Reflective- Bundle of Joy

What does a dead heartbeat sound like? How about lungs with no air? How deflated and flat they must be. In Peace like a river, Reuben was born dead… there was no life in him. His father was clearly a firm believer in faith healing, he did not take “No” for an answer, he demanded that life be brought to his son and it was.  Amazing isn’t it? This birth signified so much more than an actual birth, it signifies how life can literally be brought back from the dead in any man, it means there is a start of new and pure life and it means that now is a time of resurrection.

When my mother was pregnant with me, there were several times where I should have been dead… and possibly my mother too. Her stress levels were constantly through the roof and it happened to be around that time when she was diagnosed with post-pardoned syndrome and chronic depression, her life was at the lowest point it had ever been, so low it was kissing death. When my mom was in labor with me, she was doing fine until her heart gave out and both of our blood pressure and heart rates dropped deathly low. The doctors rushed to get her heart rate back up in hope that mine would mimic hers and quicken it’s pace, my dad got on his knees and prayed with a humble heart and my mom instantly was given full life back to her. When I came out of my mother’s womb, I was smiling and my mom tells me till this day I was a blessing that literally saved her life. She felt the Holy Spirit in the room giving me to her as a gift to take away her troubled thoughts and burdens.

Even the first part of this book we are beginning to read strikes me as breathe taking, maybe we forget just how important it id to realize how important Faith is, let us not just rely on it to carry us from problem to problem, but let our Faith be the way that we are able to see during the entire journey

Problematizing- Our mercy

Look at what we have become, for this world has taken the word “Mercy” and turned it into some halftime show that we watch at the expense of others. Think back in your mind and remember a time when you saw a person in need, maybe it was a homeless person or even a friend in need of a ride home. I guarantee that one of the first thoughts was how it could ruin a time schedule or what you could get out of helping that person. What a twisted place we have learned to love, this world where we take Gods given mercy and use it for our own benefits. Life was a gift to us, not a right we have. The one thing that is polite to do with gifts is share them, what greater a gift can you share than the gift of helping to save a life?

In this book the father and son come across a man who had been struck by lightning at first, in which the boy shows compassion for and this could also signify his youth and innocence. The man who has come to terms with reality knows that there is nothing that they can do. Also, later on in the story, around page 65 in my version they come across this group of truckers, one man comes out and is about to use the bathroom in the woods and invites them over to his truck but the father takes immediate offense and somehow the boy gets involved and the father has to kill the guy in order to save his son. This part of the book defined the father in my eyes, the father says after it happened “It was my God sent mission to protect you”, which is ironic because earlier on in the book he was cursing God and asking why He wasn’t there.

Why has our society lost its innocence? Do we see no problem here? Maybe if we tried to revert back to a time where things were good and people actually had intense amounts of passion for one another, then we would be doing ok. We wouldn’t struggle to find love in the darkness.

Poem- sibling love

A woman with rough and crusted hands

She didn’t have a girly bone in her body

When it came to mowing or plowing the land

She was by far better than everybody

As for head of the house, she was alone

No man was there beside her

She could hunt and clean a pig, straight to the bone

To others this is just a blur

She had two daughters of her own

Who both matured in different ways

The daughters became healthy and full grown

But the daughter Dee, had a craze

As for Maggie, the daughter who was younger

In her confidence she was low

But for helping people she had a hunger

It was only sharp intelligence she didn’t show

Dee got everything she ever wanted

Now she fought for a quilt with value

Her arrogance and pride was always flaunted

If Maggie got them, What would she do?

You see Maggie was getting married soon

So she needed something to keep her warm

Mother was determined to give her the quilts

That were sentimental and very old

Siblings will always attempt to rival

This in fact is true

It’s when the relationship is being torn apart

That the heart no longer beats but turns blue

Maggie, poor sweet broken heart

Your open wounds will soon heal

We know the young lady who tore you apart

If this were cards, you just had a rough deal

She is your sister, that’s a fact

Let not her bitter ways sway you

I’m sure she loves you, this is just an act

But to you she has an apology due

As for me I treat my sister like the jewel

She is one to treasure always

For anybody who were to treat her like a fool

Would be injured in several ways

I see how Maggie is treated by Dee

I wonder if the difference was in the raising

The mother has no name so we can call her Marie

But we should not blame her, she’s amazing

Woman suppression- problematizing

I want to bring this idea to you on a silver platter which I expect to be eaten and absorbed; the thought of female repression. Anyway you look at it (male or female), we as humans have the right to be who God created us to be. Here on a Christian campus we are taught to love out loud so that we may spread the word of God through that. Not only will the word of God be spoken from our lips, but we as college students aspire to be intelligent and outspoken in our knowledge. Now that you have the appetizer, here is the full course meal, set with it a while and think about how far women have come in this world. We started out at the bottom of the food chain, we were created to be under male ruling and society has taken that to the extreme.

In the story “The yellow wallpaper” it portrays this woman who is both unnamed and she is the very epitome of repression of the soul. She embodies women all around the world who have no voice, figuratively of course.  In this story she fought against herself and the rest of reality. Her husband and brother both are in disbelief at her illness, but why? Did they simply not want to face the fact that somebody so endear to them could suffer with a mental issue? Could it possibly be such a selfish reason as this? I think so.

Now take this as the last course, it shouldn’t sit so well. Let’s imagine that we all go to this Christian college (in which we do) except the only difference is that all the females in the school aren’t allowed to talk, ever. Women here must wear makeup at all times and have their hair curled every day and our bodies must be a perfect hourglass shape. We must embody perfection at its sweetest, making sure we are without flaw.  When we have emotional drama, we hide it; we aren’t allowed to even bring it before God. Imagine now how you would feel if this were to be us right now, would we keep ourselves disciplined to the shell we were ordered to fill? Our mental stability is fragile as it is, our emotional shell was built like the thickness of a soap bubble, little to no excess emotion can be contained inside. If we ever tried to suppress what God meant to be free

Unce upon a dream- Creative post

Remix to Eminem’s Mockingbird

Things probably don’t make any sense to you right now
what has daddy taught you?
You guys are soldiers
Stiffen up your lip
what are you hurting for?
You got your momma now, I won’t let you hit the dirt

Bennie I know how bad you hurt and I know you miss your dad
Well I'm alone in this but I’m gonna give you the life that I never had
I can see you're sad, when you pretend to live a life that you never want to have
I can see it in your eyes, you change your face and hair but it’s all lies
I know you’re scared because of the people that surround you
Mommas here but I can’t help what you feel inside
No more crying, wipe them tears
Mommas here so no more nightmares
I’m gonna get that house you watch me, I can do it
Your brother Walter’s crazy, aint he?
But he loves you girl and you know it
We're all we got in this world
When it spins, when it swirls
When it whirls, when it twirls
You two are the most beautiful kids
Looking puzzled at me like I have the answer
I know it's confusing you
You have all that’s school work but there are other things to do
I try to keep you sheltered from this racism, but it’s harder than it seems
The more I try to keep you safe the harder it is on me
You try so hard to fix these things that lay with your family and your race
I don’t want you to worry about it baby, just keep a strong face
I will support you in how you feel with those men,
Things will always change and nothing will ever stay the same
Just be careful of the man you choose, you cannot choose again
It’s either George or Joe, baby I will support anything you choose.
But then of course everything always happens for a reason
If you lose both in this process then I guess it was never meant to be
But it's just something we have no control over and that's what destiny is
Please don’t worry, just lay your head down and sleep
I hope that after this we can wake up and it find out that this was all just a dream

Now my children, please don’t worry
Everything's gonna be alright
Keep a strong hold on your dreams, don’t let them fade
Mommas gonna hold you through the night

Death of A salesman: Problematize Posts

Matthew 24:10- “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Betrayal isn’t a new concept to our society, no; it has been around for ages. Who can understand our hearts? In The Death of a Salesman, betrayal is a well known word and it affects literally everybody in this play… some more than others. The first betrayal I’m going enlighten you on is the affair of Willy Lowman and a mistress.

Willy’s whole life has been a show, an entertaining story that pleased him. He sought after what he thought was the American dream, not realizing that what he sought for he already possessed. He had a big house, that was sturdy and upright, he had two kids and a wife Linda that was faithful and true to him beyond what he deserved. One Ironic thing of this story was Linda and her protective ways over Willy. In the story there didn’t seem to be a real strong romantic relationship between the husband and wife yet she saw Willy as this noble and good man. She may have been the only person who saw him as a good man, yet he slips to the side of unfaithfulness. When Biff came in and uncovered the truth of his father with another woman, Willy’s last words were “She meant nothing to me. I was lonely Biff, I was terribly lonely”. If she meant nothing then why was he with her? What good does it do our own humanity if we are untrue to our commitments?

Another time of betrayal was when Biff and Happy left their father in that restaurant yelling out insane words in the bathroom. Typically a family sticks together and the children follow and love the parents, even when grown, children should respect and love their parents. Biff and Happy both left their father stranded in his time of need, even though Willy didn’t even take it to heart, much less come to terms that he left. When they got home their mother once again scolded for treating their father life trash, it makes you wonder if the way the kids behave drive their father to the insanity he faced before death. Our society is like this in reality, their are fabrications of life everywhere you look. The question is, why did we do this to ourselves?

American Dream: Problematizing

The American dream is a tempting idea, one that gives us a longing to hope for tomorrow. Maybe our dream will take place then, maybe in a week. It is like our whole lives we spend in the desert and the Idea of the American dream is a cool sweet mist that we long to grasp onto, it is all around us but we cannot drink from it or bathe in its glory. We can let it touch us and be around us but the perfect dream will never be ours.

In the play/ story The Death of a Salesman Willy Lowman is the poor soul corrupted by the idea of the American dream.  In his mind, it’s as if somebody physically made him a promise that if he were to work hard, then he would acquire all of these things, such as a big house, a good name for himself, a lot of money and whatever else. Willy is a broken man with a tattered mind; he can barely have solid fantasies much less have a solid reality. During all of this, Willy’s wife Linda was so supportive of him in all his shenanigans and lies. He was focusing so much on his sales pitching that he tried to be a salesmen at home and pitch them the idea that things were right and life was perfect. In the end, Willy really did what the American dream relatively consists of; he had a nice house, two kids, a car and money. What more could a man want? We chase things that cannot be obtained; it is all a part of a sick game that entertains the American mind.

The American Dream is also not something that was made up recently, even in the Bible it is a thing that is sought after and a thing that consumes one’s mind. In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon talks about the labor of his hand and the sweat of his brow but also how he indulges in luxurious things like women and wine.  He worked as a man should do, but instead of taking his share he took that plus more. In the end of  the verse he realizes that it is all meaningless without the touch of Gods hand to make one happy, God will choose who pleases Him.

“For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!” Ecclesiastes 2:16