel breaking down a set for a show I just finished performing. The world stopped, my father’s words pierced my flesh, tears came down my cheeks like rapid waters, and I simply couldn’t fathom my grandfather’s death. He had suffered a stroke in the hospital and oxygen couldn’t get to his brain. I was in Lakeland, I wasn’t with him, I couldn’t say goodbye, I couldn’t call him, and I felt horrible. This was the first time death became a personal reality. But I am happy to say, my grandfather is still living.

Reading Walt Whitman’s poem, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, literally takes you on a journey. Some sections of the reading gave me chills. It made me wonder if death can actually haunt someone. Can you feel the presence of death? “Then the knowledge of death as walking one side of me, and the thought of death close-walking the other side of me…” What does the mind go through if this was actual and not paranoia?

But Whitman also took another spin on death; it doesn’t have to be painful. It doesn’t have to be horrid. Yes, I have heard that before, but not in the words of Whitman. Yes, maybe you can feel death presence near, but why should it be bad? What if it’s your time to go? I don’t think am afraid of dying, death shouldn’t be something to fear. Whitman orchestrates his thoughts beautifully, trying to make one understand that very concept. “Come lovely and soothing death…sooner or later delicate death.”

Discussion Literature

Hey you guys, this is my first video blog!! I made it the night before.Blogger wouldn't load my video, so I created a Youtube account a few minutes ago. I hope you enjoy!! Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z29vmR7czeo

Morality, Morality, Morality...

Recently, in class we read and discussed the story, The Things They Carried. In class, we read a passage from the story and were told to draw a picture from the reading. I chose to draw a picture the dealt with the ongoing theme and struggle of morality. My drawing illustrated scenes in the short story were Mitchell Sanders, of the short story, finds a dead corpse of a young boy and cuts his thumb off. Sanders, before the cutting of the thumb, claims that there is moral in the boys death. Henry Dobbins questions the morality Sanders see and untimely disagrees with him. This leads me to believe both men were in different states of mind and views morality differently.

To go further, I believe when Sanders cut the young boys thumb; it represented what was right, what was moral. In his mind death of the enemy was right, cutting the corpse thumb, gave him hope, reminding him to never loose a battle and allow the enemy to cut off his thumb. Sanders then proceeded to kick the dead body and “watch the flies scatter”, showing that mentally he has been through a lot and the dead weren’t respected if they weren’t on his side.

On the other hand, Dobbins viewed morality differently. I believe he was disgusted at Sanders and his actions. I believe Dobbins viewed death differently, he believed the dead should be respected. He didn’t see the morality sanders saw. In war, the mind goes through constant change and warped thinking. Death becomes common, killing becomes second nature, and survival is the only option. Before the war, your taught was is morally correct and incorrect, killing and murder were viewed as wrong. It was the immoral thing to do. Yes, there is a difference between the two, but the action is still the same, ending a life. Morally, I believe that Dobbins was going through the mental mind change the war releases on you. But he still didn’t see “no moral”.

PASS: The Things They Carried

I would like to use my blog pass for this assignment!

Due: 09/08/2009

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love

I found it very interesting that this story about love was chosen for the class to read. The day after the assignment was given my friend and I found ourselves on the topic of love. My friend told me that I was the only person that replied, “I love you too”. “We were discussing why it was so hard to reply “I love you too” to a friend. To be honest, I always felt a little awkward whenever I replied with that famous saying. I started to wonder why that was. Could be because society only exploits a certain kind of love, physical and sexual? I do.

The media is everywhere. If a person were to simply turn on the television and see an ‘Axe’ commercial you would see a lonely guy with no one to love. But as soon as he cleanses himself with Axe, the women come flocking. But that is only a commercial; there are numerous amounts of television programs, novels, movies, magazine articles, and even theatrical productions that suggest the only type of love, physical/sexual. If a person constantly sees only this one type of love, you start to believe that is all there is. Then you might wonder to yourself, “Why can’t I have love like that? Who is going to give me love like that?” Then sooner or later the person will do anything to experience the love that the media has provided for them.

I think it’s a horrible sad reality but it’s the truth. The short story, “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” did a great job of engaging the reader through different examples or stories of love. It made you think through a mind of an abuser and if love ever existed in his heart. The story spoke of long lasting love, past the physical love, but the love that comes from the heart and mind. This generation needs to know that there is more to love than the love the media portrays and this short story does a great job at helping the reader think through it.