Canoes

While home in DC over spring break, I visited the Native American Museum. One of the first things there that caught my eye was the three canoes and kayak on display. Listed next to each boat was the origin of the people who crafted it and the materials it was made of. The first canoe was from Hawaii, made up of three types of woods: koa, hau, and wiliwili. The second was from Bolivia/Peru and made up of reeds. The third canoe was from Northern America, crafted by the Chippewa tribe and made from birch bark.

Marveling at the seemingly perfect construction of the boats, I was blown away to think that it was manufactured without machinery. In thinking about it, I am reminded of the  discussion in class about hands being the primary tool of man, and crude tools (such as rocks, sticks, shells, etc.) that are available for use. Using his hands and crude tools, man can construct basic tools, such as knives, arrowheads, etc. I found myself wondering about the tools that these primal peoples used to fashion such beautiful boats, and how far removed these tools may or may not be from man’s most basic tool, namely, his hands.

Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday morning I went to class, knowing somewhere in the back of my mind that Lent was coming up but not aware of when. In class, I noticed that one of my classmates had an ashen cross marked on her forehead. Upon seeing it, a surprising sense of urgency flared up inside of me even causing me to be more awake and alert than before. It was Ash Wednesday. Despite not participating in this holy day since I was a little girl, I found myself nearly in panic mode over the realization that this day was suddenly and unexpectedly upon me. My reaction surprised me such that I felt unfamiliar with myself. “Why are you freaking out about this? Why do you want to go so bad?” I asked myself. No answer came, only the persistent feeling that I needed to partake in such a service.

I went to a service later that night, participated in the liturgy, sang the songs, and went up to the altar to kneel and receive the ashes. As the priest put the ashes on the heads of those present, he said “dust you are, and to dust you will return.” It must have rung in my ears seventy or so times, “dust you are, and to dust you will return.” After a short sermon, the congregation went up to receive communion, something I looked forward to as I rarely partake of it. The service was incredibly structured, every detail outlined in the bulletin. Such structure, liturgy and priestly attire reminded me of the church my family attended for so long.

Upon later reflection, I  asked myself what it was that made me want to go. Maybe it was structure that I craved, or maybe it was the aspect of contrition and penitence that I found appealing, or maybe it was an intense inner desire and hunger to know God that directed my steps to that place. When wondering these things I was reminded that rituals provide structure, orienting us to the world around us. Thus, ritual in a way is comforting. Ritual acts, as we defined them in class, are so much more a part of my life and important to me than I’d realized prior to coming to this understanding. This realization causes me to feel a kind of kindredness to oral peoples that place such import on rituals, as through them they act out and sustain their livelihoods.

Narrative Analysis on the story of Joseph part 3

In the start of chapter 40 Joseph has two new people join him in prison, a cup bearer and a chief baker. The bible says that they had been there for "quite some time" until things started to 'pick up'. Both men had a dream on the same night. Joseph tells the men that is he able to interpret the dreams but not because he is talented in himself but because the God that lives inside of him is capable. Joseph gives glory to the Lord. In all that we do good in, is it not a gift from God that we can do these things? It is. We are literally nothing without him and because Joseph gives him glory in ALL that he does, the Lord is there for him and gives him these things. In Psalms 37:4 it says "Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires or your heart." I encourage myself and any of you to remember that and hold onto it. If we just live our lives for a God that loves us SO much then he WILL gives us what we desire most in life. What a gift.

Continuing on, the cup bearer tells Joseph about his dream first. Joseph interprets his dream and ultimately tells him that it means that in three days he will be given a second chance and will do good with Pharaoh. The only thing Joseph asks of the cup bearer is tat he remembers him and tells Pharaoh about him and that he is an innocent man.

Now being as that the chief baker saw such favor in the cup bearer when Joseph interpreted his dream, he wasted no time and told Joseph his dream. Unlike the first one, there was a different interpretation. Joseph ultimately told the chief baker that in three days he will also be taken out of prison, but only to be killed.

Just as Joseph had interpreted everything occurred. Three days came and Pharaoh released both men. One, the cup bearer, was given his job back to him and the other, the chief baker, was killed. So Joseph must be sitting real pretty right now, he must be thinking the cup bearer will surely mention the Pharaoh to him and give him the chance that he deserves of freedom but this is not the case. The cup bearer forgot about Joseph. Put yourself in Joseph's shoes again really quick. He's been up and down and up and down and finally he sees a chance of possibly getting back up, getting out of that horrid prison. When all of the sudden the only reason he doesn't get to is because a man forgot about him. I'm sure Joseph is starting to really question the Lord in all of this and start to wonder why he is going through all of it. It has to be so hard but he still remains in the Lord and is faithful. Even though he doesn't deserve to be sitting at the bottom; if anything he deserves to be at the very top, he still trusts in the Lord and believes he is going through all of this for a reason.

Narrative Analysis on the story of Joseph part 2

In Chapter 39 we are reminded that Joseph is sold to one of Pharaoh's officials, Potiphar, but what really stands out to me is the next line afterwards. "The Lord was WITH Joseph so that he prospered and lived in the house of the Egyptian master." Put yourself in Joseph's shoes for just a second, do you really think you would still have faith in the Lord after all you've gone through? If I'm honest with myself, after being kicked while I'm down that much I think I would really be struggling with that yet Joseph remained faithful in the Lord and as we see it rewards him in a sense. That alone encourages me so much. We go through some really tough times in life but we can always remain in God, we can always be sure that no matter how down and out we may go, he is ALWAYS with us.

Because God lived inside Joseph he seemed "different" than everyone around him. "His master saw that the Lord gave him success" and because of that he put him in charge of all his possessions. Just a second ago Joseph was just some slave that Potiphar could potentially care less about. But Joseph was so much different than just that. THE LORD LIVED INSIDE OF HIM and because of that Potiphar knew there was something about him that he wanted. We can dot his in our everyday lives. We can live our lives with Christ inside of us and people are going to notice that difference in the way we live- exactly how Potiphar saw that in Joseph. Really take a moment and think about that. Our influence amounts to so much when we live our lives for Christ. It will not always be easy but it is the most plentiful thing that will ever fill us up. I just encourage any of you (including myself) to continue to strive for that lifestyle because it can be a gateway to so many on a new life full of true, everlasting life.

Continuing on in this story, Joesph's life takes a turn for the worst. His life is literally like a roller coaster with SO many ups and downs. As he remained a good "servant" to Potiphar and continued to build his way up he gets knocked down for something he didn't even do. Potiphar's wife becomes very fond of Joseph and several times she tried to get him to sleep with her- every time Joseph turns her down and remains faithful to Potiphar as a servant, but more importantly to the Lord. One day when no one is around Joseph is completely set up. He still manages to turn her down again and gets away but in the process he leaves his cloak in her bedroom. She goes along with a story that Joseph raped her and left his cloak as evidence. Potiphar didn't even have to think about it, he immediately throws Joseph into prison. That has got to be so incredibly hard for Joseph. He gets knocked down by his brothers, picks himself back up and starts living a decent life again and then just like that, he gets knocked down to the bottom again. That is so similar to how our lives can be though, we are always going to feel on top of the world at one moment and then before we know it we can easily be thrown to the bottom and all we can do is sit there and wonder to ourselves what could have gone wrong. We get to that point where we just want to give up and throw in the towel. Hold on to that thought though because the story is far from over.

Joseph is in prison. He has every reason to give up, every reason to be angry with the Lord, every reason to weep away at his life. He is in prison for something he didn't even do, he remained honorable yet is being forced to pay the time. Even then, with all of that crap going on in his life, he remained faithful in the Lord and guess what? "THE LORD WAS WITH HIM." The Lord showed Joseph favor while he was in Prison so the guard in the prison saw something in Joseph and he knew he could trust him with whatever. He knew that he didn't have to pay close attention to him while in prison. "The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in WHATEVER he did." Uh, how great is our God? Seriously think about that one for a second. Despite ALL the knock downs that Joseph faced, despite the betrayals of the ones he loved, despite the hardship and false accusations, the man remains loyal and faithful to the Lord.

Narrative Analysis on the Story of Joseph part 1

n the beginning of this story we quickly get a feel for who Joseph is and what others think about him. His Father, and just about everyone else loves him dearly. He is given a beautiful, colorful robe that stands out because of how great it looks. Joseph is smiled upon by everyone except his brothers. They claim to"hate" him, they are full of sinful manner because of all the love and attention he receives, they are consumed by their sin and blinded by it. This stands out to me because I know I speak for myself when I say I have been there. I have been jealous of others and it has taken me over into a very angry and selfish person in which my only goal is to take them down and in the process I hurt myself and everyone else along with that. I think we've all been there in times like that, our sin just gets the best of us.

As the story continues Joseph has two dreams in which both times it appears that everyone around him is bowing down to him, that he has the power over all around him. It was odd to me that he shared these dreams with his Father and Brothers, especially because they kind of got the idea that Joseph was saying to their face that he was better than them. I do not think that was his intent by any way but that is just how they perceived it to be.- keep in mind they were so full of their own sin that of course they would, in any circumstance, find a way to be negative about it.

 As Joseph is trying to relocate his brothers as his Father had asked him to he finally gets within distance of them and they immediately make plans of how they can kill him. Wow. His own brothers plotting ways to KILL Joseph... that is sin. It completely takes his brothers over to the point where they are so desperate to escape the sin that is consuming them that they think by killing Joseph it will all go away. All the jealousy, the anger, etc.

Before they finalize plans to kill Joseph one of the brothers Rueban speaks up and gets them off the topic of killing him but more of just trapping him in a well. Believe it or not I think that is very significant. Rueban is standing up for someone who (in the group/situation) is much less than him yet he goes against the grain, he goes against what "society" wants and does this to potentially save his brother's life. I think we should look at this and ask ourselves if we do that? Do we stand up to the bullies that hurt others, sometimes it doesn't even have to be a true bully in life to make others hurt. I am so encouraged by what Rueban does to stand up for those who are hurt. Yes, Rueban made continuous mistakes and without a doubt "hated" Joseph but that is the cool thing about God, his love is so deep that he overlooks that and I think that is why Rueban changes the plan and potentially saves Joseph's life.

So they throw Joseph in this well not sure what to do with him when all over the sudden merchants from Egypt come along and with goods and merchandise and they immediately come to the thought of selling him as a slave, and so they do. They sell their youngest brother, a 17 year old boy, for 20 shekels of silver. Ouch. Take a quick second and imagine what Joseph must be going through. He has had a tough time growing up with all of his brothers always looking down on him, he has tried to love them and get on their good graces, he has obeyed his father and been a good son, and just like that his brothers turn their back on him in a heart beat and sell him away. He is scared, surprised, hurt, in disbelief, probably anger was on the way after those.

As his is taken away his brothers shred his colorful coat and put goats blood all over it in order to fool their father that it was Joseph's blood and that he was shredded up by a wolf. THAT IS CRAZY. Joesph's BROTHERS attempted the thought of killing him, they sold him to slavery, they shredded his coat up and killed a goat to make the biggest lie be fulfilled. His Father did not question them, he just wept and mourned for the loss of his youngest son. The passage ends with Joesph being sold to a man named Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials.

A Market Place of Corruption

The market place can often be a place full of distraction, corruption, and will take advantage of one’s life if it allows them to. In fact, Turner (1978) states that “faith is often manipulated for political and economic ends” (Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, pp26) which becomes a great distraction to many people that live in a society that praises the market place. I believe that one of the biggest reasons that the pilgrims decide to go on the Appalachian Trail or the El Camino all stems from the desire to escape the market place. Growing up, from a child to an adult the pressures of life never seem to truly leave; however, when one is able to isolate themselves from all of that they, for possibility the first time in their entire lives, feel a sense of freedom. Turner talks about faith being manipulated by political and economics and I think that is because the society now days tells us  through its never ending pressures that those things come across as more important that one’s faith. In fact, so often people state that they will hold off on their faith till they get settled in to a job and a family and then they will make time for it; however, I argue that their excuse to put their faith off is simply another way to say that their work, their economics and politics are more important than their faith. We allow the market place to become so important in our daily lives that it overshadows everything else including our faith. When one is out on the trail they are able to escape that pressure of the market place and finally get to spend a time of spirituality with their true creator. Turner does a great job of boldly proclaiming that the market place does substitute for our faith which is why one would say we live in a broken world.

Profane and Sacred in the Journey w/ biblical parallel

In Luke 6:12 it says “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.” As I was reading this passage it reminded me of the profane and sacred time and how the two are very different. Personally, I see profane as this time that one spends living for themselves and not very focused on the bigger picture. However, when I think of sacred time I think of one being much more selfless in the time they spend, that their specific time is very important and has great value. In the passage above it talks about how Jesus went away to spend time with God, his father. He wanted to make time for something so significant and made sure he was isolated wherever he went to spend that time so he goes to a far off mountain. I don’t think Jesus looked at this time as something profane, something that had a time limit. I think he saw it as so much more than that, something very sacred to him. He had no sense of time while on this mountain, in fact, I can picture him being completely carefree and simply enjoying time with his father. Similarly, when I go to spend time with God or have a “quiet time” as some may call it, I have no agenda on my mind. I also prefer to be alone and in my own space so that nothing can intervene with me as I spend time with God. This is a very sacred time for me. I never really thought about the parallel of one’s own quiet to how Jesus went to a mountain to spend time with God. In fact, in both scenarios a very similar concept occurs. In the passage, God gets away from everything and just spends time with his father not worrying about anything else. In my own way, I am also getting away and spending time with my God without weighing down or dwelling on the things going on in my life. Eliade Micrea says in her except, The Sacred and Profane: The nature of religion, that “when the sacred manifests itself in any hierophany, there is not only a break in the homogeneity of space; there is also revelation of an absolute reality, opposed to the nonreality of the vast surrounding expense.” When I read what she says, in a lot of ways I see my own quiet time with God being represented by that. I am able to escape my life for just a little bit and live in this “absolute reality” and it just makes everything feel so much different. I feel alive, whole, refreshed, and it really makes me realize how important and evident the sacredness of that time really is.