A Grief Observed

C.S. Lewis does a great job showing all his thoughts going through the mourning of his wife that was lost to cancer. It just goes to show you how depressing it can be for someone when they lose someone they love. I have lost two of my cousins in the past 6 years to leukemia and the other died in a car accident. I was somewhat close with each of them, but I was not close to the point where we knew a ton about each other. I could not imagine what people go through when they lose their husband or wife to cancer. This death that happened in C.S. Lewis’ life pretty much ruined the rest of his life, because he did not get over it and he chose that he did not want to get over it. He believed that it would be disrespectful to H if he tried to move on and get on with his life.

My dad told me that his brother or my uncle married a woman and then in the first few years of their marriage she received cancer and died. My uncle probably mourned for a while, but he ended up going on with life, married again, and now has three children. I never asked my uncle on how he made it through that tough time in his life, but I bet most of it had to do with his relationship with God. I think that if you try and go through a tough time in your life without God, you will probably end up losing yourself and lose your focus in life. I hope that I never have to go through anything like this in my lifetime, but if I do I know that I must rely on God for help otherwise I will lose myself in anger or sadness like C.S. Lewis.

Cafe Dialogue

The past class session we were supposed to bring a piece of literature and talk about it and how it affected you. What I did not realize was that it was supposed to be a book based on fiction and I did not follow the directions. However, our group discussed each of our books and it quickly lead into other topics, and it produced good dialogue. Dialogue for the most part is very productive and it helps a lot in order to gain knowledge from others. Some people learn a lot through listening to people talk, and dialogue helps accomplish that. I consider myself more of a visual learner more than anything, but then I also like to talk things over with someone if I do not know how to do something.

The discussion in our group on Monday went from discussing the books we chose to bring to talking about what happened to Haiti. We all seemed to have an agreement that what happened in Haiti was not God’s judgment on Haiti, but maybe God just showing us that He is still here and He is very powerful. I think that sometimes God will use things like hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters in order to remind everyone that there is a God, or maybe He has a plan to work through that situation. I think that everything happens for a reason and I believe God has a plan to work through Haiti and this may be the way where He starts His action. There may be people that disagree with the thoughts I have on Haiti, but I still believe God has a reason for all this that has happened. I pray that Haiti recovers from the destruction quickly and I also hope God works through Haiti as well.

Post Three

The story Happy Endings was a short story I recently read written by Margaret Atwood. The story was very straight forward and right to the point. The author provided many realistic scenarios that happen throughout some peoples’ lives, and it makes you hope your life does not turn out like any of those scenarios. Throughout life we all watch these movies and read some books that show these fair tale like stories, and we get consumed with living that certain way when for the most part it usually does not go that way. So when you read this story it helps you realize that these stories are a whole lot more realistic, than the movies or books illustrate all the time. I do not think I have run into any stories that the author listed here, but I have heard of some many weird or trouble some stories from friends in the past.

Stories like these bring you back to the real world and give you a more realistic understanding of what people go through in their lives. If more people are more exposed to reality it helps them give them more knowledge on what and what not to do when a certain situation that may pop up. I know I have learned from mistakes I have made in the past and mistakes I have seen from my friends and family. Sometimes people want to isolate themselves so much from reality that whenever they get out of that bubble they have created, they do not handle the situation correctly and usually fold under pressure. I also know that when I may get myself into a situation that I may have never been in before, I realize that God can help me through it if I fully trust in Him. In the past I have been caught where I think I will not need God and I can figure it out myself, but I get proven wrong again and again.

Post Two

This story showed some of the many things people talk about when they talk about love. These two couples were in a somewhat kind of drunken mode, so they would start talking about love and then go off on a tangent. Most of the focus in the story was put on the couple of Mel and Terri. Both Mel and Terri are now in their second marriage, and because of that they have a more negative view on love. The other couple of Laura and Nick have been married shortly and they view love very positively. Mainly the story features Mel and Terri arguing on what love really is and what is not love. People can definitely get the wrong impression of love if they go through a relationship like Terri did. Love is not about beating your wife, and after enough beatings some women like Terri actually believe that may be an act of love, and that is ridiculous. Love is being emotionally and physically attracted to someone, beating someone is associated with hate, not love. There are probably a lot of people out in the world like Terri that believe getting treated harshly by their husband or wife is some type of love they are showing them, but they are totally wrong. Corinthians 13:4 states that “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” Notice that the verse did not state love is about treating someone harshly or saying bad things to them. I thought the story did a good job showing some of the views on love that people get from their lives and experience with love.

Post One

My earliest memories of literature go back to when my mom read me those Berenstein Bear books before I would go to sleep. Another book I really remember is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I remember that one a lot because my name is Alex and the book pretty much made me feel a lot better when it was read to me. I also loved trains when I was little so pretty much any story that had to do something with a train would get my attention. As I have gotten older I have lost an appreciation for reading different books, and I mainly just read when I am required to for the most part. The last book I read with an appreciation was the latest Tony Dungy book and that really taught me some things. I love sports so i will read the Sports Illustrated magazines and the sports section of a newspaper, because it appeals to me. The most significant literary text I have probably read is the Bible. No matter what you are going through if you take time to read some of the Bible you will usually get something out of it, and apply it to your life. Some literature is there for you to learn concepts and ideas, and some literature is just there for you to look over and reflect on it. For example, in poems you usually read through it and you reflect on the words selected in the poem and try to figure out what the author was trying to convey through the poem. In the Bible you read through trying to find answers and more knowledge, so you can make better decisions in your life and go down the correct path that God has provided you. So, literature has a lot of different meanings.