Week Six: Borg on God's Character

When I initially read the beginning of this chapter I thought it was redundant. Of course Jesus was not the school-teacher kind of a teacher, did we really need to establish that? I think Borg begins chapter seven this way for a very deliberate reason. He presents the idea of teaching for knowledge and then tells us this is not what Jesus did; that Jesus taught wisdom. Ok, so then I was really frustrated because I must have been missing something. knowledge and wisdom are really that different? Isn't a wise person full of knowledge? I thought they were synonymous. Borg makes clear that "Wisdom is not about knowledge or information. Neither is wisdom about primarily about commandments or rules, even though it speaks about a way of life" (165). Borg uses the examples of short stories or sayings, and these are the ways Jesus communicates wisdom.

One part of this chapter that really caught my eye was the part about timelessness. Jesus, realistically, had one audience in mind for his wisdom, "All of Jesus' teaching was directed to his contemporaries living in a first-century Jewish world" (167). Borg also brings up the idea that there is really no real concept of Jesus being a timeless teacher. This, though, is conventional wisdom that does, however, have a timeless quality.

Lastly, Borg talks about ideas. I agree with him in that we usually pass ideas off as just that -- ideas. Things that are not real life, not tangible. However, Borg argues that these ideas shape our lives in a bigger way than we may be willing to admit. He illuminates the idea we all have of reality. We all have one, a picture of what reality should or does look like. This, essentially, affects our response to life and living. It made me think on the subject on how God affects my reality, or really anyone's reality. Superficially I did not see many ways where God's Character in reality was really present. However, when it comes down to reality for me God is actually in the center of it all. One would have to peel back layers and layers to find it, but it is there. Gods wisdom fits into each layer in my reality, but everyone has a different perception.

Borg gives many examples of Jesus' wisdom in teachings through many parables and sayings people encountered when they listened. My favorite and most memorable image that correlates is that of the example Jesus uses of the parent and child. I have always imagined God as sort of a parent who provides opportunities instead of handing the child the gift. Like how parents make kids do chores to earn allowance instead of just giving them money -- there is always, always, always a lesson.

The image I have chosen to include this week has to do with the last part of this post in comparing God to a parent as us to children. You always know that no matter what has happened, what you have done, or who you have become that your parents will love you and help you. With things as big as choosing a college or things as small as not dropping your ice cream....

Week Five: Mark as A Story

I found this reading to be particularly interesting because of the perspective Rhoads spins on Mark. Previously, while reading the Bible or passages, the stories appeared as more of a direct lesson and not so much as a story. It was a bit shocking to me to read about characterization in Mark as if he were an author with a story instead of some boring textbook writer that derived joy from writing boring school stories. Rhoads article talks about how characterization is really approached in two different ways: telling and showing. It said that authors sometimes decide, through accurate detailed description, to tell the reader what they want them to know about the character. However, the second, which I thought was exponentially more interesting, was that the author show the reader. This is done through actions or situations where the character is tested in a way and the reader can infer, through judgement of the actions, what type of person the character is. I did not realize this is how Mark is written. Through this technique Mark develops consistent characters, not to be compared or confused with modern day literature, however the consistency is similar.

Another interesting thing Rhoads points out is something we all engage in when we are unsure of someone. We compare their character or decisions to societal norms to see where exactly they measure up. While we are not always aware of this level of judgement it proves prevalent and useful. Rhoads argues this is also how we decipher the characters in Marks Gospel. That being said, I would have guessed that Mark would tailor her characters to fit a certain standard, however that is not even close to the case in this gospel. "Often some of the minor characters meet some standards but not others," Rhoads concludes. Simple as that!

The last thing that really forced me to stop and think was at the beginning of the section on Jesus. Rhoads establishes that Jesus was bluntly stated as the central character in the gospel because in the first line of Mark it states that Jesus is the anointed one, the son of God. What really shocked me was what followed this, "However these epithets do not tell what task Jesus is anointed for or what it means to be the son of God." The following lines of the gospel further validate the readers urge to claim Jesus as important. It was the simple fact that no one really knows what it means to be the son of God, or the anointed one.

What does it mean? This claim made me think about my past 12 years in Catholic school and made me wonder if I know, really, what those things mean. Or do I just have a sense of it? Is it innate? I was flooded by questions within myself and a sneaking suspicion that I needed to do further reflection on this and take into consideration what I felt versus what I have been taught, and retaught. 

Week Four: Historical Documents

I have to start out by admitting I am not too fond of reading history. I understand there is an obvious importance to having a connection with ones roots and ancestors, but after year 4 of hearing the same lessons in school one starts to tune-out. What I thought was interesting about this article is that it mentions the why factor. We all want, crave, and need to know why something happened. While this is still true today one aspect of the writing and defining of why has evolved to mean something a bit different.

The article highlights the fact that over time things change. Yeah, huge discovery, right? Well, this truth, however obvious, holds some significant importance in how we record things today. In ancient times people were very much concerned with historical accuracy, but we see more attention to detail and scrutiny to perspective now than ever before. The ancient writers appeared to have a different agenda, not presuming it was a hidden one at all, just different. The ancient writers and gospel authors were more focused on preserving the truth of the story more than anything else.

I think it is important to keep both of these things in mind while being submerged, as every college student is, in historical text. This simple hallmark of Crossley's article serves a much bigger purpose in the scheme of everyday interpretation and understanding of a book like the Bible.

Week Three: SLOW

When Carl Honore started speaking about the idea of slow I completely tuned him out. Already, after sitting in class for less than five minutes I was quickly onto the next thing in my head. I ran through it over and over; I need to stop by Crosby, my Hunters are probably in my mailbox. Then the COG with Blakely, but I need to eat fast because I need to get all of my history and criminal justice homework done before Campus Kids. After Campus Kids I need to make sure I make dinner before going to Tim Wise or else I will not be listening to him, oh, Revenge is on tonight, are the girls watching? Should I skype my sister after?

STOP.

Did Carl just say that speedy living does damage to our relationships and our work? That is the sentence that really made me stop, slow down, and think really hard about what that meant. The list I had just been reeling through in my head became a prime example of exactly what he was saying and I blushed at having done exactly what he was advocating against in the midst of his words. I do not think my mailbox would have taken much offense to me speeding to get my mail, but my lunch with Blakely should not have been looked at as a check off. Yeah, I do this every day with her after class, but it is one of the only times I have to connect with her without our whole floor being present and I should take advantage of that. So, then what? I was going to try and get through reading for two classes and two assignments in two hours? That is not possible, but I had been looking at it as a challenge that I could overcome when in reality it would mean skimming instead of engaging and halfheartedly writing my feelings on these subjects instead of reaching beneath the surface. Jessica, my Campus Kids mentee, is the highlight of my week every week. Although it may be difficult to rally after four classes seeing her face is enough to make me smile the rest of the week. I should not be looking at that as an obstacle, it is a privilege. I went through the rest of my list becoming more and more aware of my lack of awareness.

The point is that Carl is right. If we do not slow down and take advantage of watching, listening, loving, thinking, anything, then when we look back on things what are we going to remember? Chances are we would not even take the time to reflect. We live in a world of speed and we cannot do too much about it. The iPhone will always get faster and the internet will someday appear on command powered by thought...it sounds scary. So what are we really avoiding? I think he hit it right on the marker when he said that thinking and processing takes too long so we avoid it, I would like to add that its hard sometimes too. Muddling through thoughts, feelings, emotions we cannot explain are hard to take time and think about. Because guess what, someone might not have an answer. And in our fast paced worlds where we expect things to evolve quickly and efficiently answers are not as abundant, so we stick to what we know.

So, think. Slowing down allows for us to be better at what really matters. Practice makes perfect, so practice slowing down. I am going to. It goes hand in hand with my first in class writing reflection, I need to take the time to slow down and care, why don't you?

This picture was taken on New Years eve in Mexico on my family's annual Cabo trip. All 30 of us make the trip in order to catch up and enjoy each other. We take this time to slow down and reconnect with each other when in real life we would be in our own worlds. Slowing down this trip allowed for me to watch my cousin Chloe learn to walk, play countless games of catch with Colin, and play princesses, hide and seek, water monsters, and mermaids with my other 17 cousins. This is a time we all count down to because when it comes down to it, we miss each other.

In Class Writing #1

One way I will apply mindful learning to this course is to be consciously deliberate. I need to learn deliberately, however, not through blunt memorization or holding myself hostage to my books, but to engage my mind and absorb the material. While I have been conditioned throughout the years to perfect material and then allow it to dissolve after a test I can identify with also absorbing the learning and being able to recall it today.   One of the most prominent times I can recall is my freshman year of high school while reading Romeo and Juliet. I could probably still recount every study guide. This is because I found a reason to love the material, to relate to it. I just need to find that in everything I come across this semester.