Joel Painting

I love painting so this assignment was an outlet for me that I really enjoyed. I don't always have the time it takes to sit down and paint something so it was nice to have class time to use this venue of creativity! I'm looking forward to doing it again!

I think that the book of Joel is full of imagery that lends a number of different possibilities for painting. But as I read The Message Version of Joel for the first time, two passages in particular stood out to me.

The left side of my painting came from Joel 2:2-3:

"...A black day! Dooms day!

clouds WITH NO SILVER LINING!

Like dawn light moving over the mountains,

A huge army is coming.

There's never been anything like it

And never will be again.

Wildfire burns everything before this army

And fire licks up everything in its wake.

Before it arrives the country is like the garden of Eden.

When it leaves it is death valley.

Nothing escapes unscathed."

The focus was that it looked like death valley and that the clouds were without any silver lining.

The right side represents restoration and is taken from Joel 2:21-22:

"Fear not, earth! Be glad and celebrate!

God has done great things.

Fear not, wild animals!

The fields and meadows are greening up.

The trees are bearing fruit again:

A bumper crop of fig trees and vines!

Children of Zion, celebrate!

Be glad in your GOD."

The right side of the painting the silver lining in the clouds returns and the crops flourish once again! God's mercy, love and providence is seen in the restoration!

Joel 2:12-14 (MSG)

² But there's also this, it's not too late—
God's personal Message!—
"Come back to me and really mean it!
Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!"

^13-14Change your life, not just your clothes.
Come back to God, your God.
And here's why: God is kind and merciful.
He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient God, extravagant in love,
always ready to cancel catastrophe.
Who knows? Maybe he'll do it now,
maybe he'll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all's said and done,
there'll be blessings full and robust for your God!

There are messages that are for the audience that it was delivered to, there are messages that can be spoken to us in the here and now, and then there are timeless messages. Although, the book of Joel is a prophetic message of judgement to the Israelite people, within this book is a timeless message of repentance. Joel 2:28-32 is quoted on the day of Pentecost by Peter (Acts 2:17-21) because the Holy Spirit will still be poured out on all people!!

Furthermore, the portion that I quoted above is such an encouraging message - a message of hope. "It's not too late!" There are times when it feels like there is no longer any hope and the calamity that is taking place in our world and in the lives of people all around us is the end result. But it is in this passage that there is a ray of light in a dark time for Israel, "God is kind and merciful...is ready to cancel catastrophe." Drunkenness, promiscuity, idol worship are still issues today and God's judgement over that sin is still true - but he is still kind and is ready to receive his people with open arms.

We may not be called to be prophets (although we may) nevertheless the message of Joel needs to be known and understood in order to speak justice and mercy to our world. As we see the economy fail, sin paraded in the streets and families torn to pieces because of sin - we are called to speak truth, a difficult truth at times much like the prophet Joel.

This was a great book to be reminded of and when I read it in different versions I was able to get a better grasp on it. I always enjoy The Message Version, not because it allows for deep study, but because it always helps me to visualize scripture quite vividly.

I am going to take one of my passes for this asignment. I also will not be in class because I recieved an emergency phone call last night at 12:30am and was asked to go watch a family freind's kids while the dad went to the ER so I've only slept 2 hours since. I will get the work from a classmate! Sorry.

"I know you're gone, but in our hearts you will always, always live on."
-"I Feel Home" By OAR

These lyrics seem to fit well considering the poem we have just read by Walt Whitman and the trip we are about to take to the cemetery. These particular lyrics are ones which I dedicated to a man in my church that passed away last year around Christmas time. He was an older gentleman in my church that I absolutely adored. I would walk into the church doors and Ed would greet me right away. We would go arm in arm as he walked me to the front of the church where I usually sat. As we walked he would grab my hand and check for a ring jokingly, and he would always say: "Just making sure, I'm going to have to approve, you know, because you need a good man." I don't think Ed was capable of saying anything remotely negative. I remember asking him to fill out a survey about me which asked questions about what I was good at. One of the questions asked if I was good with wood work/carpentry - he gave me the highest score possible! I can't do anything with wood, but he wouldn't dare say otherwise.
I was here in Florida when Ed passed in NJ, it was sudden and I couldn't make it to the funeral. I was told that there was a line around the funeral home of people waiting to say something about him, and time and time again people would say that he was the reason they came to church or he was the person that led them to Christ. He was wonderful. I miss him greatly. And I wanted with all my heart for him to be at my wedding one day as I married a man he approved of. Nonetheless, I know he is up there hanging out with Jesus, wearing ridiculous ties, fishing whenever he has the chance and keeping an eye on who I date.

Reaction to "Howl" By Allen Ginsberg

It seems humorous to me that our entire lives we are taught to find the theme of stories, books and any other literature. We are taught to find the thesis and the supporting points and then summarize them. I understand that without this foundation we may not be able to move on a more abstract point of view of literature. However, it just seems funny that we are taught to build this structure of reading and understanding only to be able to then break down that structure.
I do agree with this chapter, in that if we look for the theme or moral of a piece and we leave it at that then we can miss out on the true intent of the author’s artistic expression. When we limit it that much, we miss out on the word usage, the order, the atmosphere, the tone etc. that really lends to a much more complex understanding of a piece.

Furthermore, it seems as though this basic level of finding the theme and/or moral and leaving it at that does not stop with reading, but extends to our writing as well. When we are wired to read with this as our goal, we also write in these tight boundaries. This may be just as unfortunate as our reading comprehension being stunted.

One aspect of this class that I have already come to appreciate is that the pieces we have read thus far have broken out of the “plot story” and instead they have focused on character development. At first, I did not appreciate this type of literature, because like watching a movie without a plot, I would come to the end and say “that was pointless”. And truthfully, without the negative connotation attached to that phrase – it was pointless. But I was missing out on the complexities and details of the author’s art. In just these two and half weeks I have really come to enjoy exploring a piece that I would not have necessarily enjoyed prior to this class. I am much more comfortable without the clear cut plot because my perspective and my goal of reading the piece has shifted.

The Things They Carried By Tim O'Brien

These are some photos that I took when I went to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC...thought it was a good visual considering the story!

“Grief, terror, love, longing – these were the intangibles, but the intangibles had their on mass and specific
gravity, they had tangible weight.”

The intangibles of life seem to weigh the most. It seemed fitting that weaved in and out of the descriptive lists of items and their respective weight capacities were the emotions they carried that would give the impression to be weightless. However, when asked, any person would agree that the intangibles are the very things that cause the most strain and the most reward.
Why is it that Lieutenant Cross’ love for Martha would weigh more than the twenty pounds of ammunition? Do the intangibles always weigh more or is it amidst the tension of death that the weight seems significant? The story surrounds the Lieutenant’s love for Martha and the unfortunate event of Ted Lavenders death; This paradox is what appears to make the emotional baggage much greater.
Furthermore, Lieutenant Cross finds himself distracted from his leadership role by his fantastical love for a girl who has yet to proclaim her love to him. I would venture to say that love unspoken is at times more distracting than love proclaimed. I might be wrong being that I am not in love. However, I would imagine that constant wonder of the “what ifs” has to weigh someone down more so than a person who knows whether the love is or is not. If my statement here is correct, wouldn’t it be nice if love proclaimed remained as distracting, mysterious and exciting as the “what if” scenarios one plays out in their mind over and over again? In my opinion, it should be.
“Boom-down.” The details of Ted Lavender’s death unravel gradually. He seems to have carried quite a bit of weight and in a moment’s notice he carried nothing at all. This constant reminder of how Lavender died so quickly seems significant in that, it was what every man was avoiding and at the same time what every man was working towards. We see Bowker hesitantly admit to Kiowa that Ted Lavender is a man without any problems, he is weightless. Its not death they or any of us are working for, its weightlessness.

“When you know, you know.” The common phrase used when someone is sure they love someone and should be with them for the rest of their lives. Yet it seems as if no one really knows how to define love and when there is an attempt to create one there is suddenly a smorgasbord of definitions. Love is an action, a choice, a feeling, an absolute, is spiritual, romantic, familiar and on and on and on. This story proves how far fetched the definitions of love can really become.
Four friends begin discussing love in a well lit room over a casual drink before dinner. Irony lies in the fact that the main commentator in this conversation is a heart doctor who at one point was in seminary for five years. Furthermore, the group is made up of four divorcees who are now remarried and using their life experiences to explain the intricacies of love.
As humans can we fully grasp love? If the definition of love we read in scripture is made up of standards no man can fully accomplish, if God is love, if love really is an absolute then will these conversations always prove to be futile? The author uses this group of adults to stage a conversation that has probably taken place in one form or another countless times. They have discussed the spiritual aspect, touched on the philosophical aspect, the extremity of love amidst abuse, love that leads to death, the precious love of an old married couple, physical love, sentimental love, carnal love, failed love, lost love and in the end seemed to have accomplish hardly anything.
The definition of love dimmed with the light in the room and the conversation ended with the sound of hearts beating. Maybe that’s the definition of love – life.

“I do not like them in a box. I do not like them with a fox. I do not like them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.”

“Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cat jumped over the moon.”

“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.”

“Where is thumbkin? Where is thumbkin? Here I am, Here I am. How are you today sir? Very well, thank you. Go away, Go away.”

“Yankee doodle came to town, A-ridin’ on a pony; stuck a feather in his hat, and called it macaroni.”

And the list of childhood literature can go on and on; the few that you just finished meandering through are some of my earliest memories. The funny part is that once you start reading the actual words to some of your first and favorite nursery rhymes you don’t mind thumbing through a few more pages of memories. These are classics that will never be forgotten and what is even more interesting is that many of these simple nursery rhymes had a lot more meaning than a child could ever comprehend.
As I progressed in years my favorites ranged from Matilda to The Underground Railroad. I enjoyed the traditional fictional book as well as, being able to come to understand a world I was never a part of by reading a descriptive true story. I was not always an avid reader, however I have come to really appreciate a wide variety of books. Recently I have read books like The Shack, The Pursuit of God, Ordering Your Private World, Under the Overpass and Visioneering. I think more recently than ever before I have craved reading like I crave chocolate. There were times this summer when I woke up and just wanted to sit outside and get lost in a book for a while.
Out of all the reading I have done, I do have to say that The Pursuit of God and Under the Overpass were two recent books that had a great impact on my life. The Pursuit of God effected my walk with God in a tremendous way and challenged my heart more than my mind. Under the Overpass is a book that surrounds a social injustice that I am extremely passionate about – homelessness. It is a journal of two men who gave up everything to experience living on the streets in different cities. They journal their day to day experiences and they allow their audience to understand the sights, smells and hopelessness of living without a roof over your head. The struggles that are described are heart wrenching; I believe this is the type of understanding everyone needs to come to; and working to educate people about the growing issue of homelessness is crucial.

All in all literature matters. It matters to the writer because this is their chosen venue of communication. And it matters to the reader, because it enhances education, increases understanding, betters communication between people that may not otherwise communicate and at times opens the reader up to topics that are difficult to study had it not been communicated in a creative manner. Not only has literature acted as a type of entertainment venue, but it has also allowed people to express their feelings and has approached social issues, government issues, laws and so on in a manner that is acceptable. When words cannot civilly be spoken, more than likely they can be civilly written down and read.