Monday, May 28, 2007

Am I a bad person?

All these silly email forwards. Pray for the soldiers... look out for the kidnapped kids... read this touching little anecdote... and whatever you do, DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN! SEND IT ON!
And what do i do? DELETE IT JUST BECAUSE YOU SAID NOT TO!!!
am i a bad person?

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

By Jove, I love literary critique

Yesterday i felt my intellectual side strangely, abruptly, and welcomely awakened. I read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Yes, yesterday. All of it. It's not that long. Anyhow, my speed reading-talents are beside the point. The point is, i read it, enjoyed it, and now, shall attempt to give you my breif synopsis and critique. Ahem. So, Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself transformed into "a monstrous vermin". This opening is so comical...or weird, whatever.

So, that picture may give you an idea of what to expect. Yes, the poor boy has turned into a bug. He has some trouble getting up, as you might imagine, and can't work anymore, is quite a fright to his family, and only his sister, Grete, looks after him. She gives him food, cleans his room, and tries to make him comfortable...for awhile. She, though only a young girl, has to go to work, along with the parents. Eventually, Gregor completely gives up hope, his family can't stand him anymore, and he dies. Then the family recovers, and the conclustion of the little novel gives us the hope that they will now live a comfortable and happy life.
So what is the point? The interpretations range from sexual to marxist. I kinda liked the marxist one actually. It claims that Gregor's work has taken all the humanity out of him, and it eventually kills him. Darned capitalism - sucks the life right out of ya (well, actually it does...but later) However, there's a problem. He no longer works after the transformation. If it were really the work that killed him, he'd have to keep doing it, and he'd regain his humanity once he stops working. Thanks to Mark i've been thinking on another way to look at this work. There are about 5 aspects we really need to live fully - spiritual, emotional, intellectual, social, physical. (If you want to read more...go over here. Now, it's pretty obvious in reading the story that Gregor's humanity - as represented by his body and even clearly seen in his emotions and actions - is gone. Why? He was completely absorbed in his own little world of work, money, providing for his family, ect., that he deprived himself of any emotional, social, spiritual, or even intellectual life. He's physically running around like crazy and working hard, but he's just a machine. Once this process starts, he becomes the "vermin". But what was he so deprived of that he actually died? Well, again, he's obviously deprived of his physical body. He can't do things anymore. He can't sleep in his bed, leave the house, or anything human except sit in an armchair and look out the window. He's socially outcast, he can't communicate with his family, and all his attempts to do so are grossly misinterpreted, so badly that his father starts throwing apples at him...one apple sticks in his exoskeleton and begins to rot. Ew. Anyway, his intellectual activity begins to wane. He acts more and more like an insect. He crawls around on the ceiling and begins to eat rotten food. His emotions are still around more or less, but they are only those of longing and disappointment, never fulfillment. As for the spiritual, some may argue that there's some in Metamorphosis, but it's all tied up in symbols. So i'm just gonna go with basically no spiritual activity in Gregor's life. So, he loses his humanity because of his complete isolation from any of these, and it only gets worse. Eventually, his sister starts to play violin, and this seems to wake him up from his animal-like state. The music causes him to come out of his room and try to talk to his family. It doesn't work. They, who have now begun to live a life of reckless activity since Gregor's transformation, are now isolated and do not understand the human part of him trying to communicate. Gregor loses all hope - he sees that he cannot gain the 5 areas back. The quickest way to die is to physically deprive yourself. So Gregor does. And he does die.
But the family, immediately upon his death, regain their hope. They realize that they can now move to a new place...they can stop worrying about Gregor... they don't have to work... they can move on with their lives, and stop isolating themselves because of shame at Gregor's appearance. They have their humanity. This makes them want to participate in a full life. They decide to leave the house. They are no longer isolated. They begin to re-expose themselves to the 5 aspects. They are glad...they have hope. My point? This whole 5 aspects idea has meat to it. And reading + thinking + writing = oh so much fun.

Curious...this is fun.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

What i learned at CHURCH!

I know. I learned something at church! I'm amazed. Sunday school lesson: Numbers 12. Moses. As my sunday school teacher presented it, Moses has a wife from Cush (aka Ethopia), and Miriam and Aaron are fussing at him. Why can't the leader of the Jews get a wife from his own race? Noo, she's from Ethiopia. But Moses is different and he likes it that way. Anyhow, humility was actually the point of the lesson. Miriam was struck leprous for "dissing" Moses...and what did he do? Did he say, "That's what happens when you rebel against me! What were you thinking, sis? God chose me for cryin' out loud!" Nope. He said, "O God, heal her--please." And God says okay, but shut her out of the camp for seven days. And Moses didn't lead the people on until she came back. Then we talked at the end about how Moses could be so humble. It's because he saw God face to face. I think i'd fade from my own view if i saw God. How could i not be blown away and humbled? Then he mentioned our way of "sorta seeing God face to face".
"How many of you just treat prayer as 'transition time'?"
What? Do i? I wake up, say "oh, i need to get straight, time to transition" and then i read and pray. Wow, yeah, i do!
But prayer isn't that at all. Prayer is our chance to talk with our creator, face to face, to stand in awe of Him, recieve His love, and sit at His feet. How could i describe talking to God? It should be so much more than "MY transition time". It doesn't have to be long... remember the tax collector? "Oh God! Be merciful to me, a sinner!" but perhaps if you have a bit more energy... Solomon prayed a great prayer
Lord, may i never take speaking to You for granted.

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As Jill, you are confident, respectful, and a little bit bossy! You have an acquired taste for adventure, and love any challenge that you have to face.