February 1st – This Blessed House
In This Blessed House we get a brief glimpse into the relationship of newly weds Sanjeev and Twinkle. They are young, attractive, and successful but appear to be completely incompatible. The story is written from Sanjeev’s point of view which makes it very clear all the ways he believes his wife to be different from himself. Their differences are all the more highlighted by the briefness of their relationship. Relating to this is easy for me, I dated a girl for five and half years and sometimes it seemed we were newly weds. I realized in that relationship it’s give and take to make a long marriage or just a dating relationship work. As the story progresses its hard not to like Twinkle. She is happy and carefree. She enjoys life and all of its little surprises. For me I just wish I can find a girl like that, a person that has a care-free, spirit-free personality. Her husband on the other hand seems to suck the joy form everything. He alphabetizes his books and chooses to read about music instead of feeling about it. It’s as if the author wants the reader to pick a side as the story starts. Which in that regards, I wish the author didn’t do that. I like both characters even though I don’t know about the Christianity part for Sanjeev. I found it disrespectful that Sanjeev had a strong hatred for Christianity and everything I stand for. I know a lot of non-Christians especially back home in Jacksonville but none of them have the guts to say what Sanjeev says. I have a lot of Hindu friends and also just plain atheist and they don’t believe in God or Christ. One of the funniest things to me is Sanjeev calls the Christian material “Christian Paraphernalia” which comes across to me like a drug or something you would get high on. But in youth groups today and in my youth group I have heard Christ is my high and the connection I had with this story in that regards is just funny to me.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Short Story
February 8th -Short Story “Special Post #1”
Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to tonight’s game. This is you’re game of the week in high school baseball presented by Comcast sportsnet. This week we are in Jacksonville, Florida at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Baseball Grounds is home to the Jacksonville Suns, which is a minor league team affiliated with the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball. The schools that are facing each other tonight have had a bitter sweet rival for many years. Tonight they will go head to head in a tough divisional match-up. Englewood High school Home of the Rams, will be the home team in tonight’s match-up and they are 9-3 on the season led by Coach Hart and behind the arms of Doug Hester and John Hayes. Englewood offense has been hot since the loss to Bolles School of Jacksonville. The offense is led by Derrick Jackson, Josh Dowling, and Johnny Higgins. The opponent for tonight’s match-up will be Wolfson High School Home of the Wolfpack, they are 10-2 on the season led by Coach Marabell and behind the offense of Richard Lucas and Brian Gilson. The Wolfpack pitching has been outstanding led by Greg Fountain. Richard Lucas, most likely a first to second draft prospect for the Major league draft coming up in June, will have an opportunity to show what he has tonight in front of many scouts. For years both programs have battled in a fierce rival and many pro baseball players have come out of these schools. From each school two have made it to the MLB “the show” as most people call it. The smell of freshly cut grass, the aroma of clay in the air and the fans going crazy; it’s just a baseball night in late May. Some would call this game one of the biggest not only for the standings in the division but for bragging rights around town. We just got word that tonight’s pitching duel will be on, as John Hayes and Greg Fountain will go head to head under the big lights of the Jacksonville Baseball Grounds. The attendance tonight is unbelievable. Tonight’s official count of the attendance is over thirteen hundred. These two pitchers have been unstoppable this season both pitchers have perfect records. John Hayes is 6-0 on the season with 83 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.18. Greg Fountain is 7-0 on the season with 78 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.34. John Hayes has a very strong defense behind him and that will try to counteract the powerful offense of the Wolfpack. Hayes said to us after the game “my nerves were going crazy until that first pitch I just got in a groove and was ready to go”. The Rams took the field at 7:00pm start time. The first pitch was on the way by the senior right hander John Hayes. First pitch was a strike and the fans were ecstatic. It was a great start to the game for the Rams and Wolfpack. As the game progress the tension grew tighter for each team. Words Flying, cleat spikes up on every slide, players getting hit. This is what you except from a bitter rival as this was. Some compare the rival to a Boston versus Yankees rival, just plain nasty playing. The love, the passion, and the will to win can drive you into doing stupid stuff like that sometimes; but at the same time can drive you to win the game. Both pitchers on the night have been flawless with Hayes throwing a 2 hit shutout so far with 1 hit by pitch “some say intentionally” and Fountain has been great as well with a 4 hit shutout so far and also 1 hit by pitch. Going into the bottom of the sixth inning the game is scoreless. Due up for the Rams will be Higgins, Hester, and Hayes “The three H’s”. Higgins with a 0-2 count turns on a curveball down the line for a base hit to right field. Hester comes up and bunts it down the third base line to the star prospect, Lucas fields the ball throws it to first and it gets away from the first baseman and the ball goes down the line. This puts the runners on second and third with no outs. Hayes is up, he has the opportunity to help himself out and also win this ball game. The pitch from Fountain to Hayes comes to the plate. Higgins takes off towards home as the stands of Jacksonville Baseball Grounds hold their breath, you can literally drop a pin and hear it hit the ground that’s how quiet it was. Then fans from Wolfson side scream along with their Coaches SQUEZZE!! SQUEZZE!!. Lucas sprints in from third base. Hayes squares around puts the ball down perfectly. Higgins slides in to home untouched. The umpire behind the plate screaming SAFE SAFE!!! Around 600 hundred fans of Englewood some students, parents, alumni and faculty are going crazy. The fans of Wolfson hang their heads in disappointment. All that’s left to do for the Rams is to shut down the Wolfpack offense once again. The game came to an end with an outstanding diving catch by Johnny Higgins and also Josh Dowling. John Hayes threw a complete two hit shutout and the celebration begins for the Englewood Rams. The Englewood Rams improve to 10-3 on the season and Hayes improves to 7-0 on the season. Outstanding pitching performance by both pitchers but unfortunately everyone can’t win. After the celebration at the Jacksonville Baseball Grounds, Englewood was outside the stadium talking to parents and friends. Jessica a long time friend of Hayes and many of the baseball players of Englewood got into a verbal argument with Brian Gilson one of the Wolfpack key players in the game. Gilson eventually pushed and made threats to Jessica and the boys of Englewood stood up. Hayes and catcher Eric Burney were the first to act on the situation. Hayes grabs Gilson by the throat and pushes him into a fence. Hayes was furious. Jessica was like a sister to Hayes and Gilson was actually a friend of Hayes as well. Gilson and Hayes grew up playing ball with each other at the local park in their neighborhood. Fans and parents br0ke up the little fight that was going and the boys of Englewood got onto their bus and drove back to their school. At this time Hayes gets a phone call from Jessica, she is screaming and yelling HELP!!! Please come HELP!!. The boys of Englewood rush to Jessica’s aid to find Gilson in front of her house throwing bottles and all kinds of stuff at the house and at Jessica’s car. Gilson runs into his car once he sees the multitudes of people coming after him. Hayes and many others punch or kick Gilson’s little Honda Accord. Glass shatters, dents are made to the car on the passenger and driving sides; making Gilson outraged. The next thing that comes up is very graphic and not suitable for all ages. Gilson calls for back up not just back up but for ABR which is one of Jacksonville’s most feared gangs. ABR stands for Albanian, Bosnian and Russian gang. The ABR members don’t care who they hurt or how they hurt them, as long as it gets done. The boys of Englewood decide to meet up with Gilson not knowing ABR was behind him. Around 11:30 at night after the win of the biggest game of the season for the Englewood Rams. The Rams experienced a night they won’t forget, as the boys of Englewood sit and wait for the arrival of Gilson. Gilson shows up with 20 cars full with at least 4 people in each. There were around 80 ABR members with bats, brass knuckles, lead pipes, beer bottles, knifes, and guns. Some Englewood boys got in their cars and sped off. Some were stuck by a truck driven by the girls. The girls were leaving when an ABR member jumped on their truck and distracted the driver making her swerve and hit a pole. Hitting the pole not only totaled her car but one of the ABR members was in critical condition and two Englewood boys were in critical condition as well. One member of the ABR was run over by an Englewood boy trying to leave the massacre behind. The damage was done to all the cars ABR destroyed every windshield smashing it with their feet and hands. Bullets were flying in the cool air until it found a home in the bodies of Josh Dowling and John Hayes. The two players from Englewood were hit and went straight to the ground. At this time Jacksonville Sheriff Officers (JSO) finally showed up after several calls to them were failed or thought of the Englewood boys were joking around. Jacksonville Sheriff Officers showed up right in time to stop the ABR from doing more damage. There was one cop that saved the lives of Josh Dowling and John Hayes until rescue was able to show up. The members of ABR were being apprehended down the road by ten to fifteen cops. When they finally got everyone in custody the gun was not found. There were tons of weapons that JSO found and accused Gilson for every one of them. At the hospital that night something changed Hayes, something his friends couldn’t describe or his family comprehend. Dowling was fine, his gunshot wound was a straight through shot right through his leg. Hayes’ gunshot wound was to the chest 5cm from his heart and 2cm from his main artillery. A near death experience shows a person that you have to thank God everyday for what you have and don’t take it for granted. John Hayes missed the rest of the season and Englewood lost in the playoffs to Gainesville in the opening round. Hayes tells us today “I don’t regret what happened to me, I don’t regret my past but I just look forward to what’s next and you just have to follow God.” In the interview with Hayes he says “he is not bitter at Gilson” but he even said “I would like to thank him for getting my life straight and I give him credit for helping me get there.” To the baseball celebration to the horror in one night the Englewood boys and the life of Hayes was unfolded and turned around. To this day ABR is strong within the Jacksonville community along with tons of other gangs. John Hayes plans to help the issue in Jacksonville by joining local charities and other organizations. To show young adults and kids that gangs are not the way to go and you could turn around and be set free. The main verse Hayes tells the kids is “to live is Christ, to die is gain.” What Hayes tries to get across to many young kids is that on the road of gang affiliation there’s only two options: six feet under the ground or in an 8 by 6 steel bar cell. Hayes tells them repeatedly “you choose not me, I have already chosen my course” What will you do?
Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to tonight’s game. This is you’re game of the week in high school baseball presented by Comcast sportsnet. This week we are in Jacksonville, Florida at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Baseball Grounds is home to the Jacksonville Suns, which is a minor league team affiliated with the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball. The schools that are facing each other tonight have had a bitter sweet rival for many years. Tonight they will go head to head in a tough divisional match-up. Englewood High school Home of the Rams, will be the home team in tonight’s match-up and they are 9-3 on the season led by Coach Hart and behind the arms of Doug Hester and John Hayes. Englewood offense has been hot since the loss to Bolles School of Jacksonville. The offense is led by Derrick Jackson, Josh Dowling, and Johnny Higgins. The opponent for tonight’s match-up will be Wolfson High School Home of the Wolfpack, they are 10-2 on the season led by Coach Marabell and behind the offense of Richard Lucas and Brian Gilson. The Wolfpack pitching has been outstanding led by Greg Fountain. Richard Lucas, most likely a first to second draft prospect for the Major league draft coming up in June, will have an opportunity to show what he has tonight in front of many scouts. For years both programs have battled in a fierce rival and many pro baseball players have come out of these schools. From each school two have made it to the MLB “the show” as most people call it. The smell of freshly cut grass, the aroma of clay in the air and the fans going crazy; it’s just a baseball night in late May. Some would call this game one of the biggest not only for the standings in the division but for bragging rights around town. We just got word that tonight’s pitching duel will be on, as John Hayes and Greg Fountain will go head to head under the big lights of the Jacksonville Baseball Grounds. The attendance tonight is unbelievable. Tonight’s official count of the attendance is over thirteen hundred. These two pitchers have been unstoppable this season both pitchers have perfect records. John Hayes is 6-0 on the season with 83 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.18. Greg Fountain is 7-0 on the season with 78 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.34. John Hayes has a very strong defense behind him and that will try to counteract the powerful offense of the Wolfpack. Hayes said to us after the game “my nerves were going crazy until that first pitch I just got in a groove and was ready to go”. The Rams took the field at 7:00pm start time. The first pitch was on the way by the senior right hander John Hayes. First pitch was a strike and the fans were ecstatic. It was a great start to the game for the Rams and Wolfpack. As the game progress the tension grew tighter for each team. Words Flying, cleat spikes up on every slide, players getting hit. This is what you except from a bitter rival as this was. Some compare the rival to a Boston versus Yankees rival, just plain nasty playing. The love, the passion, and the will to win can drive you into doing stupid stuff like that sometimes; but at the same time can drive you to win the game. Both pitchers on the night have been flawless with Hayes throwing a 2 hit shutout so far with 1 hit by pitch “some say intentionally” and Fountain has been great as well with a 4 hit shutout so far and also 1 hit by pitch. Going into the bottom of the sixth inning the game is scoreless. Due up for the Rams will be Higgins, Hester, and Hayes “The three H’s”. Higgins with a 0-2 count turns on a curveball down the line for a base hit to right field. Hester comes up and bunts it down the third base line to the star prospect, Lucas fields the ball throws it to first and it gets away from the first baseman and the ball goes down the line. This puts the runners on second and third with no outs. Hayes is up, he has the opportunity to help himself out and also win this ball game. The pitch from Fountain to Hayes comes to the plate. Higgins takes off towards home as the stands of Jacksonville Baseball Grounds hold their breath, you can literally drop a pin and hear it hit the ground that’s how quiet it was. Then fans from Wolfson side scream along with their Coaches SQUEZZE!! SQUEZZE!!. Lucas sprints in from third base. Hayes squares around puts the ball down perfectly. Higgins slides in to home untouched. The umpire behind the plate screaming SAFE SAFE!!! Around 600 hundred fans of Englewood some students, parents, alumni and faculty are going crazy. The fans of Wolfson hang their heads in disappointment. All that’s left to do for the Rams is to shut down the Wolfpack offense once again. The game came to an end with an outstanding diving catch by Johnny Higgins and also Josh Dowling. John Hayes threw a complete two hit shutout and the celebration begins for the Englewood Rams. The Englewood Rams improve to 10-3 on the season and Hayes improves to 7-0 on the season. Outstanding pitching performance by both pitchers but unfortunately everyone can’t win. After the celebration at the Jacksonville Baseball Grounds, Englewood was outside the stadium talking to parents and friends. Jessica a long time friend of Hayes and many of the baseball players of Englewood got into a verbal argument with Brian Gilson one of the Wolfpack key players in the game. Gilson eventually pushed and made threats to Jessica and the boys of Englewood stood up. Hayes and catcher Eric Burney were the first to act on the situation. Hayes grabs Gilson by the throat and pushes him into a fence. Hayes was furious. Jessica was like a sister to Hayes and Gilson was actually a friend of Hayes as well. Gilson and Hayes grew up playing ball with each other at the local park in their neighborhood. Fans and parents br0ke up the little fight that was going and the boys of Englewood got onto their bus and drove back to their school. At this time Hayes gets a phone call from Jessica, she is screaming and yelling HELP!!! Please come HELP!!. The boys of Englewood rush to Jessica’s aid to find Gilson in front of her house throwing bottles and all kinds of stuff at the house and at Jessica’s car. Gilson runs into his car once he sees the multitudes of people coming after him. Hayes and many others punch or kick Gilson’s little Honda Accord. Glass shatters, dents are made to the car on the passenger and driving sides; making Gilson outraged. The next thing that comes up is very graphic and not suitable for all ages. Gilson calls for back up not just back up but for ABR which is one of Jacksonville’s most feared gangs. ABR stands for Albanian, Bosnian and Russian gang. The ABR members don’t care who they hurt or how they hurt them, as long as it gets done. The boys of Englewood decide to meet up with Gilson not knowing ABR was behind him. Around 11:30 at night after the win of the biggest game of the season for the Englewood Rams. The Rams experienced a night they won’t forget, as the boys of Englewood sit and wait for the arrival of Gilson. Gilson shows up with 20 cars full with at least 4 people in each. There were around 80 ABR members with bats, brass knuckles, lead pipes, beer bottles, knifes, and guns. Some Englewood boys got in their cars and sped off. Some were stuck by a truck driven by the girls. The girls were leaving when an ABR member jumped on their truck and distracted the driver making her swerve and hit a pole. Hitting the pole not only totaled her car but one of the ABR members was in critical condition and two Englewood boys were in critical condition as well. One member of the ABR was run over by an Englewood boy trying to leave the massacre behind. The damage was done to all the cars ABR destroyed every windshield smashing it with their feet and hands. Bullets were flying in the cool air until it found a home in the bodies of Josh Dowling and John Hayes. The two players from Englewood were hit and went straight to the ground. At this time Jacksonville Sheriff Officers (JSO) finally showed up after several calls to them were failed or thought of the Englewood boys were joking around. Jacksonville Sheriff Officers showed up right in time to stop the ABR from doing more damage. There was one cop that saved the lives of Josh Dowling and John Hayes until rescue was able to show up. The members of ABR were being apprehended down the road by ten to fifteen cops. When they finally got everyone in custody the gun was not found. There were tons of weapons that JSO found and accused Gilson for every one of them. At the hospital that night something changed Hayes, something his friends couldn’t describe or his family comprehend. Dowling was fine, his gunshot wound was a straight through shot right through his leg. Hayes’ gunshot wound was to the chest 5cm from his heart and 2cm from his main artillery. A near death experience shows a person that you have to thank God everyday for what you have and don’t take it for granted. John Hayes missed the rest of the season and Englewood lost in the playoffs to Gainesville in the opening round. Hayes tells us today “I don’t regret what happened to me, I don’t regret my past but I just look forward to what’s next and you just have to follow God.” In the interview with Hayes he says “he is not bitter at Gilson” but he even said “I would like to thank him for getting my life straight and I give him credit for helping me get there.” To the baseball celebration to the horror in one night the Englewood boys and the life of Hayes was unfolded and turned around. To this day ABR is strong within the Jacksonville community along with tons of other gangs. John Hayes plans to help the issue in Jacksonville by joining local charities and other organizations. To show young adults and kids that gangs are not the way to go and you could turn around and be set free. The main verse Hayes tells the kids is “to live is Christ, to die is gain.” What Hayes tries to get across to many young kids is that on the road of gang affiliation there’s only two options: six feet under the ground or in an 8 by 6 steel bar cell. Hayes tells them repeatedly “you choose not me, I have already chosen my course” What will you do?
Reading Actively
January 2oth – Active Reading Literature
In early years in life, you learn how to read but looking back I ponder on the idea of did I get the right teaching? The more I read in the book, the more furious I got, not only with myself but also teachers in the past. Questions like reading actively? When I was younger or really in high school too. I didn’t know what reading actively meant. Since reading these last couple of pages and the description it gives on reading actively. I have came to an understanding on what it really means. Not only can you read actively within the book but you can also paint or other expressions of what the text means. Like the saying in class and in English classes everywhere “Getting to know a story, a play, or a poem can be enjoyable in much the same way that getting to know another person is-if you take the time and put in the effort.” What my problem in the past was I wasn’t allowing myself enough time to read actively or just to engage at all. I rushed though the moments of literature I should have been paying attention. Depending on where you are at in life depends on what you get out of what you read is a common statement made by teachers and students. I believe that one hundred percent because this whole semester my life was turned upside down from wrecks to tragedies with my family and my best friends. The point in my life sucked and at the moment I didn’t feel like reading actively or really reading at all. In some regards I just wanted time to stop and let my wounds heal. But I have learned from the literature class and the essay at the beginning of the class that literature is part of your life. You are writing a page of your book everyday. So what I am trying to say is this reading actively depends on where you are in life and also how you read the text. Do you read the text with an open mind or do you close your mind to just what your selfish desires want. Doing this post over has been good not saying that what I did was right but sometimes there’s upsides to doing wrong. Meaning I have gotten more out of this post then before and truly didn’t think I would at all. This post has taught me to not only read literature I want but also engage in other literature such as This Blessed House, Old Man with Wings, traveling onion and so many more. The second thing that this post has taught me is to engage in other ways painting, acting a part of the text out, just actively reading every part of the stories.
In early years in life, you learn how to read but looking back I ponder on the idea of did I get the right teaching? The more I read in the book, the more furious I got, not only with myself but also teachers in the past. Questions like reading actively? When I was younger or really in high school too. I didn’t know what reading actively meant. Since reading these last couple of pages and the description it gives on reading actively. I have came to an understanding on what it really means. Not only can you read actively within the book but you can also paint or other expressions of what the text means. Like the saying in class and in English classes everywhere “Getting to know a story, a play, or a poem can be enjoyable in much the same way that getting to know another person is-if you take the time and put in the effort.” What my problem in the past was I wasn’t allowing myself enough time to read actively or just to engage at all. I rushed though the moments of literature I should have been paying attention. Depending on where you are at in life depends on what you get out of what you read is a common statement made by teachers and students. I believe that one hundred percent because this whole semester my life was turned upside down from wrecks to tragedies with my family and my best friends. The point in my life sucked and at the moment I didn’t feel like reading actively or really reading at all. In some regards I just wanted time to stop and let my wounds heal. But I have learned from the literature class and the essay at the beginning of the class that literature is part of your life. You are writing a page of your book everyday. So what I am trying to say is this reading actively depends on where you are in life and also how you read the text. Do you read the text with an open mind or do you close your mind to just what your selfish desires want. Doing this post over has been good not saying that what I did was right but sometimes there’s upsides to doing wrong. Meaning I have gotten more out of this post then before and truly didn’t think I would at all. This post has taught me to not only read literature I want but also engage in other literature such as This Blessed House, Old Man with Wings, traveling onion and so many more. The second thing that this post has taught me is to engage in other ways painting, acting a part of the text out, just actively reading every part of the stories.
Character Bless house
February 3rd – Character of This Blessed House
At twenty-seven years old Twinkle is a newly wed with a nearly completed masters thesis but still carries a youthful appearance that is, more than likely, a result of her easy going personality. She is obviously physically attractive, and is even described by her husbands’ friend as “wow.” Like most things in her life she regards her beauty rather matter-of-factly. This is apparent by her choice to dress in whatever is readily available. She has a similarly laid back attitude in the rest of her life. She is more than happy to ash her cigarette in the floor of her new home, cook with out a recipe and listlessly spend a day reading in bed. It is apparent that Twinkle is confident and comfortable with her self. She easily grabs, and holds, the attention of a room full of people who “admire” her at their housewarming, even asking to be called by her nickname “Twinkle” when her husband introduces her as “Tanima”. And, when necessary stand her ground against her husband and his uptight nature. Oddly, she finds levity in her husband’s controlled and methodical ways. She laughs it off when he repeatedly reminds her that they are “not Christian,” and playfully mocks his taste in music although she finds it unappealing. It seems she finds as much fascination in her spouses’ idiosyncrasies as she does the random, gaudy Christian souvenirs left behind in their home. Like everything in her life she has chosen to love her husband fully and with out exception, despite their incompatibilities. It appears all that she wants is to find happiness as easily as she has up to this point in her life. Her only obstacle may be her husband, Sanjeev, who is struggling to decide if he really loves her. He cannot accept her personality quarks as easily as she accepts his.
At twenty-seven years old Twinkle is a newly wed with a nearly completed masters thesis but still carries a youthful appearance that is, more than likely, a result of her easy going personality. She is obviously physically attractive, and is even described by her husbands’ friend as “wow.” Like most things in her life she regards her beauty rather matter-of-factly. This is apparent by her choice to dress in whatever is readily available. She has a similarly laid back attitude in the rest of her life. She is more than happy to ash her cigarette in the floor of her new home, cook with out a recipe and listlessly spend a day reading in bed. It is apparent that Twinkle is confident and comfortable with her self. She easily grabs, and holds, the attention of a room full of people who “admire” her at their housewarming, even asking to be called by her nickname “Twinkle” when her husband introduces her as “Tanima”. And, when necessary stand her ground against her husband and his uptight nature. Oddly, she finds levity in her husband’s controlled and methodical ways. She laughs it off when he repeatedly reminds her that they are “not Christian,” and playfully mocks his taste in music although she finds it unappealing. It seems she finds as much fascination in her spouses’ idiosyncrasies as she does the random, gaudy Christian souvenirs left behind in their home. Like everything in her life she has chosen to love her husband fully and with out exception, despite their incompatibilities. It appears all that she wants is to find happiness as easily as she has up to this point in her life. Her only obstacle may be her husband, Sanjeev, who is struggling to decide if he really loves her. He cannot accept her personality quarks as easily as she accepts his.
Poem
April 18th Poem at Lake Bonny
The clay beneath my feet bring me back to that place
Magnolia trees line the playground beside the field
The sweet smell of honeysuckle attract the bees on sunny days as this
My favorite place to watch the sunset is here, on these sacred benches
Here in this place, man and nature combine in respect
When the sun finally settles the cool wind blows through the trees
Hitting my face on the pitchers mound
Something else happens this night, moisture rushes in
Everyone runs for cove, except me
There is nothing like gracefully walking through the rain-soaked clay
It has a way of cleansing and making new
The Earth rejoices for the long-awaited downpour
Finally the savior has come to claim His land.
----John Hayes II
The clay beneath my feet bring me back to that place
Magnolia trees line the playground beside the field
The sweet smell of honeysuckle attract the bees on sunny days as this
My favorite place to watch the sunset is here, on these sacred benches
Here in this place, man and nature combine in respect
When the sun finally settles the cool wind blows through the trees
Hitting my face on the pitchers mound
Something else happens this night, moisture rushes in
Everyone runs for cove, except me
There is nothing like gracefully walking through the rain-soaked clay
It has a way of cleansing and making new
The Earth rejoices for the long-awaited downpour
Finally the savior has come to claim His land.
----John Hayes II
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Voyages of Dawn Treader
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader starts the way every book in the C.S. Lewis written Chronicles of Narnia starts; with children in the real world. This time, the Pevensies that will guide us through the book are only Lucy and Edmund, being the youngest of the original four, and the only ones still allowed to return to Narnia. Accompanying them this time is their unbearably dull and unimaginative cousin Eustace Scrubb. Eustace takes the mantle of the nonbeliever/skeptic that “needs” Narnia the most, so when he comes upon the Pevensies chatting about the Narnian look of a painting he immediately begins to complain. So when the kids go through the painting into the Narnia sea, it’s safe to say Eustace loses his mind. While the Pevensies are greeted by old friends with open arms, Eustace refuses to believe he’s in Narnia and spends the beginning of the trip asking for the English consultant. The group of friends that rescue the children from the water and welcome them is filled with some familiar faces. The most notable is Caspian, the hypothetical character of the previous novel in the series, and current ruler of a peace filled Narnia. The other big name is the rapier wielding Reepicheep, another hold over from the previous novel. This large talking mouse immediately takes interest in the constantly whining of Eustace and strikes up a budding friendship with him. Eustace and Lucy begin to speak with Caspian about the going ons of Narnia in the three Narnia years that have passed since the events of the last novel. Caspian goes into detail about the peaceful but expansionist conquests of the wilder parts of Narnia and lets the Pevensies in on his plans to find out the fates of the seven lost Narnian lords, sent away by Caspian’s evil uncle Miraz while he was still in power.
The ship from the painting that the children fell into was Caspian’s ship, the so-called Dawn Treader, and the transportation for the entirety of the novel. The first stop on their trip to discern the fates of the seven lost Lords is the Lonely Islands. The Lonely Islands were conquered for Narnia by the Pevensies when the first ruled over the land, but have since fallen into the hands of slave traders and pirates. As the approach the Island, Caspian and the children are captured by slavers and brought to market. Even though Narnian law forbids slavery, the market for it has flourished in the lonely islands. While no one in particular finds themselves interested in purchasing the wimpy looking and whiny Eustace, Caspian is bought up before he even makes it to the sale block. It turns out that the purchaser of Caspian is actually the first of the seven missing Lords, and one of the closest to Caspian, Lord Bern. Bern, along with Caspian, manages to free the rest of the children and overthrow the tyrannical and governor Gumpas, supplanting and replacing him with Lord Bern whom he names the Duke of the Lonely Islands.
The Second Island that the end up on is deserted, and while the rest of the crew sets out to find supplies and materials to fix the ship with, Eustace sneaks off to hide and get out of work. What happens to Eustace on this Island is the first of the “seven deadly sins” oriented tasks that approach each of our heroes; namely greed. Eustace stumbles upon the den of a Dragon and immediately stuffs his pockets with gold and jewels. But the bracelet he puts on his arm turn him into a Dragon. While in the guise of the Dragon, he comes to realize how awful he was and uses his new found strength to help fix the ship, causing Aslan (the Godly Lion of Narnia) to turn him back into a boy. Liked talk about in class Aslan ripped off layers of skin or sins you can say. When I was reading Steve Fettke “The Spirit of God Hovered” I came across on page 3 where social value is conveyed in Paul’s expression in Colossians. “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the Creator.” I just thought the connection was neccasary to add to Dawn Treader. But anyways the story goes on. Caspian, upon seeing the band on the Eustace Dragon, realizes that the band belonged to the second of the Lost Lords and the crew returns to the sea in search of the next island.
The remainder of the book deals with the remaining five missing Lords. Caspian and Edmund find themselves dealing with their own greed on an island with a looking pool that turns anything submerged in it to gold, where the find out this pool took the life of the third Lost Lord. On and Island filled with invisible one footed buffoons called duffers, Lucy deal with her own vice of vanity by using a spell of beauty. Aslan however comes to her a guides her away from that destructive path.The fourth lost Lord is found on an Island constantly shrouded in darkness. They meet Lord Rhoop here, a man at the edge of his sanity due to the strangeness of the Island. Now, having found the fate of four of the Lost Lords, Caspian and crew set out beyond the edges of the known seas and this begins to splinter the crew who is already tired from the stress filled voyage. But when they come across the Island of the Star, morale is raised, due highly to the fact that all the remaining lost Lords are found there. The Lords however are in a enchanted sleep and the crew struggles to figure out a way to awaken them. As if summoned by their plight, and “Star” descends down upon them, and impresses upon them that the only way to awaken the remaining lords is travel to the very real “edge of the world” and leave a member of the crew behind. Leaving a member behind reminds me of the movie Armageddon. As the approach the edge of the world, the children, and Reepicheep set out, leaving Caspian behind only because Aslan said so. Sometimes God does that with our lives just tells us to go or stay or even go away from things. I think I can make a general conclusion to this meaning following God’s will for your life. So, Reepicheep valiantly offers himself up as the crew member to stay behind. Aslan then appears to the children and send them home, proclaiming that Edmund and Lucy won’t be returning. When the children all return home at the end of the book, everyone remarks the very noticeable changes in Eustace, brought upon by his adventures in Narnia.
The ship from the painting that the children fell into was Caspian’s ship, the so-called Dawn Treader, and the transportation for the entirety of the novel. The first stop on their trip to discern the fates of the seven lost Lords is the Lonely Islands. The Lonely Islands were conquered for Narnia by the Pevensies when the first ruled over the land, but have since fallen into the hands of slave traders and pirates. As the approach the Island, Caspian and the children are captured by slavers and brought to market. Even though Narnian law forbids slavery, the market for it has flourished in the lonely islands. While no one in particular finds themselves interested in purchasing the wimpy looking and whiny Eustace, Caspian is bought up before he even makes it to the sale block. It turns out that the purchaser of Caspian is actually the first of the seven missing Lords, and one of the closest to Caspian, Lord Bern. Bern, along with Caspian, manages to free the rest of the children and overthrow the tyrannical and governor Gumpas, supplanting and replacing him with Lord Bern whom he names the Duke of the Lonely Islands.
The Second Island that the end up on is deserted, and while the rest of the crew sets out to find supplies and materials to fix the ship with, Eustace sneaks off to hide and get out of work. What happens to Eustace on this Island is the first of the “seven deadly sins” oriented tasks that approach each of our heroes; namely greed. Eustace stumbles upon the den of a Dragon and immediately stuffs his pockets with gold and jewels. But the bracelet he puts on his arm turn him into a Dragon. While in the guise of the Dragon, he comes to realize how awful he was and uses his new found strength to help fix the ship, causing Aslan (the Godly Lion of Narnia) to turn him back into a boy. Liked talk about in class Aslan ripped off layers of skin or sins you can say. When I was reading Steve Fettke “The Spirit of God Hovered” I came across on page 3 where social value is conveyed in Paul’s expression in Colossians. “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the Creator.” I just thought the connection was neccasary to add to Dawn Treader. But anyways the story goes on. Caspian, upon seeing the band on the Eustace Dragon, realizes that the band belonged to the second of the Lost Lords and the crew returns to the sea in search of the next island.
The remainder of the book deals with the remaining five missing Lords. Caspian and Edmund find themselves dealing with their own greed on an island with a looking pool that turns anything submerged in it to gold, where the find out this pool took the life of the third Lost Lord. On and Island filled with invisible one footed buffoons called duffers, Lucy deal with her own vice of vanity by using a spell of beauty. Aslan however comes to her a guides her away from that destructive path.The fourth lost Lord is found on an Island constantly shrouded in darkness. They meet Lord Rhoop here, a man at the edge of his sanity due to the strangeness of the Island. Now, having found the fate of four of the Lost Lords, Caspian and crew set out beyond the edges of the known seas and this begins to splinter the crew who is already tired from the stress filled voyage. But when they come across the Island of the Star, morale is raised, due highly to the fact that all the remaining lost Lords are found there. The Lords however are in a enchanted sleep and the crew struggles to figure out a way to awaken them. As if summoned by their plight, and “Star” descends down upon them, and impresses upon them that the only way to awaken the remaining lords is travel to the very real “edge of the world” and leave a member of the crew behind. Leaving a member behind reminds me of the movie Armageddon. As the approach the edge of the world, the children, and Reepicheep set out, leaving Caspian behind only because Aslan said so. Sometimes God does that with our lives just tells us to go or stay or even go away from things. I think I can make a general conclusion to this meaning following God’s will for your life. So, Reepicheep valiantly offers himself up as the crew member to stay behind. Aslan then appears to the children and send them home, proclaiming that Edmund and Lucy won’t be returning. When the children all return home at the end of the book, everyone remarks the very noticeable changes in Eustace, brought upon by his adventures in Narnia.
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