"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." -Joshua 1:8
This verse and the whole Book it comes from are why I write obnoxious posts for class.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Just a Mini Post To Express My Manufactured Frustration
After my 6:00-7:15 Digital Storytelling class, I headed to Dodd with Brenda to watch the Religious Freedom speech given by Professor Robert T. Pennock, being pretty much ready to listen to any of the worst sorts of religious blasphemy coming out of this man's mouth. The title of his presentation suggested something about Intelligent Design Creationism being totally scientifically unfounded. Since I myself have tried to sit down to watch Ben Stein's Expelled and had to stop probably halfway through the documentary due to a fine mixture of boredom and admitted distaste for the "scientific" approaches taken, I figured sitting through this presentation really might not be that bad.
And it wasn't.
He made the basic case that teaching evolution in schools is not a malicious atheistic scheme. Evolution does not disprove God, nor does it make any attempt to do so. He suggested that a belief in both evolution and a Creator is mainstream.
Fair enough, right? I got to thinking during his presentation that the real problem here is that both sides of the rope are so intensely being pulled by frustrated extremists that no one is bothering to inspect the rope itself. No one is saying, "Oh hey, I'm not going to believe all of what you believe, but I can acknowledge that you are not trying to dispel my beliefs. Let's try to teach that to our kids as well--that they don't have to let science tear them away from a belief in God, but they can instead embrace what they choose because this is not a dichotomous situation." This is why kids get to college and lose their faith. They've never had to own it, and they've not been encouraged to own it. They're finally learning to think for themselves in a time that universities are telling them how to think for themselves. Contradictory much?
I'm not sure. I just know that the Q&A portion of this presentation was ridiculous and went nowhere. It simply boggles my mind sometimes how well people can dance around an issue. It's almost like they want the hatred and hostility. With *God's* help, perhaps we can *evolve* into something that looks far from this.
And it wasn't.
He made the basic case that teaching evolution in schools is not a malicious atheistic scheme. Evolution does not disprove God, nor does it make any attempt to do so. He suggested that a belief in both evolution and a Creator is mainstream.
Fair enough, right? I got to thinking during his presentation that the real problem here is that both sides of the rope are so intensely being pulled by frustrated extremists that no one is bothering to inspect the rope itself. No one is saying, "Oh hey, I'm not going to believe all of what you believe, but I can acknowledge that you are not trying to dispel my beliefs. Let's try to teach that to our kids as well--that they don't have to let science tear them away from a belief in God, but they can instead embrace what they choose because this is not a dichotomous situation." This is why kids get to college and lose their faith. They've never had to own it, and they've not been encouraged to own it. They're finally learning to think for themselves in a time that universities are telling them how to think for themselves. Contradictory much?
I'm not sure. I just know that the Q&A portion of this presentation was ridiculous and went nowhere. It simply boggles my mind sometimes how well people can dance around an issue. It's almost like they want the hatred and hostility. With *God's* help, perhaps we can *evolve* into something that looks far from this.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Large Letters
Doing hardcore homework on the Saturday after the first week of classes seems a bit much, but I'd rather this semester not trick me into thinking it's going to be the cakewalk I've been pretending college has been up until now. But it's good, because I've gotten a chunk of homework (that I'd already fallen behind on) done here at the Caribou, AND I got 10 cents off my order due to my past as a literature aficionado (er, of sorts) on my high school Scholastic Bowl team.
Also, I have to start another blog for my Digital Storytelling class. This class is crazy in the best sense of the word. I mean, Jim Groom has already thrown all kinds of "assignments" at us, which involve setting up a Twitter account, purchasing a domain, getting a wiki account, and other assorted cyber things I haven't gotten around to yet. And apparently on this new blog, I have to discuss meta-media. Trippy. I could tell UMW's once best professor Gardner Campbell had his hand in this project before he showed up via Skype on a big screen in class on Thursday evening. Turns out he is the reason for the aim of this class. THE AIM: To explore how technology shapes us, our culture, and our relationships. Gardner asserts that it is absolutely necessary and essential for students to embrace the technology we have and purchase domains of their own upon entering college so that they can develop as adults without airplane-acting spoons flying toward their mouths. What he's saying is he hates 5-paragraph essays and blackboard. Understandable. But for real, he makes a valid point. How many underqualified job candidates are colleges throwing into "the real world?" Countless, without a doubt. I mean, I could be one of them with my half-assed anti-collegiate efforts in the world of academia. Education is no longer governmentally mandated for me, and it is something I really should be embracing beyond the required boundaries of syllabi. Countless times I've heard my father say how much he's always wanted to be a college student again ever since he graduated with his doctorate in Theology/Philosophy. This reminds me of my dad's Psalm 111 sermon...
"Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them." -Psalm 111:2
And here I am not taking advantage of one of the most amazing opportunities I may ever face in my life. I'm thanking my parents for their all-too-generous payments to this institution by daydreaming in class, not doing my homework, and minimal amounts of study time for exams.
In the words of my beloved good friend and roommate of my first two years of college, Gilmore McLean, "I guess we've all got priorities. I f***ed it up with considerable ease... please, please, please forget about her sh**ty, awful, guilty priorities."
She wrote this song for her baby nephew she knew she wouldn't be around to see grow up. She laments feeling like she has to go out into the world to truly live her life at the expense of not being there for him.
For me, this translates to feeling like I need to take this approach with God. I tell Him I can go out there and figure things out on my own. Then I tell Him to help me, but I ignore His hand when He holds it out. I started this semester telling God I need to get out of my mind-mess, and then I arbitrarily opened my Bible to Galatians. Arbitrary my butt. Galatians addresses the fool I've been, and God is pretty clearly saying, "Um, yeah, it's about time you want to get out of that mess. Here, I already told you what to do a long time ago, so how about you really learn it this time, k?"
Paul says in Galatians 6:11, "See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand," in his final warning. Perhaps I should make my font clearer and boot it up a few sizes myself.
Will do.
Also, I have to start another blog for my Digital Storytelling class. This class is crazy in the best sense of the word. I mean, Jim Groom has already thrown all kinds of "assignments" at us, which involve setting up a Twitter account, purchasing a domain, getting a wiki account, and other assorted cyber things I haven't gotten around to yet. And apparently on this new blog, I have to discuss meta-media. Trippy. I could tell UMW's once best professor Gardner Campbell had his hand in this project before he showed up via Skype on a big screen in class on Thursday evening. Turns out he is the reason for the aim of this class. THE AIM: To explore how technology shapes us, our culture, and our relationships. Gardner asserts that it is absolutely necessary and essential for students to embrace the technology we have and purchase domains of their own upon entering college so that they can develop as adults without airplane-acting spoons flying toward their mouths. What he's saying is he hates 5-paragraph essays and blackboard. Understandable. But for real, he makes a valid point. How many underqualified job candidates are colleges throwing into "the real world?" Countless, without a doubt. I mean, I could be one of them with my half-assed anti-collegiate efforts in the world of academia. Education is no longer governmentally mandated for me, and it is something I really should be embracing beyond the required boundaries of syllabi. Countless times I've heard my father say how much he's always wanted to be a college student again ever since he graduated with his doctorate in Theology/Philosophy. This reminds me of my dad's Psalm 111 sermon...
"Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them." -Psalm 111:2
And here I am not taking advantage of one of the most amazing opportunities I may ever face in my life. I'm thanking my parents for their all-too-generous payments to this institution by daydreaming in class, not doing my homework, and minimal amounts of study time for exams.
In the words of my beloved good friend and roommate of my first two years of college, Gilmore McLean, "I guess we've all got priorities. I f***ed it up with considerable ease... please, please, please forget about her sh**ty, awful, guilty priorities."
She wrote this song for her baby nephew she knew she wouldn't be around to see grow up. She laments feeling like she has to go out into the world to truly live her life at the expense of not being there for him.
For me, this translates to feeling like I need to take this approach with God. I tell Him I can go out there and figure things out on my own. Then I tell Him to help me, but I ignore His hand when He holds it out. I started this semester telling God I need to get out of my mind-mess, and then I arbitrarily opened my Bible to Galatians. Arbitrary my butt. Galatians addresses the fool I've been, and God is pretty clearly saying, "Um, yeah, it's about time you want to get out of that mess. Here, I already told you what to do a long time ago, so how about you really learn it this time, k?"
Paul says in Galatians 6:11, "See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand," in his final warning. Perhaps I should make my font clearer and boot it up a few sizes myself.
Will do.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
All Kinds Of Amazing Crazy
How to calm down from a near anxiety attack.
AND Jesus. More of the latter than the former, but you know. God has blessed us with some wonderful tangibilities for ease, particularly the Scriptures. And also music. All. Kinds. Of. Music. Such a phenomenon. Really, there is so much flipping amazing going on here and there and everywhere, and I'd like one of those amazings to be my Abstract Algebra grade. So I guess I should try to figure out these crazy symbols whilst figuring out what the heck God wants me to do with these crazy symbols, crazy overall academic semester, crazy times with friends, and crazy good music. Katie Jones out.
AND Jesus. More of the latter than the former, but you know. God has blessed us with some wonderful tangibilities for ease, particularly the Scriptures. And also music. All. Kinds. Of. Music. Such a phenomenon. Really, there is so much flipping amazing going on here and there and everywhere, and I'd like one of those amazings to be my Abstract Algebra grade. So I guess I should try to figure out these crazy symbols whilst figuring out what the heck God wants me to do with these crazy symbols, crazy overall academic semester, crazy times with friends, and crazy good music. Katie Jones out.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Baby Steps
Taking baby steps would be a big step for me.
That is to say, I shouldprobably consider tak[e]ing them. I was talking to a friend last night about me lacking patience, diligence, and probably other -ences. Then I caught myself in the position of a person who is pointing out some pretty glaring and serious flaws in the most nonchalant of manners, as if I shouldn't care either way... as if God shouldn't care either way. I can fool myself about my own desires, but I surely can't do that with God. And I've most often been opposed to the whole setting goals thing under the excuse that I am not a girl of structure. Well, in this continuing trek of discovering needs over wants, I'm figuring I do need structure--at least to the extent of structuring my life around what God desires out of me. So while I do have a list of things in my head I'd like to get done this semester, I know the most difficult of them will be sticking with sticking with. And sticking with God will put that kick into every baby step along the way.
That is to say, I should
Thursday, January 7, 2010
IDK
"Now I'm gonna go get fired," finished my freshly encouraged mother.
Yeah, we had another inevasible confrontation during which we discussed my issues as a daughter, friend, and servant of God. No, these talks aren't a barrel of monkeys for me, but they are all too important for me to keep wanting to run away from them. Too bad they can't always be timed so perfectly so as to get my mother to work on time and not an hour late. (Doubtful she gets fired--they love her. Understandably so.)
The thing about these conversations is, I know. However, I realize saying, "I know," is generally one of the most dismissive things you can say to one in a conversation, so I've worked pretty hard on getting it out of my bank of responses. What's equally difficult to this erasure is refilling that empty space with a constructive response, and I think I may be getting a little better at that as well. Evidence of this is how amicably this morning's confrontation flowed and ended. Further evidence is how much more insight I feel I have after coming out of it. The best result is that I don't believe as I staunchly did before that my relationship with my mother will always have to be a battle as we're trying to maintain a close mother-daughter and even friend-friend relationship.
Because I found out that at the root of all her frustration and misunderstanding, she really does just want to see me loving and living for God. I know she's wondering, Is that so much to ask? I say, Shouldn't be. But what kind of bull-crap response is that? I'd want to slap me in the face and say, "WELL FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WHERE YOU ARE, KID, AND YOU'RE GOING NOWHERE." So all things considered, she's been handling all of this really well. Really well.
So while I refrain from verbal "I know"s, they still blare in my mind as strong retorts, and I can't say that's much help either. 'Cuz I don't know, and I know that I don't know.
Yeah, we had another inevasible confrontation during which we discussed my issues as a daughter, friend, and servant of God. No, these talks aren't a barrel of monkeys for me, but they are all too important for me to keep wanting to run away from them. Too bad they can't always be timed so perfectly so as to get my mother to work on time and not an hour late. (Doubtful she gets fired--they love her. Understandably so.)
The thing about these conversations is, I know. However, I realize saying, "I know," is generally one of the most dismissive things you can say to one in a conversation, so I've worked pretty hard on getting it out of my bank of responses. What's equally difficult to this erasure is refilling that empty space with a constructive response, and I think I may be getting a little better at that as well. Evidence of this is how amicably this morning's confrontation flowed and ended. Further evidence is how much more insight I feel I have after coming out of it. The best result is that I don't believe as I staunchly did before that my relationship with my mother will always have to be a battle as we're trying to maintain a close mother-daughter and even friend-friend relationship.
Because I found out that at the root of all her frustration and misunderstanding, she really does just want to see me loving and living for God. I know she's wondering, Is that so much to ask? I say, Shouldn't be. But what kind of bull-crap response is that? I'd want to slap me in the face and say, "WELL FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WHERE YOU ARE, KID, AND YOU'RE GOING NOWHERE." So all things considered, she's been handling all of this really well. Really well.
So while I refrain from verbal "I know"s, they still blare in my mind as strong retorts, and I can't say that's much help either. 'Cuz I don't know, and I know that I don't know.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
What to write? Hm, Katie Jones just handed me her computer and told me to write so here goes! 'Imma let you finish'--ha ha, that was Kanye West. Now I'm back. Hm, still don't really know what to say. Being in Mathews is the best! I love spending time with Katie and being at Katie's house. It's great, really.
Hello.
Hello.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
