An Allegory of Human Beings' Desires for Power

In my English class, we just got finished reading Animal  Farm, an allegory  of the Russian Revolution in 1917.  In this book, there are several different elements of allegory that represent different circumstances of that time in history.  In my opinion, the most effective allegory element in this story is the pigs representing human beings and how they naturally have a desire for power.  Even in situations that may seem good like trying to reach Socialism, humans will tend to take advantage of these situations for their own good.  In the beginning of this story the pigs are already shown to have a few powers over the other animals on Animal Farm.  This is shown as early as chapter 2: "The work of teaching and organizing the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals."  This proves that even though all of the animals desired equality from Socialism, it was clear very early on that it would be impossible to gain complete equality because of the pigs' desire for power and leadership.  Human beings are the exact same way, which is why Socialism always leads to Communism.  The picture below shows the idea of Dictatorship and how even though the animals originally desired equality, they are now being oppressed under the rule of the non-equal animals (dogs and pigs).

What am I Most Thankful For?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for many reasons but mainly because there are so many things that I am blessed with and have to be thankful for.  The thing I am most thankful for is having such wonderful relationships with my family and friends.  God has blessed me with an amazing Christian family and so many uplifting Christ-like friends.  My best friends in particular are such a blessing to my life and I honestly do not know what I would do and how I would live without them.  Each one of them is a gift from God to me, as well as my wonderful parents and brothers. I often take for granted these people that are huge parts of my life, but thanksgiving is a reminder to me that not everyone is blessed with encouraging friends and a great Christian home/environment that I live in every single day.

Career Day Experience

Career day today was a very interesting learning experience for me and many others.  The 4 careers I sat in on were Music, Special Education, Ministry, and Nursing.  From these sessions, I learned many things.  For example, I decided that I never want to go into the music business because there are too many downsides and risks on that occupational path.  On the other hand, I realized that nursing is something I think would be fun and could be passionate about if I choose to take that  path in the future.  Therefore, my favorite session of the day was the nursing session.  I enjoyed it a lot because our speaker gave us lots of beneficial information not only about nursing itself, but she also talked about steps we should take now in high-school  to prepare us for the nursing career path we might decide  to take in college.  She was also very honest about the nature of the work and what a normal day in the life of a nurse is like.  She also discussed many different paths within the medical field, which gave me a nice perspective on the many options I would have if I chose to go  to nursing school.  I'm very glad I chose the nursing session and there are lots of beneficial  things that I learned from  it.

My Julius Caesar English Tri-fold Project

In my Honors English class, we each had to do a project based on the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.  The project I chose to do was a tri-fold poster over the various settings of the play  and visuals to  depict them.  I chose this project because I am a poster project type of person and it was something I would enjoy doing.  The 5 different settings I chose to depict with visuals from the play were the streets of Rome, Brutus' orchard, the Roman forum, the senate house, and the battlefields at Philippi.  From this project, I learned that Shakespeare put lots of thought into the different settings of the play.  For example, Brutus' orchard/garden is the setting where Brutus chooses to betray Caesar.  This ties symbolically to the story in the bible of Judas' betrayal of  Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  I also learned a little about the Roman culture and the city of Rome itself by studying the Roman forum and the Senate House.  The picture included is a picture of my tri-fold project.  

My Reflections on Spiritual Emphasis Week: Chocolate Morsels and the Living Vine

This week during spiritual emphasis week, there were many things that Brent preached that really jumped out at me and helped me to think about common spiritual concepts  in a new way.  This whole week I have felt God speaking to me through so many points made in the sermons.  Today especially, the sermon was very powerful to me. Today Brent preached on John 5:1-9.  Relating to these verses, Brent gave us a great analogy about what it really means to live in Christ.  When every human being is born, he is like a "branch in a vase" that is dead and has no life.  But when we become Christians, we as dead branches become attatched to a vine (God) that gives us life.  When we become attatched to this vine, the life in the vine becomes the life in us, and "what is true for the vine is true for us."  This is a common analogy that I have heard a few times before, but Brent told it in a way that made me think about my life differently.  As Christians, we should not be of ourselves, the world, or anything else other than God; Therefore the life in us should be God living through us, and we should be trying our hardest to live in a way that Christ wants us to live.
Another analogy that Brent gave during chapel today was the "chocolate morsel" analogy.  The way many people snack and pick up bits and pieces of whatever they can find is how many people live: they take and consume bits and pieces of the world.  However, the world (or these snacks) will never satisfy us, and we will always remain hungry after this.  But once we "take a bite of"  Christ, or the semi-sweet chocolate morsels, our hunger will be satisfied.  Therefore, "we shouldn't be bloated by the world", but filled with Christ.  This also really spoke to me because it gave me an easy way to remember not to conform to what the world is doing, but to seek and abide in Christ in everything that I do.
My goal and  prayer after this week is not only that I will no longer conform to the world and act in a way that is no different from those who are not christians, but I also desire to let the Holy Spirit living in me reflect in everything that I do. I want it to be evident in my life that I am a part of the living vine, and my hunger is not for the world, or temporary snacks that won't completely satisfy me, but for God, the chocolate morsels.

The Danger of Pride Displayed in Julius Caesar

In the famous Shakespearean play, Julius Caesar, there is an important theme that runs throughout the story: The danger of pride.  Julius Caesar, the king-to-be of Rome, is one character that is very prideful.  For example, in Act 1 scene 2 of the play, Caesar is confronted by a soothsayer who warns him of the ides of March, but Caesar pridefully thinks nothing of it and calls the soothsayer crazy.  Also, the conspirators of Rome  believe that when Caesar becomes king, his pride will  grow and he will take advantage of his power, which is why the conspirators believe they must kill him.  Brutus, while contemplating joining the group of conspirators, says, "But 'tis a common proof that lowliness is young ambition's ladder, whereto the climber upward turns his face; But, when he once attains the upmost round, he then unto the ladder turns his back, looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees by which he did  ascend."  This proves that it was almost assumed that once Caesar became king, he would use his power for his own personal gain.
This theme from Julius Caesar can be very applicable to life.  If one man becomes to prideful, it can ruin himself in many ways.  It is always important to remain humble.  This way, we may better accept critisism or even keep ourselves from troubles or obstacles in life, such as the instance where Caesar was warned of his death.

An Interesting Perspective Concerning "The Most Dangerous Game"

It has been said before that every human being is one of two kinds of people--a hunter or a huntee, but is this really true? In our English class, we read a short story called, "The Most Dangerous Game".  This is a story of an interesting twist on hunting including a fight for survival and the sweet taste of revenge.  In the story, the main character, Rainsford,  makes the statement, "...Be a realist. The world  is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees."  I think the picture to the left is a nice portrayal of how Rainsford viewed people and these two classes.  I, however, do not agree with the statement he made.  I do think that there may be people on earth who could be considered a hunter (one with an agressive personality, one who is rich, or one who has power, etc) or a huntee (someone who is passive, of the lower class, or less powerful, etc).  However, I do not think the entire population of the world could be condensed into one of those two catagories.  There are many people who are in between.  There are many who have well balanced out personalities or may be more a huntee in one way and a hunter in another.  For example, one may not be of the highest class, but they may still have a more assertive nature to them and tend to control things.  Also, "huntee" is often used in coherence with the term "victim".  But those who do not possess the characteristics hunter are not automatically characterized as victims.  It is the individual that can determine whether or not he or she is really a victim; standing up for oneself and having a strong foothold in who they are as a person and who they  are in Christ is just one example of how one could, and many do, keep from becoming huntees themselves.  So while Rainsford may have had a quite different perception of the subject of hunters and huntees, I believe that people are more than just one or the other, which is what makes every human being unique and original in many different ways.

My Goals for a New School Year

There are many academic, social, and spiritual goals I have set for myself for the new school year. The picture in  this post is a summary of all of my goals for this year. Academically speaking, I would like to maintain good grades for each nine week period.  I would especially love to do better this year in English class, which has always been my weakest subject and lowest grade.  Another goal I have is to stay more organized in general and to keep up with my schoolwork and homework much better than previous years.  Lastly, I plan to manage my time better while doing school related tasks, in hopes that I don't procrastinate as much this year.

I also have several social  goals set for myself this year.  This year I want to be a better friend to the people I've  known for awhile and also to the newer students who I don't know yet.  Therefore, I also want to make at least one new friend this year.  I also wish to put others interests over my own in general. Unlike someone who is egotistic and unpleasant to be around, I want to be the person that people actually enjoy being around.

The most important goals I have for this year are those that are spiritually concerned.  This school-year I would love to develop a more meaningful and depthful prayer life.  One of my favorite verses is Phillipians 4:6 which says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God".  This year I am going to work to make this verse more prominent in my life by having a more constant contact with my Savior.  Another area where I intend to grow spiritually is in sharing my faith.  It takes a bold spirit to fearlessly share with others the gift of grace that God offers to us, and that's what I am praying about and intend to work towards. 

"Escaping the Confines": My Take on a Symbol From "The Giver"

In The Giver, a required summer reading book for my English class, there are many themes and symbols used throughout the book.  One way to disclose a message through these symbols or themes in literature is through using visuals.  In  this book, one of the symbols is the river.  During the entire story Jonas is confined to a small city that experiences "sameness" (everybody is forced to monotony and repetition), but once he realizes that there is a world outside the constraints he is living in, his inquisitive self begins longing to escape the city.  That's what the river in this book symbolizes: escape. The river that runs through the town flows right through only passage out of the city, therefore "escaping" it.  In the same way, Jonas plans and succeeds in secretly leaving the city without anyone but the giver's consent, and he escapes the town with a newborn he had wanted to save from being "released" (as the book describes it), or killed. To convey the symbolism of the river, I chose a picture of a little boy escaping a small and confined space.  This picture is also conveys the symbol in the book  in that the expression on the little boy's face suggests awe or excitement.  Likewise, Jonas has no idea what is waiting for him in the outside world, and once he finally does escape on the couple final pages of the book, it implies that he is fascinated by the world that has been awaiting him.