Reflective Post: Peace Like a River

     In "Peace Like a River", many times the subject of a bird and more specifically the death of a bird. The first is when the Land family goes to hunt geese. The goose symbolizes vigilance, parenthood, and productive power. The death of this bird is what i think foreshadows upcoming events. It shows that one day, in the book, someone in power will be laid to rest. Personally I think it is when the two town bullies get shot down by Davy Land. Sometimes power can last, but if it is being used in the wrong way, is it and should it be allowed to persist? Culturally, we take down those in power when it is being misused as in hurting those under the oppressors.
     The next situation is when Jeremiah, Reuben, and Swede are driving in the airstream and keep passing by dead birds and specifically mentioned, dead crows. Crows are the symbols of death. These harbingers of doom are said to have been given a foreshadowing of death. When on the road, it is mentioned only slightly, but holds so much meaning in the book. Personally, I don't think it only foreshadows the future, but also tells a lot about the past. Since the birds are already dead, it could possibly mean that death had already happened and now Reuben is now viewing it, but not realizing that it relates back to his life. Culturally, we think death is such a big deal even though surveys have been taken that death is not the thing we are afraid of the most. How can anything be more scarier than death? Could it be that we are so worried about the lives we live in with the distractions of everyday, that we don't even think we will die one day?

Peace like a River: Annotative Post

"Peace like a River" by Leif Enger truly imposes the meaning of a miracle onto the reader. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word miracles as, "a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency." ("Miracle")  In class, we discussed that it becomes more than just an extreme event in the books chapters, but more of an outspoken discussion between the main characters such as in the beginning of the book when the narrator says, "The answer, it seems to me now, lies in the miracles." (McCarthy 3) Though some book may pass over the religious tenses, "Peace like a River" faces the subject head on. It is significant because in culture, we think of miracles as being a very religious subject and even when talked about among Christians, some don't want to seem too "religious" by believing in God's miracles. The threat of feeling uncomfortable in dealing with such religious matters can sometimes frighten believers because they are scared of what the world might think of them. The world's defense against not believing is to out rightly call Christians hypocrites, saying that what is being done is not true and only seeing it as a trick of the eye. It shows that among our friends and acquaintances we must trust God that he will change the cruel and unruly heart of the worldly to something that is more willing to accept the fact that God is everything to us. The fact of just accepting miracles is one of the toughest test of faith, and in it, we find the reward of knowing God better through a spiritual awakening. The whole idea behind a miracle is to see something unreal and not possible, but shouldn’t its potential be more powerful than its definition? It should speak truth and change the impossible to possible in someone’s life. This not only pertains to those of the world, but also to Christians, because in them lies the power to change the world.


"Miracle". Oxford English Dictionary Addition Series. 2012. OED Online. Oxford

      University Press. 29 March 2012

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Vintage Book, 2006. 237. Print.

"The Night Wind" by Emily Bronte: Reflective Post

     "The Night Wind" by Emily Bronte truly describes a story a both love and temptation. It talks of a woman trying to be persuaded by the night wind so that they may be together. It begins by showing how peaceful a wind in the middle of the night may be, and continues on to explain the relationship and temptation of the wind to the woman. This explains that in life, we may have temptations that are either not worth the effort to fulfill or, knowing right from wrong, realizing that the temptation may not be the best decision in that particular time of our lives. In the world we live in today, society shows that we must give into temptation and most of the time, things that may be evil or wrongful in the sight of God.
     Personally, I believe as though this poem is paralleled with that of the story in the Bible which speaks of the Serpent's temptation to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. How quickly temptation grabs our attention in order for us to become to infatuated with the idea that we begin to give in. The woman in the poem defines the boundaries that her and the wind should have leading to her not giving in and telling the wind to leave her alone and go for someone else who would be more willing and susceptible. We have also known temptation from birth, just as the wind tells the woman, "Were we not friends from childhood? Have I not loved thee long?", making it no harder to give up the sin that lies within us all.
     Ultimately, we must decide our fate and deal with the consequences when and if we go along with temptation. The greatest weapon against that is God and through trial and temptation we can know that he will be there for us, but how far must we be tempted in order for us to put our worries on God? We as Christians sometimes forget that we can call upon God since we are so focused upon ourselves thinking that we can handle situations on our own. Only God can give us the strength we need, and only can we make the decision to call on him when the time arrives.

Problematize Post: "Fireflies in the Garden" by Robert Frost

     Robert Frost's poem "Fireflies in the Garden" attempts to separate the differences of the genuine and the imitation. It definitely relates to the world we live in today, because nowadays we can't always tells what is real and what is fake. Whether it's food, material possessions, and the most obvious, people. It's crazy to think that the people during Robert Frost time were just the same as they are today in terms of genuine and imitation. When we think of people we usual aren't referring to how they people were in the past.  Our society sets up these "role models" that many can't live up to, but try their hardest to do so. In a positive light, "role models" give us hope to one day, not be like them, but in our own way achieve things because they are what motivated us to do so, and quite possibly surpass their efforts in being great at any chosen matter. I think that when I mention society's role models, that SEU's culture is against it because the world does not think in a way that we do. It challenges our faith by showing that we must take some of the world in little pieces and decide what is good and what it not, and most importantly how it affects our lives as Christians. I feel as the poem speaks wonders to those who are being challenged as unsuccessful, therefore referring back to more of the genuine stars in the text and less of the imitating fireflies. It shows that even though we may not be the greatest, the feeling of being able to accomplish any feat is more than enough to feel our personal desires to be accepted among our peers. As said by Brian Litrell, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." This quote and text couldn't have gone hand in hand more perfectly. The quote describes our greatest effort and still gives us glory even if we fail, landing us in a win-win situation. Ultimately, Robert Frost has done more than just write a poem about fireflies, but he has created a masterpiece in history that describes the everyday valor and trials of this world.

Creative Post: "A Poison Tree" by William Blake

I AM NOT WHAT I THINK

I was grown

from foul and pain

through night and day

through the storms

and through the rain

He came and went

to water me down

to bring me up strong

to train me up wrong

For the reason

He explained to me

was that there was a man

Some sort of foe

my master's enemy

Then one day

the foe came

silently in the night

To eat the apple

my branches had made so bright

And in the morning 

when I could see

The foe was laid outstretched

beneath my leaves

My master called me anger

with a smile and great glee

but now it occurred to me

that I was not the great tree

I once thought I could be.

I wrote this poem which relates back to "A Poison Tree" by William Blake. I decided to write the poem in perspective of how the tree, also known as "anger", was brought up in the man's WAY. He watered it as in the original poem in which the man kept it inside for too long building it up until it actually killed his foe. In the end, the tree felt as if though he could have been great until his master called the tree anger which it then realized would not make him the "great tree" he thought he could grow up to be. 

"The Story of an Hour": Reflective Post

     “The Story of an Hour” showed that in life we can either living for ourselves or we live for others, but there is a balance. It began by showing a wife losing her husband and the amount of grieving that she went through. This showed that even though we see death far off in our future that it starts to become unexpected and even more painful when it comes in the blink of an eye. The way Mrs. Mallard viewed her husband’s death was that she no longer had to be someone else’s liability. She could finally live for herself and came to the conclusion that she was in her own mind “free”. In class, our stories all surrounded a theme of women, not so much being bound under men, but being bound to life and all its responsibilities.

     I think this personally relates to me because it shows that if and when I do get married  or any other relationship I may have in my future, I don’t want someone to have to be bound to me. I want them, along with myself, to live life freely and however I please, so long as it doesn’t disrupt or cause trouble in another’s life. Culturally, everyone wants to feel accepted by someone else and have something to live for, yet not be so attached that the person becomes a “poison” in the relationship which goes for both persons in the relationship. It’s a shame that the world has come to the point where there is less long-term relationships forming and even worse that people begin to care for themselves to much in which trust is lost. It comes down to creating a balance between what you do for yourself and the things you do for others. 

     “Free, free, free.” Mrs. Mallard silently repeats this word over and over, but when are we truly free?When death strikes? When in life are we never in a relationship that causes us to care for another? The answer would most likely be no. From a Christian perspective, we are only truly free when Jesus comes for us again and that will be the greatest freedom of all.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" : Creative Post

When my eyes open 

A man in white stares in disbelief

With his eyes open

He explains this is no relief

My father walks back and forth

He looks at my face

He doesn't see a trace

Of him in myself

My life goes on

Yet they don't see

The person my age

Describes me to be

A wife for a moment

A child for a second

Education at the helm

But all disappear in an instant

My son walks back and forth

Yet he has no clue

That I was once a man

Without the attitude

When my eyes close

My memory fades

With my eyes close

The black becomes a lighter shade

This poem was written to explain "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The first stanza is when Benjamin is first born and sees the doctor looking at Ben's appearance. The second portrays the father's feeling towards his newly born son and that he couldn't believe his eyes. The third stanza explains that not everyone in his town understands his age or his "curious case", while the fourth shows that later in life Benjamin had a wife, a son, and even a great education, but as he got younger it was gone in the blink of an eye. The fifth and sixth stanzas are mirrored off of the first and second. The fifth talks about Ben and his son having a relationship in which his son was treating him wrong (with an attitude). Finally, the sixth stanza describes Benjamin's life ending and, as I interpreted, him going to heaven in which the black turns into a lighter shade (the light of heaven).