You, Orual, Queen of Glome, have been quick to cast judgment upon us the gods. But we have watched you, and know your heart better than you imagine. You claim your love for Psyche was no less than ours, but do not claim it greater. You ask us what right we have to take from you what is yours with no appeal to your own quality. Do you honestly believe you could provide a life for Psyche we gods could not have; simply on your love alone.

Though you do not want to admit it, it has crossed your mind how you cannot even provide for those remaining in your grip, blinded by jealousy as you are. In the presence of the dying Bardia, your loyal servant who loved you till his meaningless end, you sat in bitter regret for another you lost long ago, casting curses upwards, yet neglecting to nurture those in front of you.

You know as well as we that your love for Psyche is simply a mirror to look upon your greed, proud as it has made you. But know that the face of greed you wear, like all greed, wears a mask. It must be known in your heart that your love did not care for your beloved sister. You could not stand losing her to the point of driving her into exile. You forced her to commit the crime by means of manipulation. If your love were so true, why then did you not thrust the blade into her heart yourself? Surely then she would always be yours and not have to suffer as she did the consequences of her crime. No, we know your heart, for your jealousy is not something new to the universe. Like all jealousy, it takes and takes until all is destroyed. In your madness upon the mountain top all those years ago, the hope still remained that Psyche would be yours as you sat in the stillness of the night, waiting for her to light the lamp. Tending your self-inflicted wounds.

Indeed, though you say there is not enough room in the world for us gods and yourself, it is not what you mean. You would be truer to yourself to selfishly claim that there is no room in this world for any who oppose you.

You pretend that Ialim and Istra committed a crime by falling in love. Certainly though, it was you who committed the crime of holding onto love. And how can man rise to the level of gods when his head swims in pettiness. There is no lesson for man in your story of Psyche and as it would be a waist to not pass down lessons to man, the tale from Essur serves better. It is better to teach the world to love unselfishly than to allow love to drive it to hate the gods, to no avail.

The only punishment fit for your greed is to torture it to the point of numbness. Whenever you close your eyes to sleep, you will see Psyche, as real as if she were right in front of you. But know that as you reach out to embrace her, she will slip away, like water through your fingers. To your despair you shall always look upon, but never possess her. 

Ryan Gibson's (student choice: Biblical stories from: The Bible story library volumes 1-3)blog

(Wisdom)Students choice I

Biblical stories can be appreciated regardless of ones religious belief,  as containing strong stories that can help express virtues to live by through example. The first story chosen depicts Wisdom and actually the lack of wisdom that has dire consequences for humanity. The story of the Garden of Eden shows a perfect world that due to a lack of wisdom and insight was taken. In our situation we have people advertising and trying to influence  us to part  with our money but this story has a far more sinister tone as it effaces humanities future. This story provides a clear lesson to be learned in showing that prudence is key when dealing with strangers. 

(commitment) Students choice II

The ability to commit to something full on is an essential step in completing any task at hand. In the next bible story one loyal servant of God was put to the ultimate test of commitment and was rewarded for his unwavering support. The story of God's test of Abraham basically had the holy father testing Abraham's will. Abraham was tasked with sacrificing his only son to God and without the timely last minute cancellation from the divide it is safe to say that Abraham would have gone through with it. This story shows that Abraham was willing to put down anyones life for the God he so loved.

(Faith) Students choice III

The story of the prophets in the fiery furnace centers on three prophets of the lord who arrived in town, when the King was requiring a mandatory session of bowing and worshipping  to a giant Golden idol. These prophets had several choices to get out of trouble in this situation but provide an example of bravery as they refused the king knowing his cruel intentions. For those who did not bow were to be put inside the furnace to be burned alive. But do to the prophets great show of faith in the lord in standing by his commandments even facing death, they were miraculously left unburnt causing many even the king to acquire new faith in their God.

(Bravery) Students choice IIII

There are many stories within this text that exemplifies great bravery during these times but the story of David and Goliath is a classic for a reason. David not only faced a large size disadvantage but also lack of support. David said, "Let no man be afraid because of him; I will go and fight with this philistine." Saul said to him, "You are not able to fight him, for you are only a youth , and he has been a man of war from his youth"(318). As brave as David was he did not let these word discourage him and shows an example of bravery to save his people. David had a belief in himself that he could take on the giant and after a brave showing was able to topple the giant.

Ryan Gibson's outside reading (The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle) Blog

(Excessive Thinking) Outside reading I

"Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this because almost everybody is suffering from it, so it is considered normal."(14). What Eckhart is getting to here is the phenomenon for us to actually have trouble preventing our mind from racing. After practicing meditation for a couple years now I understand this dilemma first hand and still on occasion have trouble clearing my mind. The fact that he also mentions about this problem being overlooked on a grand scale also has big implications on how agitated and uptight our society will interact.

(Freeing the Mind) Outside reading II

"The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not the possessing entity- the thinker. Knowing this enables you to observe the entity. The moment you start to watch the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes active" (17). When I first read this quote I had to reread it a couple of times to fully grasp what was meant. I was surprised to hear that this philosopher would argue that I am not in control of my thoughts but that i am the observer to them. After consideration of this I can begin to see his point. When a negative situation happens people naturally get upset at the initial occurrence. I doubt that any one plans on thinking about being upset so in this instance they are just the witnesses to their own anger. Also when meditating and losing concentration the thoughts that arise seemingly come out of nowhere and are definitely unintentional. 

(present moment) Outside reading III

"The present moment holds the key to liberation, but you cannot find the present moment as long as you are in your mind"(23). This concept adds on to the idea of taking control of our minds and thoughts but goes a step further towards noticing the present moment that we are always in. Fully incased in the present prevents the mind from wandering. If you are focused on what is in front of you it is really hard to think about the negative things of the past or the worries of the future.

(The Ego) Outside reading IIII

"Identification with the mind, which creates a false self ego, as a substitute for your true self rooted in Being. You become as a branch cut off from the vine as Jesus puts it"(47).

This ego of the mind can be thanked for people poor self assume and depression. Any given situation can be analyzed with the mind but this is often taken to the next level of overanalyzing and worry. To get away from this negativity that the mind so easily created one must think of thought as a tool to be used instead of the one doing the work. When using this tool one can be thrilled at all the possibilities possible but once outside of a problem situation that needs salving excessive thinks seems to only bring headache and worry.

(Time) Outside reading V

"All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry- all forms of fear- are caused by to much future. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non forgiveness are caused by too much past."(61). I agree with this statement and live my life by this to a certain degree. In faith one can avoid these causes for fear and pain through a stoic view of a good world misunderstood. Thinking about the past and future cause stress because we are wanting our minds to take us there when that is an impossible feat. Instead we do the next best think which is not good at all which is to dwell on those times outside the moment. Since our knowledge of the past is based on memory and the future based on assumptions it is hard to actually tell what events will turn out to be good or bad years from now so the need to worry about them is low since the main thins needed to be happy in the present is simply to be focused on their in the first place.

Ryan Gibson's Assigned readings Blog

(Good and Evil) Narnia Post I

Edmund from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe finds himself falling for the evil forces residing in Narnia and is faced with the dilemma of not only correcting his mistake but of also regaining the trust of his companions. While from the reader's standpoint it is easy to tell that he had fallen astray from the good, Edmund makes a claim in chapter 6 that puts this notion of which side is Good or Evil to the test. Edmund says, "If it comes to that, which is the right side? How do we know that the fauns are in the right and the Queen (yes, I know we've been told she's a witch) is in the wrong? We don't really know anything about either."(60). Edmund makes a valid point in that they are new to this land and things might not be as simple as they appear. This muddled concept of evil vs good reflects how the real worlds issues are complicated and never cut and dry.

(Power of Forgiveness) Narnia Post II

C.S Lewis depicts forgiveness as a strong virtue within his work, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, through the kind and sweet actions of the youngest character Lucy. While Lucy is a little girl lost in a mystical realm she shows the power of conviction as she doesn't let small hindrances get her down. Two friends of Lucy, Edmund and the Faun mr. Tumnus, both end up causing turmoil between their relationship from potential betrayal to and unwillingness to believe. Despite this Lucy shows them forgiveness and the transgressions simply fell to the past and they went along with their journey. C.S Lewis depicts this saintly act of forgiveness though a young child showing how easy it is to forgive and let go of the burdens of past mistakes.

(Temptation) Space trilogy I

In That Hideous Strength, our main protagonist Mark is pitted in a rough situation where a natural drive to climb in the ranks effects his judgement on actually deciding on which ladder he he should be climbing.In other words whether the temptation is actually worth the end results. On page 130, we find Mark questioning himself after easily giving consent to something he knew to be wrong.  This temptation to doing what will make one more seemingly successful by selling out  morals on the issues, is a common problem in our capitalist centric world. Temptation by its very nature is easy to fall into, and by being over exaggerated in this novel through witnessing a truly evil corporation, I can begin to look at my own life's small temptations and be attentive to my decision and the consequences involved.

(Stoicism/ acceptance) Space trilogy II

“Terrible follies came into his mind. He would fail to obey the Voice, but it would be all

right because he would repent later on, when he was back on Earth. He would lose his nerve as

St. Peter had done, and be, like St. Peter, forgiven.” ( 147). This quotation from the book Perelandra, grabbed my attention as it shows Ransom dealing with inner conflict and accepting  his imperfection with the belief in his own redemption. Instead of dwelling in ones failure this shows how the belief in being forgiven can inspire one to achieve later on. 

(Nature of Reality) Till we have faces I

"For all I can tell, the only difference [between reality and a dream] is that what many see we call a real thing, and what only one sees we call a dream. But things that many see may have no taste or moment in them at all, and things that are shown only to one may be spears and water-spouts of truth from the very depth of truth" (p. 277). This quote is from Orual as she begins to question what makes thing real or an illusion. She gets to a good point in that we each individually perceive truth and while one may judge it as illusion does not make it so. Vice versa illusions don't gain reality through belief alone, but this fundamental search for truth and an understanding of the nature of our reality is what keeps life interesting and a constant mystery filled with miracles.

(relationship between the divine and man) Till we have faces II

This next quote is also from Orual during her time with the Gods and it helps explain humanity as seen by the Divine and our role within the natural system. Orual states, "I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till the word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" (p. 294). According to Orual most of humanity isn't even ready to speak with the Divine much less have a serious in depth conversation. It is only after Orual's transformation from feeling ugly and depressed to gaining a new face. This also helps reference the power of religion and faith as tools that can be used to kill this ego of the self and be reborn with a new clean face for God.

Final Blogging Assignment: Shannon Rose

This is a role playing exercise.  You are one of the gods who sits in judgment as Orual submits her complaint.  You will introduce yourself to Orual (give some brief background about yourself and how you have been witnessing her progress in life; this is your chance to wax creative) and then twist her accusation around so that it is she who is guilty.  In demonstrating that she has wronged Psyche, and whoever else you want to accuse her of wronging, you will include something about the role of myth.  That is, in discussing the role of myth say something about the story of Psyche the goddess, the oneOrual learned from the temple priest in Essur, and justify the spinning of the tale as being different from the true story that Orual knows.  You do not have to limit your accusation to this role of myth.  In the end of your essay, pass some kind of judgment on Orual: you may extend mercy, condemn her to a life of toil, or whatever you please. 

As the Fox leads her down to our cave, my friends are evidently stirring with anticipation. They are friends in the sense that I spend all my time with them. If presented with a choice, however, I am not entirely sure if I would continue in their company. There is no god between judge and men. "What have you done!?" she screeched  I could sense the human's blood coming to a boil as she sputtered angry accusations towards us. I was not offended, I understood what it was like to be good, to be just; I could sympathize with the human's transgressions, but the others refuse to stoop. Sometimes I wish we did not think on the same wavelength. It was I and one other that had pity, but the others' responses were harsh. I chose to speak first hoping to ease the blow, "listen child, it is I, Eidas watcher first from above, then below. I think the question is what have you done." Lately, I have hated giving my introduction because of where I have been and may not return. "I have watched you from above all your life. This has been festering and growing, seizing your mind, making it seem as something different." What a glorious life I had, too. Acting as an angel figure in the overworld, not trapped in this musky rathole. "Then why did you not intervene? Why would I be subject to this?" Orual shot accusatively at me. Me. What nerve. Still, she had a point, but I was not about to admit it. "Intervention is reconciled on a case by case basis and in your case, our acts were not to be applied." I had already decided to extend her mercy, but I could tell that it would be a battle. There is no way that these gods were going to agree with me. They were jealous. They always have been. I barely got out my ruling when the other gods interrupted and contradicted my decision with my own words. Henceforth, I escaped the underworld and suffered with Orual. It is what I wanted. I joined with her in her turmoil. She just wanted her sister back. I did too. 

Philip Vivirito's Blog

Creation vs. creation (Narnia)

            In the book, The Magician’s Nephew, Lewis’s creates a beautiful allegory of creation that parallels the Creation story in the book of Genesis. Lewis states that he initial didn’t hold Christian ideologies to be a big part of the Chronicle’s of Narnia. However, over time Christian proses are seen to have been developing over his works. The Magician’s Nephew starts off Lewis’s Christian proses. Digory is tempted by Jadis to eat an apple, he refuses, and however this is a direct reference to Genesis 3, where Eve actually does eat the apple. The biggest difference between the Biblical account of Creation and Lewis’s story of creation is that Lewis depicts the fall first. It could be argued that for Lewis creation actually starts after the fall. That the created world we are accustomed to is actually occurred after the fall. The world of sin was created, and since this world is full of sin that is when creation started. Lewis also gave everyone souls, where in Genesis Man and Women are the only ones given the “Breath of life.” Lewis’s books definitely combine Christian worldviews with his fondness for nature, myth, and fairy tales. Which carries over his entire fiction books. 

Early Apologist? (Narnia)

            C.S Lewis can be argued to be the most influential modern era apologist. His arguments for Christianity are beautifully developed with astounding intellect. They were crafted so well even a layperson could understand them. One of his most famous apologist arguments is known as the Trilemma. The argument is laid out by saying that Jesus had to be 1 of 3 things: liar, lunatic, or lord. The argument is set up to prove the divine nature of Jesus, ultimately trying to show that Jesus can only be considered Lord. Lewis’s initial layout of the Trilemma is in his book, Mere Christianity. However, I argue that Lewis in fact took years to develop his Trilemma, and that he used the book The Lion, Witch, and The Wardrobe as a test run. Here is a direct quote from the book that has subtle hints to the Trilemma: “There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is    mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it’s obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.” These statement presents three options in regards to Lucy’s experiences of going into the world of Narnia, she is either lying, she is either mad, or she is either telling the truth. The three-option concept in this book is almost directly matches the three option logic in Mere Christianity.    

     

Good Vs. Evil (space trilogy)

            In Lewis’s book, Perelandra the forces of good and evil are in constant struggle. From the opening chapters of the book we see the narrator struggling alone on the road to Ransom’s trying to decide what he is facing is good or evil. The biggest picture of evil vs. good occurs when Ransom battles the Un-man, where Ransom is trying to keep Evil from overcoming the Green Lady. Another picture of good vs. evil is when professor Weston arrives to Venus, and it said his body is possessed by a demon. In the end Ransom defeats the evil and frees Venus. It is often said that Perelandra was the story if Adam and Eve did not actually eat the apple.

The Myth of the Trinity (space trilogy)

            Lewis’s space trilogy has an overarching theme of Christian proses that include: good vs. evil, demonic possession, and even Trinitarian references. In his first book of the trilogy, Out of the Silent Plant, the book portrays the cosmos that is ruled by a triune God and the batter against dark and fallen rulers. For example Maledi the Elder is referenced as Father or God, and Maledi the Younger is referenced as Son or Jesus. For Lewis, Christianity was the truest of all the myths. He said, “Heart of Christianity is a myth which also is a fact.” In this book Lewis uses this concept of myth and storytelling to portray the idea of the trinity.

Sacrificial Love  (Till we Have Faces)

            In Lewis book, Till we Have Faces, he talks about one of the main branches of Christianity: Love. The book has hints of sacrifice, and self-sacrifice throughout it. One over looked quote that I believe sums up this theme is, “I wonder do the gods know what it feels like to be a man,” this quote is a direct reference to Jesus becoming man, and actually feeling what it is like to be a man. We all know how the story of Jesus ended; he sacrificed his life for our sins. Lewis in the book tries to explain that sacrificial love in and itself functions simply as material—the ends towards which sacrificial love is directed determines its moral value. Lewis understood this, and wrote an entire book dedicated to this called, Four Loves.

Outside Readings

Intro to Chesterton

           

            Over the semester I have been reading Chesterton’s book, Orthodoxy. The book has shed new light onto concepts and ideas that I never thought were possible. Chesterton writes beautifully, like he is talking to someone in a coffee shop. The most profound parts in his book are the way he blends truthful hard-hitting ideas with the simplicity of writing. He takes phrases that often mean nothing and gives them life. His most profound concepts are his concepts of Christianity as a whole. He makes the reader not just think with his or her mind, but with their heart. For Chesterton he wants to examine everything, and either count it as truthful or make up a new truth. His book has been encouraging to read, and also hard to read.

Love according to Chesterton

            My favorite quote from Orthodoxy is: “Love is not blind: that is the last thing it is. Love is bound; and more it is bound the less it is blind.” I take this to mean that love can be seen all around us in this world, and that love itself is something that will always be in the light. Love being bound means that it must have something to bind too. Love binds to everything, the more it binds the more it is shown and the less it is not shown. For Chesterton love needs to follow this formula, and when it does it gets closer to the love of the Father. We see the love of God, because we are bound to Christ in love. For this reason love is not in the dark, it is not blind, it is in fact seen because of this bounding.

The Mess We Have Mad

“God had written, not so much a poem, but rather a play; a play he had planned as perfect, but which had necessarily been left to human actors and stage-managers, who had since made a great mess of it.” This to me is a beautiful picture of the fall according to Chesterton. It says that God has written a play for us to follow, but since we are human with human conditions we took the words of God and decided to take a red pen to it and make our own play. We choose to use human actors and human stage managers, all we ideas of pride and selfishness, and decided to do things without God. We sinned, and tried to write our new play without the Help of the true Director.

Myth vs. Myth

            Lewis talks about myth as being, “the heart of Christianity is a myth which also is a fact.” Chesterton also devotes one of his chapters in his book the Ethics of Elfland. Where In it he talks about fairy tales, another name for myths. One quote from the chapter is, “Ordinary things are more valuable than extraordinary things; nay, they are more extraordinary.” I believe this quote hints out that what happens in myths are just normal ordinary things, that we often think are magical and extraordinary, but are in fact just another part of the story. We read myths as being extraordinary where we should them as just being ordinary stories, and that their ordinariness creates the feeling of extraordinary. Lewis saw this idea, in calling Christian a myth that is fact he is saying that Christianity is just an ordinary religion, but in fact it is extraordinary

Oddity of Truth.

“Show that whenever we feel there is something odd in Christian theology, we shall generally find that there is something odd in the truth.” To me Chesterton says in truth we have to expect oddity. And since some people say that Christianity is an odd religion, with odd rules, and an odd man at the middle of it. They would have to accept all this oddity to be truths right? The say that the truth is odd is in itself creating a paradox, which Chesterton wants to do, and writes about in the rest of his book.     

Own Topic

           

Stories are beautiful

Over the whole semester, and talking about story making and story telling has got me thinking about the importance of stories in general. I have looked at many stories in the bible, and other stories in general. I have been persuaded that stories are in fact the most form of communication in our lives. Everything we do, everything we say, ever way we act with people and interact with people make up a chapter in our story. We write our own stories, and that is the beautiful part of story making. Everyone’s story is different and everyone’s story matter. Jesus’s story matter because of themes of love and faith, our stories should matter because of those themes as well.

            Love, Happiness, and Adaptability

I was thinking about stories, and about the truest myth of Christianity, and how Jesus used three concepts in ever interaction with people, adding to his beauty of stories. Jesus showed love, happiness, and adaptability, Jesus showed love to everyone, doesn’t matter what story they are telling. Jesus showed joy in every interaction, and he adapted to every situation so he could show joy and love. We should do that in our relationships.

Stories and Nature

Each year my home church does a guys retreat, where only the guys go away for the weekend to grow together as a community and grow close to God. For some reason where we go on these retreats are usually places away from the everyday hustle of life. The places we usually go are typically considered “country,” which I very enjoy. The places we go to we usually stay in cabins, and when its night time you can see millions of stars. I remember this year when I went on the retreat there was a giant lake, and over looking that lake was a place where you could have worship. On this certain retreat I was leader of group of guys, so one morning we decided to have bible study out by the lake. So we got up in time to see the sun rise, and when the sun was rising we engaged in the Bible. It was one of the coolest moments of that weekend. For me to engage in the Bible with a bunch of guys and at the same time we took in the aweness of creation. It’s clear to me that when you are doing something in nature, or just outside it feels 10 times better. I guess for me nature brings up different feelings in a person. In nature we feel connected to the world.

Our Stories Matter.

            Our lives are comprised of many chapters, with many themes, and many challenges. Stories always often have challenges, and these challenges make us better. Trials are not bad in nature but bad in essence. Our stories matter, and our challenges matter in order to shaping our stories. The Bible matters because it’s a story of fall, redemption, and then rise. Our stories matter, because Jesus makes us matter