The Figurative Language of Phlippians

The Book of Philippians is probably my favorite book of the Bible because it is so encouraging. Paul is encouraging the Church in Philippi and uses some figurative language to do so. The figurative language is hard to spot, at least for me. I read it slowly and still came up pretty empty in finding some. He does talk about the fruits of righteousness, the cause of Christ, he mentions his imprisonment quite a few times. He says For me to live is Christ and to die is gain, which is kind of figurative language I think. He’s saying that either in life or death, He is happy and God’s Will will be done. His use of phrasing is almost poetic to me. It’s a true statement.

Paul writes

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests of others.”

I don’t see any figurative language in this but it’s a good scripture and is something people, especially politicians should read!!

Paul talks about how Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men. He refers to Jesus as becoming a common man so that we can see Jesus as a man who though was equal to God was also a simple man who faced the same things we face day to day.

Paul also talks about how every knee will bow. This is figurative in that he is referring to how people bow to kings and other authority figures. He’s showing that God is above everyone.

I tried to find more figurative language but my search came up empty. I love reading Philippians and it encourages me every time I read it. 

The Man Who Came To Dinner

The Man Who Came To Dinner, was an interesting play. I enjoyed most of the play but at some points during the play I lost interests. Some of the characters were just plain annoying. The Character, Lorraine Shledon, annoyed the daylights out of me. I enjoyed most of the other characters, especially Dan Prevett’s.

The main character, Mr. Whiteside, was a mean and pervasive man. He gets aggravated with almost every character. On the program there is a quote that sums up Mr. Whiteside: "Is there a man in the world who suffers as I do from the gross inadequacies of the human race?" Whiteside sees everybody’s inadequacies. He sees in the nurse her inadequacies to bring his medicine and take care of him on time. Maggie is inadequate because she fell in love.

I really enjoyed the character of Beverly Carlton. He was really funny and every time he came on stage I woke out of my boredom. I also enjoyed the crazy German doctor who brought Mr. Whiteside a roach farm. Banjo was also an awesome character. His horn cracked me up and every time he mocked Lorraine I lost it. My favorite part of the play was were they locked her up in the mummy sarcophagus and shipped her away.

The play was a little ruff. The cast seemed to be struggling through there lines and the play seemed rushed at certain points. I accredit sum of the mistakes to first night jitters. The play overall was a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. It was funny but lacked significant story for as long as it was. I lost interest at several points during the play. I felt myself wanting to sleep on more than one occasion.

I think I’ll watch the movie and see how it is.

11-11-2010

Dr. Fettke describes in his essay the differences between normal and abnormal as it refers to creation. Normal people are those who engage in normal relationship and communication with other humans and creation. He explains that for the mentally challenged this communication and relationship with other humans might be deemed abnormal because of their disability. He poses the question, “Just how are categories of normal and abnormal understood in the light of creation?” I have often pondered this question myself. Just what is normal and abnormal and who defines it. Dr. Fettke describes normal as being created in God’s image. I like this definition a lot, simply because we all are made in God’s image. It’s a beautiful thing to think about.

Dr. Fettke description of the “life force”. He explains that all have been created by God’s Spirit with their own unique “life force” that expresses God’s true intention for them. He believes that the disabled are marked by God in their creation and are not problems to be solved. Wow what a great point. It’s sad that the mentally disabled are defined by their disability. People just right them off without ever giving them a chance. They were created for a purpose because God does not make mistakes. Dr. Fettke writes that mental disabilities are not God’s  mistake or the product of human sin or demonic activity.

When I see and mentally challenged person, all I see is the disability. Its sad and I’m making a giant effort not to see just their disability. God has designed us all with a purpose. We are to fulfill that purpose to the best of our abilities. Mentally challenged people have a role to play and they are just as influential as you and me. So next time you see or meet a mentally challenged person make sure to smile. He’s always watching!

November 8 - Trip To Alliance

Today we took a trip to Alliance. I really enjoyed learning about all of the different things they offer for mentally disabled people. They offer them a chance to make money. They teach them skills that they can use to get a job out in the world. The educate them in everything from spelling to computers. One guy we saw loved nascar and he was watching a race when we came in the room. They are allowed a certain amount of time to serf the web. It's really cool to see mentally disabled people succeeding in life. They all seemed to have so much determination to succeed. I really think a lot of the workers at Alliance. Dealing with mentally challenged people is no easy task, it takes patience. The world is a lot better place because of them. I often wonder what life looks like through a mentally challenged person. They always seem so happy and care free.

Going to Alliance helped me visualize the play The Boys Next Door better. The play itself is pretty good. It is really funny and I thought of the movie the Ringer the entire time I was reading it. I had to read the whole thing today because I was behind but reading it all at the same time was helpful. Being around mentally challenged people really made me thankful that I am who I am. It made me appreciate the freedom that I have. I can go and come as I please and live my life the way I want to. Why is it that we forget to appreciate the little things in life? The ability to walk, talk, see, and hear. These are all important things that we forget are blessings. I know I take them for granted, we all do.

Prayer

I really enjoyed the poem called Praying. I have always struggled with prayer and how it works. I hear preachers saying these long elegant prayers and it always makes me think why? Why do you need to say all of those words? Does saying long and elegant prayers make someone better at praying? I think we make this simple act harder than it has to be. It is really simple. Mary Oliver says it best, “It doesn’t have to be the blue iris…” just say what’s on your mind. Don’t try and concoct a perfect prayer. I believe simple prayers have more impact. Prayer, to me, is more of a listening process than a speaking process.

The poem, The Uses of Sorrow, is short but sweet. At the beginning of this class, we talked a lot about sorrow and darkness, but I think these are two very important things. Through sorrow we can find joy. When a love one dies we find joy in that our love one is with the Father. Happiness in times of sorrow is often hard to find but if we look hard enough it will show itself. Mary Oliver writes, “It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” Time heals all wounds and reveals lessons that were hard to learn at the time. It also interesting that under the title Oliver writes in parenthesis (In my sleep I dreamed this poem).

My favorite example of prayer is also the simplest:

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 
Your Kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
on earth as in heaven
 Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us. 
Lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil. 
For the kingdom, 
the power and the glory are yours. 
Now and for ever.

Amen.

Nature: The Ultimate Experience

On Sunday I visited Lake Bonny Park and stayed for 45 minutes. While there I took in all the sights. I love being around nature more than anything. I love the smells and the coolness of the breeze. While there I saw a bunch of ducks playing tag. It was really funny to watch. I also saw an alligator just chilling on the bank. Alligators are amazing creatures and they have been around for a very long time. There strength amazes me. I watched the fish in the lake swim near the shore. I would tap the water and they would scurry away only to return a few seconds later. It was close to sunset when I arrived so I sat and watched the sunset for a while. I really like watching sunsets. This one particularly looked like the sky was on fire. Earlier I saw a dragonfly eating a regular fly. No sooner had he finished than a bird swooped down and devoured him. It made me think about how cruel nature can be. Like most things it has its pretty side and its ugly side. Sometimes I think we ignore the ugly side of life and focus on the pretty side. I think it should be equal. How can we enjoy the pretty side without knowing that there is an ugly side? We repress it and forget about it, which I think a detriment rather than asset. I’m not saying that you have to enjoy or like the ugly side of live but you have to realize that it does exist, because in the end we all have to die.

On another note, life is a beautiful thing and nature helps me realize how beautiful it really is. I see God’s image in nature. He truly is a great artist.

The Epicist Poem

The Sun is Red with Anger

The water reflects its anguish

The fish swim back and forth;

Trying to escape its rage

The flowers are consumed in its glory

As it shines from on high

The sun is red like blood

Death looms like a spirit on the water

The Firefly eats his still warm prey

As the bird watches closely

He swoops in to devour the once proud predator

O’ how nature can be cruel

The trees sway against the violent wind

They beg to be released from its grip

The ducks swim to and fro

In the suns scorching heat

They plunge beneath the water to escape

Don’t go whistled the bird

You must see the moon tonight

Death comes to us all