The End of Blue Like Jazz

It was really easy to get through Blue Like Jazz compared to some of the other books we've read.  Once I got past the first few chapters and started to feel a connection with Miller, I started to read the book out of pleasure instead of for homework.  I truly enjoyed how he wrapped up the end of his book with his theory on love and how we need so much more to be given to us and to be given by us.  I really liked his account of him and his friend Paul hanging out with the hippies in Oregon, where he could truly be himself.  I think to be yourself is an incredibly important part of whether we can truly love each other.  If we are always trying to impress or conform to a group, we can't jump totally in to the concept of love.  Love is always something that is both very hard and very easy to give.  I think it is most important that we try our best to give love to those that are harder to love because they are the ones who need it more.  I really agree with Miller on his views of who we should love, and I think his book really opens up a lot of good conversations that every Christian should talk about.

Blue Like Jazz

In reading the first couple chapters of Blue Like Jazz, I really didn't enjoy the book that much.  But in the second go at the next couple chapters, I actually started to really enjoy the book.  The thing that I liked best about this part of the book is because he talked so much about problems that many Christians have but hesitate to bring up.  He talks of faltering beliefs and questioning the church's motives.  This is stuff that I do all the time.  It's always nice to know that you're not the only one out there.  My favorite party in this reading was the paragraph about his conversation with his friend Tony about who he would die for.  I thought it was really cool how Tony points out that it's a lot easier to die for something than to live for something.  I think this is a really good point and I believe it to be true.  To live for something is to dedicate your ENTIRE LIFE to one certain thing or person or belief, to die for it is to give one moment.  It may seem like I'm making death look that bad, but maybe death isn't that bad.  None of us really know cause we're still alive.

Final Project Update

Right now, my project is going pretty well.  I just emailed the four people I want to interview yesterday and I already got two answers back.  They both agreed to be interviewed over the phone and I'll be calling them both sometime later this week.  I think that the five questions that I'm going to ask are pretty legit and will be really great to show to the class.  As for my presentation, I think I might do a powerpoint that contains five pages for each person and their answers to each of the questions.  I'll probably just read right off of it I guess, and this way it might be able to be used for future classes.  Hopefully, my two other contacts will get back to me and I think it's going to be pretty cool interviewing them.

The End of Neumark

I was very happy that Neumark had a happy ending, or as happy as it could get in their situation.  I liked how throughout the whole book she talked about all these terrible problems that are present in the South Bronx, but in the end still left hope with the reader.  I was actually not surprised to learn she was leaving the congregation.  I feel like no matter how hard we try to not get tired of something, we always do.  I think she lasted a lot longer than just about anyone else could, but sometimes you have to change things up for the better.  I know that God ask us to live our entire lives in pursuit of justice and to not really care where we are or how well off we are, but it's just human nature for us to want to be in the best situation possible for ourselves.  Now with that said, I believe that her whole book was simply a way to make people truly feel for the people who aren't as well off as ourselves.  She did a great job too.  With her numerous allusions to Bible stories and her dreadfully true statistics, it really made me think that we need to do something to change how America treats it's people.  Sure, some of us have no problems, but in my eyes, none of us should have problems and we need to try to get to that point as soon as possible.

Neumark

Probably my favorite part of this reading had to be the story about Deshawn.  It was pretty cool that he told Hiedi that God had given him an announcement to make and it ended up being him saying sorry to his friend Trevor.  This seems simple but the way I think about it is that he is truly doing God's will.  It's these simple things such as forgiving and loving each other that God expects us to do at all times, no matter what situation.  This is also one of the things that I think the world has the most trouble with.  We can't get over things that aren't really that important and end up making them much more of a hassle than they need to be.  Another thing that I thought was a good point in this reading was the idea of rest.  We are only human and we can only do so much.  At this point, it seems like Heidi finally found that out and that sometimes she needs to rest up too.  I think that we should love as much as we can, but at the same time we should love with all our hearts and sometimes our hearts need some reenergizing.  Once again, I enjoyed how Neumark paralleled her own story with that of Joseph and Mary fleeing for Egypt in the bible.  It makes it easier to imagine how both she was feeling at this time and maybe even how Joseph and Mary we're doing back in the day.  With that said, I think that I'm going to get some rest and reenergize my heart so I can love people more.

Heschel on Justice

This chapter has been my favorite in The Prophets by far.  I feel like Heschel really went straight to the point in this chapter and I think he did a really great job in explaining justice in the sense of man and in eyes of God.  The first words that made me pretty psyched was to hear that God demands justice, he doesn't ask for it.  To me, it makes justice seem like it should be the norm, not something that puts others on higher ground.  Living just lives should be only way we live our lives, and God doesn't hesitate to say that.  Heschel goes on further to describe justice as something that does not only consist of deeds to be done, but should be practiced with all of your heart behind what you are doing.  This is real important to me, because I personally believe that we shouldn't do anything without putting everything we've got into it, and I guess justice is no exception.  The final point on justice that I thought to be interesting was the idea that it is an "interpersonal relationship".  I took this as meaning that we should expect justice for ourselves, but also expect ourselves to provide justice for others.  He makes a few remarks on how we sometimes have to disregard self-interest and self-respect, and it makes a lot of sense to me because we are always focused on our own problems when others are dealing with ones that are a lot worse.  Thinking this way can really put things into perspective.  This chapter will definitely be the most help for me in our final papers, cause I feel like it truly touched on the importance of justice in the eyes of God and man.

Final Project Prospectus

I've kind of totally changed my idea for my project.  I was thinking in class today and how so many people who are just like us rise above and become so well-known for their pursuit of justice because of the passion we can put into it.  This made me think that it would be cool to find some modern day people around America who aren't very well known but have committed their lives to justice, like Charlie Strobbel kind of people.  I plan on finding four different people to read up on and make a poster for each of them that contains their stories and what they do today.  The biggest challenge for me will probably be finding these people so if you have any advise that would help.  I really just thought of this idea so I don't have anything started yet.  My to-do list is really just find these people who exemplify the fight for justice and become intimate with their stories and lives and then present it to the class.  I just think that this would be a good way to show that anyone can be important to the world through passion for doing what is right.