Joel Painting

My painting is very simplistic and literal. My mind just tends to work that way. Each different piece of the painting represents something taken directly from the text.
First, I have Mt. Zion and a sun in the upper left corner. Chapter 2 verse 1 says "Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain!" To me this signifies a celebration and a warning. I included the sun to signify the return of the son. I also painted a trumpet to signify the state of alarm and celebration with the 'sound' of Zion coming from it.
Next I included hands in prayer with 'repent' written in the middle of the back side of the hand. One of the biggest aspects of Joel, is repentance. All of Israel is called to it. I think that last days are calling for a spirit of repentance that we have yet to grab a hold of. Chapter 1 verse 14-15 says "Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near." We have always been in the last days.
Next, I painted a vessel pouring out what looks like water. This of course signifies God's promise of pouring out His spirit upon all flesh. These famous verses are indeed powerful. Chapter 2:28-29 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my spirit."
The dove at the bottom of the page is the most important part to me. I have the caption "For He is Gracious and Merciful" under the dove. None of Joel would be possible without God's grace. He gives when Israel does not deserve it. We don't deserve Zion, but His love draws us in. He beckons us to repentance and readily extends forgiveness.

Joel revisited

So, today in class was very enlightening. We read to nature, the book of Joel. It sounded to weird at first but when I actually did it, it helped me to understand the piece better. Not that nature spoke to me or anything, but I think your surroundings do play a part in the way you interpret literature. The first time I read the whole book of Joel, I was sitting at my desk where I had been previously working vigorously on other homework and assignments. So my room had an air of stress about it. My mind didn't feel like understanding anything.
But when we were sitting outside I wasn't around anything but the outdoors. I find in my life that I experience God most when I am in nature. It is just a great way to connect with him. So reading His word, while enjoying His beautiful creation was fascinating.
Looking at the book then, it was easy to see it as an end times prophecy. Something I had overlooked before. Its an outcry for God's chosen ones; Israel. It was a call to repentance because the day of the Lord is/was near (vs. 15). I love that the book of Hosea is right before Joel. Hosea is story that portrays Israel as a prostitute, chasing after other loves. But in the end the Lord beckons them to return to Him. Chapter 14 Verse 4 in Hosea says "I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them." In chapter one of Hosea God actually calls His people "No Mercy", and " Not My People." The end of verse 8 - " for you are not my people, and I am not your God." His anger rises, but by the end of the book He is calling them back to His side.
Joel seems similar. Joel just takes it farther. I believe that it walks us through the judgment and takes us right to Heaven. Or the new heavens and new earth...I don't know much about end times. But this is my stab at trying to begin to understand the book of Joel. It may be vague, but scripture can be intimidating. Its the word of God. So I do get nervous when trying to figure out things like the book of Joel, that isn't exactly black and white.

Joel

The book of Joel isn't the happiest book of the Bible. Not much in known about Joel, who is one of the minor prophets. Not many people quote scripture from the book of Joel, except for 2:28-29, which is a very powerful piece of scripture. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my spirit." Every pentecostal loves a good Jesus outpouring.

But I think that most people overlook the power of this book. Its packed with redemption. Chapter one starts with an invasion of locusts and moves into a call for repentance in the land. Not much is really known about Joel. But at the end of chapter two the Lord shows pity. Verse 18 says "Then the Lord became jealous for His land and had pity on his poeple." He then declares that he will send them grain, wine, and oil; he will satisfy them. How beautiful is that! We don't deserve squat. But yet he simply calls us to him, there may be correction involved, but regardless, the fact that he even wants us is amazing. The whole flow of the book just reaveals a lot about God.

Another thing I love about Joel is that it reassures that the true Christian walk is not a simple one. We will, without a doubt face trials and hard times. Chapter 2:12 "Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and render your hearts and not your garments." This goes hand in hand with "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." The fact of the matter is that God is an angry God, AND a loving God. He is just as much the lion as He is the Lamb.

When Lylacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

Walt Whitman's Poem When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd is a complex, deep poem. Its a powerful elegy that conveys the difficulty of Lincolns death. In the piece Whitman is constantly talking about lilacs and springtime. It was interesting to think of spring as a time of mourning and not a time of rebirth and new life. Spring is a time when things come back to life, come into beauty, and are no longer dormant. Within the first three lines you see the sorrow he affiliates with the sprintime. "I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring". Lincoln died in April, the peak of spring.
But yet it seems like, with the symbolism in the lilac, that it brings hope. One of my favorite lines was in section 7: "O death, I cover you over with roses and early lilies, But mostly and now the lilac that blooms the first." No matter what, spring always comes back, and the lilac will always grow. Cover death with life.
But I must say that my favorite part in the whole piece are a few lines in section 13 :"You only I hear-yet the star holds me, (but will soon depart) Yet the lilac with mastering odor holds me." This line shows how much Whitman mourned over Lincoln. It holds so much respect and honor. The stars, to me, symbolize Lincoln. Lincoln was an extremely influencial man. Whitman can't change the fact that the star has fallen. He must remember the lilac; the fragrance of hope.
Towards the end you can sense Whitmans acceptance of Lincolns death. My second favorite challenging part was in the very last section. "Passing, I leave thee lilac with heart-shaped leaves, I leave thee there in the door-yard, blooming, returning with spring." I feel like he is accepting the death here, but remembering the memories. Every springtime, the memory of Lincoln will return with the lilacs.
I can relate this piece to my life in the way of embracing hope in the hard times. Life would be so much more difficult and miserable without hope. We should always be looking forward to the springtime, a new season.

Darkness

In class on Thursday we read the poems dealing with heavy, dark things. I had the pleasure of reading After Her Death by Mary Oliver. It was an interesting poem. From what I understood of the text it was about the passing of a dear friend. The person that experienced the loss of course was deeply wounded from the loss. They are trying to find relief, they are trying to find answers, trying to find light in the midst of all the tragedy. They seek for these things in the Bible that a church gave to them. They find themselves turning to the Book of Matthew, turning to anywhere just for some type of answer to anything.

I like this poem so much because it is easy to relate to if you have ever lost a loved one. When my grandmother passed away I was angry for a while. It didn't make sense. I kept asking God why. But slowly I started to realize that death happens. It isn't always fair, but God doesn't do it to be cruel or anything of the sort. Death causes us to appreciate life more.

I think that's why darkness is not always necessarily a bad thing. It certainly doesn't feels like it while we are walking through something extremely difficult, but looking back on my life, I thank God for the hard times. My lif would not be where it is today without them. In James, God tells us to be joyful in trials, and to remain strong because the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. My faith always arises when I think upon what Paul went through, and how he kept pushing toward the goal of Christ. I can persevere through anything with Christ in me. He is the only thing I need, no matter how bleak life may look at times, He is always there, being my biggest fan cheering me on to the finish.

Theme

I never thought about the possibility of theme hindering what the text might mean to the reader. The way my brain works, I realize that this may be one of the reasons I struggle with interpreting texts. Usually when I read a piece, the first thing I do is search for a theme, and since my mind is slightly one track, once I have a meaning and or theme stuck in my head it is hard for me to expand to what else it could mean. I keep trying to expand on that one idea instead of what else could be an interpretation. I am a literal person so I often get stuck in the interpreting literally.

For example : My mind on "Little Red Riding Hood." When I think of that story I think 'don't talk to strangers' and that's about it. After reading the homework, I see that even the simplest story or pieces can have more than one meaning. I never knew that the intended moral of that store was for young women to watch out for the flattery of charming men. Kinda lost me with the talking wolf playing the charming man part. But it could also mean a million different other things. I think it could be a parental lesson. My mom would have never let me walk in the woods, by myself, carrying food, all the way to grandma's house. That just spells stupid. So moral of the story: Don't let your children walk in the woods alone for long distances, they, and their grandma, will get eaten by talking wolves in nightcaps.

I really liked the other two pieces we read for homework that kind of made fun of "Little Red Riding Hood." Even though it is a childrens story, it is slightly ridiculous. At least I think so. But I guess that is why most versions add the lumberjack killing the wolf at the end instead of it eating her. I never thought of this story so much before. Sort of enlightening.

The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried. "The things they carried were largely determined by necessity... To carry something was to "hump" it...What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty...plus the unweighed fear... They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried...What they carried varied by mission... They all carried ghosts...The things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition...Some things they carried in common...They shared the weight of memory...They took up what others could no longer bear...Often they carried each other, the wounded or weak...They carried infections... They carried the land itself...the place, the soil...They carried the sky... They carried gravity... just humping...Because it was automatic....Their prinicples were in their feet... They carried their own lives....They would never be at a loss for things to carry."

"For the most part they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity...They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die...Greif, terror, love, longing...They carried their reputations....the blush of dishonor...By large they carried these things inside, maintaining the masks of composure..."

These are all the sentences run together from the piece that stuck out to me the most. They paint vivid pictures for the reader to understand what it was that they carried. They carried the unimaginable.

My dad's brother Bob died as a result of the vietnam war; because of Agent Orange. I was probably five or six at the time. Bone cancer slowly took him from us. It was the first time I ever saw my Father cry. Bob had a loving wife and children that cared for him. I know they miss him deeply. It took our family a long time to recover, as with most grieving. I can't imagine what my Uncle Bob went through, or what he carried during that war. But I must thank him for carrying what he did to save the lives of many other people. I also find myself stopping to thank the people that helped him carry burdens during the war. The brave men and women that were family to him during that time.

Thinking about the men and women that serve our country puts a knot in my stomach. I can't imaging how hard it must be. I am ashamed to say that I don't know if I could ever do it. I don't think my heart could take being away from my "Martha" so to speak. I could not handle seeing people around me fall boom-down. I could not handle memories. The things they carried.... I dont think I could carry.

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love is a very interesting piece. I love the debate in it. The core question, in my mind, is 'What is true love?', and 'Does true love exist, is there really such a thing?'

Mel and Terri are a married couple that sit and debate about Terri's past abusive lover Ed. Mel is convinced that there is no way that Ed loved Terri. He not only verbally abused her but he hit her. Terri was convinced otherwise. She thought that Ed truly loved her. She went so far as to think that he killed himself all in the name of love for her.

I tend to agree with Mel. I believe that if you truly love someone that you can't imagine verbally or physically abusing them. Abuse does not exist in true love. Another interesting topic talked about regarding love, was remarrying.

Mel tells of his experience. He claimed he truly loved his ex-wife, hates her now, and truly loves his current wife. Can true love come and go? Can it be found more than once? I full heartedly believe in true love, but I also believe that there is more than one person in this world that I can whole heartedly love.

Mel finishes out the story with an account of an elderly couple. This couple got into a car accident that landed them in critical condition. The husband began to get very depressed simply because he could not see his wife's face while in recovery. To Mel, this was an expression of true love. Even though seemingly drunk by the end, Mel proves a great point, true love does exist, but he lets us draw our own conclusions.

My earliest memories of literature start with Kindergarten. The class would have story time every morning. We would sit in a circle, listening intently to the teacher read a story. I do not really remember the stories specifically, but I do remember anticipating story time every day. I would be excited to hear about things I only dreamed of experiencing. That is why I love literature so much. I enjoy reading. It gives me an escape from reality. It began with reading about princes and princesses as a young child, getting ready to drift off to sleep, to being a young adult reading about passionate romance wishing that a prince charming, of dreams so long ago, would appear.

That is why I believe literature matters so much. It is often times unrealistic and fascinating, full of passion and hate, love and war, politics and government, relationships and break ups, comedy and woe. Literature can teach us so much if we open up to it.

My favorite pieces of literature are the works of Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book with Sense and Sensibility ranking second. I love them because of the hope they inspire in common people. Jane Austen was a fascinating woman and author.

If I connect with the piece it make it so much easier to understand. Some literature isn't the easiest to understand. For example, medieval literature is not exactly my cup of tea. But, I have no problem digging into a piece and attempting to solve it. That is another beautiful thing about literature, interpretations vary between person to person, and that is okay. :)