My Choice - Melissa Marazzi

As I think about graduating, I can’t help but look back on all my years and analyze my time spent here. I figured that I would naturally think I could have done more and could have experienced more, but this is such an easy trap to fall into – you could really say that about anything. We can always do more, it’s really a matter of if more is necessary – sometimes its not. I think what matters more is establishing a presence, being part of the environment and community that exists here. Being part of the environment, as Beldan Lane would describe, means that you are able to listen and communicate with the landscape around you, or the community around you. Then you can really experience the area and become part of it; establish a chora relationship. I think that this is a better standard to follow, rather than thinking about all the “more” you could do.

My Choice - Melissa Marazzi

I have recently finished reading through the book of Romans in the Bible. In Romans 5, Paul talks about hope. He writes “and hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” I thought about what having hope does, to a Christian especially. It allows the person to have freedom, freedom from fear mostly. In Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, it seems that the people who are against Aslan are gripped by fear because they have no hope. They must create their own hope, in essence, while those who follow Aslan rely on the hope he provides which is sure. This is symbolic of the hope that Jesus provides. According to the Christian faith, Jesus provides His children with hope and those who follow him are able to live freely without fear.

My Choice - Melissa Marazzi

In class, we were talking about how in the movie, one of the characters says that “we read to know that we are not alone.” I can really relate to this maxim. I think one of the best things about reading a novel is when you are able to be drawn into it because of something that you related to. If we were unable to relate to the story we are reading, there would really be no sense in reading the novel in the first place. I believe that it must be quite the difficult task to write a science fiction piece. Science fiction for the most part is un-relatable – only so many people have been in space. Lewis is a master at this, however. He incorporates the best aspects that humans can connect to into his stories – such as the various human emotions that Ransom encounters when traveling to Malacandra. Being able to relate the story at hand makes the reader more focused and able to notice the details of the story; symbolism seems easier to pick on as well.

Till We Have Faces - Melissa Marazzi

As I began reading Till We Have Faces, the opening starts out with Oraul speaking rather indignantly. He talks about how he has been wronged by the gods and that he is daring the dangerous path of arguing against them. This immediately made me think of the story of Job from the Bible. Great tragedy befalls Job and he winds up losing everything he has. Indignant – and rightfully so from our perspective – he falls to the ground and demand God grant him an answer. Job loves the Lord but does not understand why He has decided that these serious of events must occur. On the other hand, Oraul seems to angry because of a wrong he believes was done to him; there does not seem to be much adoration for the gods in his case (however, I am still in the midst of reading the story, so I may not have the full picture quite yet). The two seem to be facing what humans are constantly being frustrated over, our lack of understanding for what God has in sort for us. The truth is, though, because of our limited perspective, I think, we will never be able to really understand with full clarity when a thing is occurring. Hindsight is 20-20 and foresight is essentially blind; but faith is blind, so we must walk blindly and trust in God.

Narnia-Lauren Brooks

Narnia-Lauren Brooks
Many things in Narnia confuse me but the one that I struggle with the most is when Lucy is discussing Azlan with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. “Of course he’s not safe, but he’s good” What does that mean?? Having some sense of safety in my religion/spirituality is something that is important to me and this quote from Lewis’s’ book really confuses me. The only thing I can seem to relate it too is that he means he is not safe because he is a lion and he is something good and great but at the same time he still has sharp claws and sharp teeth. He can be good, but he can also punish you for the wrong things you do. For example when the slave girl was whipped he scratched the girl for her to realize what she had done and to realize how selfish she was being. I think it also makes him appear more human, especially to Lucy since she was present when he was killed and when he came back to life.

Favorite Character-Lauren Brooks

Favorite Character-Lauren Brooks
My favorite character from the Narnia books is Edmund. I know a lot of people don’t really like Edmund, but I think he is the child that has the most depth and realism to his character. When you look at Peter, Susan, and Lucy the only one that has a lot of depth and has a main part in the plot of the different stories is Lucy. Peter and Susan are very one dimensional and lack a lot of growth and development of Lewis’s part. When looking at Edmund you see real development due to his part in betraying his family and then in his forgiveness from Azlan. In many different books after that incident its effects are mentioned in different books, for example when the group doesn’t believe that Lucy was seeing Azlan Edmund felt especially bad about not believing her because of before when he new she was telling the truth, but refrained from letting the others know. I also like Edmund because he doesn’t have a real defining place in the lineage, Peter is the eldest, Susan is the eldest girl, and Lucy is the baby, and Edmund is just there. I think that might be part of the reason why the betrayal was so attractive to him in the first place

Vincent Farino Narnia

I found another relation to Christ and Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia book, as described by Mr. Beaver. In Narnia, there is a quote about Aslan that reveals a religious undertone. Aslan, who is symbolic as Christ, in Narnia is described by Mr. Beaver as, “Safe? Of course he isn’t safe! But he’s good." This relates to Christ in the Bible as he is described as, “A consuming fire” and “The prince of peace” (NIV). Both of these descriptions reveal the character of Christ as “not safe, but good.” I believe that those two descriptions are very powerful, and that Lewis most likely intended to describe Aslan in that way.

Vincent Farino Choice

I have been discussing a book with one of my friends called The Naked Gospel. This book makes claims that there are thoughts or ideas that Christians have come to believe only because that is what they have heard many times, and that it is not actually in the Bible. I thought that was interesting that there are certain things that I personally have believed in my faith without actually basing it on the Bible. I would hear things from different friends, family, and Pastors and just assume that what they have said was in the Bible, but in some cases it was not. There was also another interesting point that this man makes and that is that the New Covenant that Jesus makes does not actually happen until his death. This means that all of the Gospels word's and teachings are not included in that New Covenant because Christ has not died yet. I will have to do more research on this subject, but I thought that it was an interesting thought.

Mere Christianity- Elissa Wilcox

"Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel as though we were making it up. But, in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have." (Mere Christianity, pp. 41-42). I love this because I feel like Jesus talked about this, and that he wasn't the king that the disciples but he was a king. The fact that no one would have guessed that Christianity would have taken off the way it did and that it seems to be something that man could not have made up makes it more believable.

Outside Reading, Crazy Love - Melissa Marazzi

I was reading the through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Chan takes a very proactive approach to the Christian faith, proclaiming that we must be bold. He made a really interesting point in the book that struck me fiercely as I read it. He asked the reader to ponder going to Heaven and experiencing everything you hoped it could be. All your friends were there, people you loved, there was no pain or sadness, you were completely filled and satisfied to the full extent and thoroughly happy. But Jesus wasn’t there. Would you still want to go there? I think this is a powerful question that really strikes the heart of a Christian and gets them to think about what is more important to them: getting to Heaven or being with Jesus? The obvious and easy answer would be to say that of course a true believer would not want to be there if Jesus wasn’t. But this can also be seen in real life, day-to-day. It is hard to live day in and day out, being constantly tried and tested by the Spirit, but Jesus is hear with us. The one that would most likely chose the Heaven without Jesus would be the one who cannot take the trials of life for the sake of his Savior. But in the end, being connected with Jesus, I think is clearly the better of the two, regardless where it takes you.

Outside Reading, A Timbered Choir - Melissa Marazzi

I have been reading on and off a book of poetry by Wendell Berry called a Timbered Choir. Berry is a lover of nature and that certainly comes out in his poetry – aside from the fact that he is also a farmer. His poems reflect much on nature around him and his reactions to them. A was reading one of his poems from 1981 in the book simply labeled IX. In this poem he sings his praises to a forest that he finds such beauty in. The interesting thing is though is that he mentions it is beautiful because man has neglected it, man has disregarded in and left it be. Berry describes how man’s progress seems only to stifle, not only ourselves, but the world around us. In our desire for development, we seem to be poisoning things on the way, Berry writes. I think this is unique perspective and I have to agree with Berry when he says that we must see the forest as “fellow presences,” our neighbor in this Earth, not “raw sources.” We must learn to appreciate the nature around us and not simply use it to further our development when it is not so necessary. Berry also refers to the forest as “blessed.” I think it is important for us to be able to appreciate the blessedness of the nature around us and not pervert God’s gifts for the sake development, and using it to make paper for a book about why He does not exist. It is “here with us” as Bery writes and we should enjoy it as such.

Outside Reading - Melissa Marazzi

A. W. Tozer was a writer from the 50s and very a humble man. He never owned a car but preferred to use public transportation – this is simply a side note I found interesting about his life. He was a great author of many books, one of my favorites being the Pursuit of God. In his book, he talks about the necessity to be in continuous pursuit of God, as the title suggests. He writes, “faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze at the heart of the Triune God.” I love the way he describes faith here because it implies a continual work that must be done. Faith is an unusual thing in that when it is present we are unaware of it, but when it is not we are fully conscious of our need for it. Tozer writes about this in his book and compares faith to the eye: constantly occupied with object of focus and never able to see itself. I love this description of faith because it reminds of of the humility that is needed to posses it; it is purely on the grace of God to grant a man more faith. It is also purely dependent on our own willingness to steer away from logic and towards God’s direction.

Outside Reading - Melissa Marazzi

I was reading through the book of Hebrews, specifically Hebrews 4, and came upon a common theme in the chapter. The author emphasized the necessity for rest and I wondered what about rest is so essential. Other than the obvious benefits of rest – giving your body a break, to regain energy, for sleep, etc – I wondered what was so imperative. I realized then how Godly a thing it would be to do. God rested on the seventh day when He created the world. If God rests, then it makes sense for Hid children to. Also, it is a humbling thing to do, to rest. There is always work to be done. But the real challenge sometimes is to take a much needed break when you there are things to accomplish, when there is always something on your To-Do list that you have yet to finish. These things are important, yes, but so is giving the mind a break. I believe Go calls us to rest so that we do not spend ourselves seeking after work all the time. We can be so easily tempted to do more out of greed and the desire to have as much as we can get; it is harder to take a break.

Outside Reading, The Four Loves - Melissa Marazzi

In Lewis’ the Four Loves, he describes each of the different kinds of types of “loves” that man experiences. He speaks on affection, friendship, eros, and charity. In each of these he describes their unique and curious natures. It is especially interesting when he describes eros because of its seemingly un-human characteristics – it drives man to be what he usually is immersed in: selfishness. The thing that I thought was rather interesting was how each of these loves required the presence or fellowship of another. We are uniquely social creatures and God places in us a need to express ourselves to others, through these many different types of loves. It would be quite disastrous to ourselves to be completely isolated from one another. He says in the book, “We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves.” His last point is really interesting, that we must be union with others to really know ourselves. This is certainly true in the sense that we gather much of our perception of ourselves from others; we are able to convince ourselves of things so easily, with out someone there to keep us grounded, we may all be raging with conceit.

Narnia - Melissa Marazzi

In Horse and His Boy, we see that Shasta is a very humble boy living a very meek life as a slave essentially. Towards the middle of the story, we find out that Shasta had never even seen his own face in a mirror. The boy has been worked since he was able to start and most likely had no sense of identity. If he had never even seen his own face, it would be difficult to establish a strong sense of self; he has been told what to do his whole life and can only entertain his dream of going North to Narnia himself because his father thinks it foolish. Later when he discovers that he is actually a prince, the tables turn dramatically and suddenly he has everything he could ever need. This is a prime example of the notion of “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” from the Bible. No doubt Lewis must have been influenced by this Biblical theme; the humble gain everything in the end and the proud soon fall. This is a common theme in literature and Lewis describes this result for the righteous as a true reality for those like Shasta, are obedient to doing good.

Vincent Farino Choice

I have been reading in the Holy Bible about the Devil. I have been curious just how the Devil felt about himself to think that he could be more powerful than God. I have found several verses that made my understanding of this subject more clear. Before I state the verses I believe that Lucifer (the Devil) had a longing for power that drove him to think he could be over God. Francis Bacon states, "the desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall..." I believe that these verses in the BIble support the fact that Lucifer had this longing for power. Isaiah 14:13 states about Lucifer, “You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost of the sacred mountain” (NIV). There is a spiritual world that we as humans cannot see, and I believe that in this world in the beginning of time Lucifer believed that he could be more powerful than the one who gave him his power in the first place. Lucifer was the highest Angel in Heaven and his authority and power led him to long for more. For this longing he and 1/3 of the Angels were cast into Hell for all eternity. These longings that we have sometimes lead us to make poor decisions. We try to fill these longings with things of this world, but only the Creator of these longings can satisfy them.

Vincent Farino Choice

I have been studying a book called "I do not have Enough Faith to be an Atheist" and it has been very interesting. I am a Christian and after reading most of this book I have discovered that it really does take more faith to be an Atheist than a Christian. Basically to be an Atheist one has to believe that the earth and Humans came from nothing. As a Christian we have the Holy Bible which has never been proven wrong and has over 40 authors from three different continents that all are eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ. Not only did most of these men never meet or talk to one another, but all of the books of the Bible point to Christ. What more evidence does one need to know that we are created by an intelligent designer and that we did not come from nothing? I truly believe that it does take more faith to be an atheist and after reviewing many works by Lewis on longing I have found that we all have this longing, even the Atheist.

Vincent Farino Choice

While we were sitting around the fire at Kips place we discussed the idea suggested in Sever Mercy (again I know) of seeing the trinity through a literary metaphor. I found this very useful in describing the Trinity and how it is three in one. There are many parts of the Bible that I believe are so complex one cannot even comprehend what it means and I believe the Trinity is one that can be that way. This way of looking at the Trinity as in a piece of literature that is created by one man (or woman) with your own character in the piece, as well as all the characters being created by you with a piece of you in them. This was a great way of putting the trinity. I believe that there are parts of the Bible that we are not made to understand, but this metaphor of the Trinity helps.

Vincent Farino Choice

I really enjoy the quote by Lewis that states, “if we are made for heaven, the desire for our proper place will be already in us, but not yet attached to the true object, and will even appear as the rival of that object” (1980, p. 29). This means that there is longing that is already in us. Whether it is for heaven or not is unclear, but when we are reading these books or any book for that matter I believe that desire that is already a part of us is intensified. This definitely relates to the longing which I have focused on throughout the year. After my studies I have found that this longing is apart of us all. I believe we can all relate to this in our own lives because when we are away from our homes for a long period of time who doesn't want to go home? I believe that God created us to be with Him if we chose Him, and we all long to go home to Heaven to be with Him.

Vincent Farino Outside reading

I really enjoyed learning about the "otherness" this year and how it exemplifies God. Eliade describes this otherness as "Man becomes aware of the sacred because it manifests itself, shows itself, as something wholly different from the profane…. In each case we are confronted by the same mysterious act-the manifestation of a wholly different order, a reality that does not belong to our world, in objects that are an integral part of our natural ‘profane’ world" (p. 11). When I studied this quote i focused on the word "profane" and found that it is defined as "not relating to that which is sacred or Biblical." The otherness is described as 'wholly different from the profane' which means that it does relate to that which is sacred and Biblical.