The Magnificent Farmers' Market

“The train station of Omelas is actually the handsomest building in the town, though plainer than the magnificent Farmers’ Market.”  This image makes me think of how a town/city can be a successful, thriving community. I think that when I read this, I read it all wrong. When I look at it in a different light, I see entrepreneurship and people working for what they want.  I think that I stopped and made up my mind the first time that I saw that Omelas did not have an army of any sort and they did not possess a stock market.  I honestly do not understand why they would not, but that is not for me to judge.   A Farmers’ market is one of those things that I wish was more common. In the north, like Pennsylvania, there is always farmers’ markets and if you are cautious about what you eat, or want some good fresh vegetables, there is no better.  I think that throughout all economies, the best possess two things: 1) they must be strong enough to be self sufficient, i.e. the farmers’ market. 2) Second of all they need a positive income from outside trading. What I mean by this is they need to be selling more than they are buying from outsiders, kind of like the U.S. and China, only opposite.  With Omelas bringing in trains and busses, their economy is undoubtedly much stronger because of it. 

“The terms are strict and absolute; there may be not even be a kind word spoken to the child.”  When I hear this, I think of omens.  Everyone has them, but nobody wants to think about it.  One that I have always had is such that if I have a good and positive day, then some time there after I will have a bad and negative day, so that in the end it will all balance out.  I feel like there always has to be balance in the world.  I know that it is crazy but that’s how I thought when I was in high school.  The people of Omelas, I think, take this kid as an Omen.  Almost as if the worse off he is, the better off they will be.  I do not know why it is that people always hold to these omens, and I am sure that not all people have omens.  But still I feel for the child.

The world is not perfect in any way, but if it were Omelas would be a good city for the most part, the only difference would be that there would be no abused child.  I really think that I can understand both sides of the argument, who walks away and who does not.  I cannot say which I would be, due to the fact that I am not in the element, but I think that regardless I would feel for the child. I think that the reason why nobody helps him is one phrase: “out of sight, out of mind.”  It is so true, yet so sad indeed.

Special Blog Post #2

1)  Re-present the parts of the text you are interpreting.

I think that the best way to tell the Bible and “re-present” it, is to just use it directly tell it, the following is from Joel 2. And I am using verses 13 through 21. I think that these 9 verses really get a good group of the down and the up and leaving it with a positive point. 

Return to the LORD your God, 
   for he is gracious and compassionate, 
slow to anger and abounding in love, 
   and he relents from sending calamity. 
¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent 
   and leave behind a blessing— 
grain offerings and drink offerings 
   for the LORD your God.

 ¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion, 
   declare a holy fast, 
   call a sacred assembly. 
¹⁶ Gather the people, 
   consecrate the assembly; 
bring together the elders, 
   gather the children, 
   those nursing at the breast. 
Let the bridegroom leave his room 
   and the bride her chamber. 
¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, 
   weep between the portico and the altar. 
Let them say, “Spare your people, LORD. 
   Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, 
   a byword among the nations. 
Why should they say among the peoples, 
   ‘Where is their God?’”

The LORD’s Answer

 ¹⁸ Then the LORD was jealous for his land 
   and took pity on his people.

 ¹⁹ The LORD replied^[a] to them:

   “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, 
   enough to satisfy you fully; 
never again will I make you 
   an object of scorn to the nations.

 ²⁰ “I will drive the northern horde far from you, 
   pushing it into a parched and barren land; 
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea 
   and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. 
And its stench will go up; 
   its smell will rise.”

   Surely he has done great things! 
 ²¹ Do not be afraid, land of Judah; 
   be glad and rejoice.

2)  Explain why the text or the aspect of the text that you've chosen to focus on needs to be interpreted.

 I think that this particular part needs interpretation because the entire section before it talks about famine, death, and destruction.  The book of Joel really is a lament; however, there are parts that show God’s goodness and faithfulness.  This is a case where this passage, in itself, is simple, but when it is sandwiched with the weeping and lament, one can very easily read over it.  I think that Joel needs to be studied more.  It is a book in the Bible and to be honest, when I saw that we would be reading it, I was not sure if it was a book that was canonized or if it was something that was “probably written back then” so it must be true.  For that reason I think that is needs an interpretation because of its lack of popularity. 

3)  Tell what you take the work to mean. 

This section of Joel is about Joel telling the Israelites to not give up.  That they need to focus on God and not leave God, like every other time they did.  Joel talked about how God was patient and that He was still there for them. Sure the Israelites were going through a famine that was the worst in many generations, but God still cared. Just think about Job and how much he struggled.  Joel calls for a fast, in hopes that God would take away the famine and bring back the good.  He then calls for basically a church service, or a chapel service.  Joel tells the priests to call out to God.  I think that Joel went with the old adage, “ye have not because ye ask not.”  Then finally after all that, the passage says that the Lord relented and took the famine and bugs away. That very “army” that God sent among them, He removed.  “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”  God basically calls the Israelites the laughing stock of back in the day.  He is basically calling the Israelites the little nerd kids that get stuck in their own locker, a trash can, or given a swirly in middle and high school.  If a little wimpy kid is smart, he will get the biggest, badest bully of them all and befriend him. Once he does that, as long as the wimpy kid is nice to the big kid, he will always have a body guard.  I think that God could be considered to be the Israelites “body Guard.” When it says that God would drive the northerners into the desert, that is a tough thought but I would rather be in a desert and make it out than be driven into the Dead Sea or Mediterranean Sea and drown.  If so many people died that there was a stench, the Israelites serve an amazing and incredibly powerful God.  Just before God goes and “removes the threat” Joel talks about how God is sending new Grain, Wine, and oil. I think that the Grain, Oil, and Wine are a very important in the sense that without those three commodities, their world would not revolve.  I think that it would be comparable to meat and food for Grain; soda, coffee, and water for Wine; and electronics for Oil.  Just think what would happen if all food were to disappear?  Aside from complete panic, the world would be in ruin and death.  The Israelites did not have water to drink, so they had wine which was safe to drink. I would hate to have nothing to drink if all water was rancid and putrid.  And as for electronics, when was the last time anyone used something that did not use a computer?  I am on a computer right now, and I think that everyone uses some form of electronics all day every day. 

3)  Supply evidence from the text to support your interpretation. 

My evidence supported comes from the part about where God sent the enemies of Israel.  Directly stated is my favorite form of revelation of information.  When I think about what the Grain, Oil, and Wine mean to me, that’s slightly what I put.  Obviously the Bible is not going to directly compare their culture with ours.  This is just a very general comparison, and I am sure that there are better.  I kind of sat back and read it and thought about what this would have been like back in the day, and in the middle of a desert where there was a famine going on.  Then I wrote on it. I don’t think that it was incredibly profound what I thought about and pondered but I think that it is very accurate and that we should dig more into the obscure books of the Bible, such as Joel, Amos, and Obadiah.

4)  Explain why or how the interpretation matters or could matter for yourself and/or for the reader.

Why is this important? Well, the world is not always happy and fun.  There will be times where we will go through a drought or rocky point in life.  We will think that God is ignoring us or that all hope is lost but in all reality God still loves us and is there for us.  I think that life will always balance out.  Sure, someone is struggling, but as that Christian song goes, “though the sorrow last may last for the night, but the joy comes in the morning.”

To be in a convent or not to be in a convent

I think that it is very true in the fact that we really are “Temples of the Holy Ghost.” I can definitely feel the story because of how so many people act around here (and I include myself in this).  It seems as though a lot of people are always picking fun at people of other religions, of even worse, different denominations.  I sure know that I am guilty.  And not to seem judgmental (cause that is definitely not my motive), but I think that everyone at some point in time will pick fun at people of other religions of denominations. 

The cold hard truth is that all people, even those that reject God, are temples of the Holy Ghost.  I just think that a lot of people do not realize that.  The world is our mission’s field and we need to let our light shine. 

The bit about the convent had me.  I realize that people do live that way; in fact, my grandmother went to a boarding school when she was in school due to the fact that her parents were pioneering missionaries to Bolivia.  Do I necessarily agree with the teaching style that is associated with boarding schools and convents? No, but I do think that if a student is in need an intervention due to attitude issues, that would be a viable option. 

The scene in the story with the girl getting angry with the boy and running off to her room struck a note with me.  I was the stubborn child when I was young.  And if I was told to do something, such as doing my homework because I was homeschooled, I would not do it and just sit there.  I see it as the same as the little girl going off to her room.  She wanted to go to the fair but she would not go, just to prove a point. 

Not going to lie, I am not sure exactly what to get out of it. I don’t know if I need to take it for the literal value, or there is some huge, deep, complex meaning.  I guess that either your comment or tomorrow’s class will tell a lot of whether I got it or didn’t get it. But I will say that I did like it.

i think that you will be intrigued by this link

http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/sourcing
I figured that it would be a good website for you to read in response to the essay that you gave for us to read on Tuesday.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

“To throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one.”  When I started reading this, I thought of one thing, Utopia; which leads me to think of communism.  Communism does not work, plain and simple.  I am VERY anti-communist and I have no use for communism.  When I get past my absolute hatred of communist, socialism and all such things and actually look into what I get out of the story, I get the following:

1)      It is against my religion.  It openly talks about nude priests and priestesses, and how they will “service” anyone who desired it.  As a Christian I KNOW that sex outside of wedlock is wrong.  I will not listen to or tolerate something that I am so adamantly against. 

2)      Talking about keeping a child locked up in a tool closet is not sufficient care giving.  Abuse to anyone, especially children and women is wrong and sadistic.  Anyone who abuses children like that or even supports that by writing or reading in approval of such behavior needs to be taken out behind the wood shed and “taught a lesson” that they will never forget. 

3)      The communism, I just can’t get out of my mind.  I feel like anyone that chooses to read this and doesn’t feel like they are being anti-patriotic has something wrong in their head.  This story stands to abolish everything that this country, the United States of America, stands for.

If I wanted to read a story that talked about how wonderful communism in theory is, I would have gone to a secular university in California that taught the Communist Manifesto, but I didn’t I came to Southeastern to get a good, God-centered education. I sure know that it would have been cheaper to go the first avenue.  There is nothing that I approve of in this essay.  I know that you will think that I am being closed-minded, or perhaps that I did not get anything out if it. But I most definitely did.  I was made surer of how I feel about anti-freedom teachings.  As for me, myself, and I, I will support the US and not turn into a Communist, Anti-American.  I feel as though this story and thoughts like it directly threaten my freedoms.  I will keep my Second Amendment rights (and all others). I heard it said on a TV show and I fully believe it:”when guns are outlawed, I will become an outlaw.”  When my freedoms are outlawed, I will be an outlaw.

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG 

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Not

I PLEDGE ALLIGENCE TO THE FLAG OF THE COMMUNIST STATES OF AMERICA.

What do YOU get out of it?

What do I make of it? Well, to be honest I think of this story in the same sense of the movie, Nanny McFee.  I don’t think that this story has the same moral as Nanny McFee, but I will say that it is close, with the whole part of someone coming who is in really bad shape and then leaves and is all healthy. Well, then again on the second thought, Nanny McFee was about a lady that was ugly and turned beautiful, so I guess that if one trades looks, in Nanny McFee, and replaces them with health from A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, they are very similar.  

What meaning do you get out of it? Um, well, I am not really sure, but I will say that it is definitely odd.  I think that one possible translation could be such that we need to be open to helping others, no matter how weird they are, but I do not suggest fencing them in and using them as a side attraction. I also think that we may think that life may give us someone to help, and then we realize that they helped us more than we intended to help them. 

To be honest I don’t think that it does matter. They are some superstitious writings about mythology.  I think that they are good stories, but nothing more than that.  I do think that this does exemplify his upbringing, especially from his grandparents, due to the fact that that is probably who told him all the stories.  I think that is says that you should write what you want to write about.  If you have a passion for stories loosely based on mythology, then great, you should write about it because that is what you love. If you have some other passion like guns, history, or shopping, then why can’t you write about that and enjoy writing? I know I could be totally wrong about the interpretation, but that’s what I get out of the introduction and the about the author section, but to each his own.

Poetry of the Park, Mountain, and other Nature

"I went to Lake Bonny Park for this field trip, and I stayed there for at least 45 minutes."

Nature

By J.R. Koratich

As man moves in,

Nature moves out.

As man moves in,

The birds move out.

As man moves in,

The beauty moves out.

The Birds, Bees, and Fish

By J.R. Koratich

As the birds flutter about

Their song flutters about, and out of their mouths.

As the bees buzz around

Their calm peacefulness frightens and worries us.

As the fish swim in the murky, polluted lake,

We fall asleep as we stare into the water.

The Mountains

By J.R. Koratich

We look off into the mountains

We see their beauty, and their detail.

We fail to see their size.

We look out and we know not

Their immense size and detail

We see the waterfalls off of the mountains.

We are in awe

We boast of movie stars

We boast of shows on TV

Why not boast of the beautiful nature?

Or better yet, the beautiful God that created them all.

the mountain waterfall

the mountain waterfall again

I agree that nature can help you get close to God.  I talked in my last post about how that is how I get close to God.  Do I necessarily agree that that “poetry is prayer”, no not at all.  It is an extreme.  I do not think that there are many extremes.  There are many forms of poetry, and yes there are some that have prayer in them, but all prayer is not poetry.  I think that what Mary Oliver said, or what was trying to get at was true, that some prayers can have poetry in them, or even that some poetry is a prayer, but not all.  I think that nature is a good avenue to God through it all.  How can a person look down a huge valley and not see the handy work of God.  When I was on a cruise this summer up to Alaska, I saw some sights that were absolutely stunning.  Waterfalls have to be some of my favorite scenery because of their power, size, and just all around beauty.  Two times on the cruise when we were in port and on a tour the guide said that if we took a trail that we would see a waterfall.  One time we had to run a mile or so in just 20 min (which included picture time) round trip so that we could get up close and personal. 

the glacier waterfall that I had to run over a mile to

The other time was just a quiet walk back among the trees to this waterfall.  The waterfall that we had to run to was off of a glacier.  The bright blue in a glacier is truly beautiful.  I will say that this walk at lake bonny park was nice.  It was calm and quiet.  I was saddened when I saw the trash and junk in the lake, but that’s what man does when he is not careful.  That walk was very enjoyable, mostly because I love those types of walks.  Just a question, why don’t we read any Frost? I think that he is a very great poet. I suggest that you look at this one, it is probably my favorite poem. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost