Continuing the story

So, I finished the rest of the play we read. I won’t lie, I cried a little. Especially when Barry’s father came and was such an idiot. We watched that part of the movie in my social work class, and it was portrayed even worse then. It is just really hard to imagine someone being so completely insensitive. On one hand, I can understand that the dad probably has issues of his own and there are probably reasons that he acts the way he does, but I just don’t want to give him any excuses for what he did. Maybe I’m being insensitive in thinking that way. Either way, that really affected me.

Another thing that was pretty sad is that Jack had to leave, and then their reaction to that. I completely understand why he had to leave. It was getting to be way too much for him, and he wasn’t able to separate himself from his work. That’s really hard for a person to handle. I just think it is so sad that it has to be that way. But that’s life, I guess. It’s a tough thing to grapple with though. It makes you wonder what will happen when Jack leaves, and the next person takes his place. Will the four men develop the same type of relationship with the new social worker as they had with Jack? Then the cycle would continue whenever that social worker got overwhelmed and someone new had to come in. Eventually I feel like they would just decide not to get close to people because it seems as if they all leave. Of course, maybe because of their disabilities, they wouldn’t think like that. I know that is what happens to kids and things quite a bit though.

I’m really curious to see how the field trip on Monday is going to go. I want to know what we’ll be doing there, and what kind of things we’ll see. Interacting with people who have mental disabilities is hard for me. Not because I’m necessarily scared or are unsure of what to do, although that does happen sometimes. But it’s mostly because I get sad. I feel bad that they have to live with that, and then I feel bad that I feel bad for them. Like I’m diminishing their life just because I feel bad for them. So, I don’t know. It’s something I think about.

The Boys Next Door

I absolutely love the story we are reading now! I feel like it is such a change from the other stuff we’ve been reading lately, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Typically, I get very defensive whenever anybody makes fun of someone with a disability or anything of that nature, but I felt like this story put it in a new perspective for me. I felt like it was portrayed in a way that made me feel less sorry for them. Like they still live, and develop relationships and do things, it’s just different then what I do. Obviously they still need help, and you can see that in the fact that several people took advantage of them.

The writer makes the situation humorous. What’s interesting is that I watched part of it in my Social Work class this morning, and the movie was pretty darn different then the story. I like the story better, since it’s more graphic. However, I really wish I could see it in play form.

Anyway, I’m curious as to what kind of research the author did before writing this. Maybe he has had experience with people who have disabilities? I feel like he would have had to do a lot of insurance to know all of their little niches, and unique qualities. Also, the social worker in the story seems to be getting pretty frustrated. I think he is having trouble separating his work from his home life, which is never good. And I feel like maybe he is putting too much on himself, in the way that these four guys are living. Like he wants to see some major improvements, and whenever things don’t work like that, he seems to be greatly discouraged. I don’t think this is good for him as an individual. I feel like he needs to learn to separate himself from his work more and relax a bit more. I could be totally wrong though. J

Park

I went to Lake Bonny Park for this field trip, and I stayed for at least fourty-five minutes.

So this nature visit was very interesting, for me. I went Monday evening and the sun was beginning to set a few minutes before I left. Needless to say, it was very pretty. I have always enjoyed sunsets and this one reflected off the trees in a very grand way. I found it a little difficult to concentrate on my reading when I first got there, because there was a lot of commotion. A huge group of guys in trucks came and were playing flag football, and there was a soccer game going on, and there were also quite a few kids playing on the playground. So there were quite a bit of things distracting me, until I found a way to get somewhat by myself and tune the rest out.

I spotted one tree that really stuck out to me. It was a red tree in the midst of all the green ones. So as the sun was setting and hitting this tree in its unique light, it sure was sight to behold. I ended up focusing on this for quite a while and I looked at the lake for a bit too. There is just something about water, and the reflections in the water that are so mesmerizing, don’t you think? Personally, I could look at it for hours.

Another thing I noticed was that to begin with, all I could hear was the sounds of the kids playing and the soccer game. But once I was about to get slightly away from all of that and tune some of it out, I noticed the little things of nature that we usually miss. Like the noises the birds make, the wind making the leaves rustle, the wind making the water move. It’s those sounds and sights that inspired my two nature poems:

One-

The way the sun hits the trees,

Makes you never want to shut your eyes.

Of course, you only get this unique picture

When the sun is on its descent.

Where is it going?

It’s on its way to provide someone with

A beautiful sunrise, I suppose.

The reflection in the lake

Is almost as beautiful as the image of the tree.

And all this is because of the sun.

Two-

As I look at the clouds, they almost look unreal.

Like maybe they were simply painted there.

The mixture of blue, pink, and cream;

It’s a fruit smoothie for the eyes.

What else is a greater confirmation

That there is a God who created it all?

The birds ceaselessly chirping,

I wonder if they’re singing praises

In the unique way that only birds can.

What a beauty.

Nature poetry

I can honestly say that class on Tuesday gave me a new appreciation for poetry. Now, of course this doesn’t mean that I understand even half of the poetry that I read, but I can read through it and do the best that I can in interpreting it without detesting it now. I didn’t realize that the Bible has a lot of poetry in it. I think that is because I feel differently about the Bible, and when I don’t understand something I talk to others about it. Poetry however, has never been on my list of things to discuss.

Upon reading our nature poem again, I felt that I could relate to the story a little easier having seen all the visual aids in class on Tuesday. Like Jessica said, it made the story more vibrant and colorful. I really like the imagery and wording in the very first paragraph, and the ones towards the very end.

“Rain lashing the windshield.”

For me, simply the word lashing, makes me view this image in a completely different way then had they used the word hitting, for instance. It makes it so much more vivid, I think. I really like that about a writer. Keeps things interesting. Also, I like how the author actually tells the story. He begins with describing the girl, and then he says that she has this book in her book bag which talks about nature. So then he goes on to tell different things about what that book will tell her about our world and the things in it.

Then when he ends the story, he goes back to the imagery of the girl walking across the street and the crazy rain. I really like this quote:

“What is to be done with our species? Because

We know we’re going to die, to be submitted

To that tingling dance of atoms once again,

It’s easy for us to feel that our lives are a dream-

As this is, in a way, a dream: …”

Then it goes on to talk about bodies being in heaps and such, but I don’t like that as much. However, I think it’s interesting when he says “tingling dance of atoms”. What exactly does that mean? And if we’re doing it “once again” then we must have already done it at least once before, right?

And then what does it mean that “As this is, in a way, a dream:”? How are our lives a dream? Even though I don’t fully understand it, I like it. Maybe I like it because of the way it sounds, or maybe I like it because it makes me think. Either way, all I know is that I like that quote.

Pass

I have decided to pass today :)

PDF

Right off the bat, I liked our little essay we read. I felt like it was going to be humorous and I totally related with the writer! I mean, half the stuff we read I don’t understand, and apparently he experienced the same thing. Of course, what’s different about him is that he probably had actual reason for not understand, whereas I just don’t have that developed of a brain.

The first time I ever had any experience with lectio divina was last year in first teams, actually. Our first teams leader explained to us what it was and the purpose of it, and we exercised it a few times. I feel like this is something that can really benefit us in our spiritual walk, while we are trying to dive deep into God’s Word. I have never thought about doing this with literature other than Scripture. In fact, I ashamedly say that I haven’t thought about it at all since that time we did it in first teams. However, now that I’ve read this essay, it does make me want to give it a shot again.

I wasn’t in class on Tuesday, unfortunately, but I heard that you guys practiced this with the Sonny story. I wasn’t there, so maybe that is why I fail to understand how that could benefit us at all. Personally, I did not like the story we had to read for class, so maybe that is why I don’t think it would have done me any good. I guess I really shouldn’t knock it till I try it though, right? Whenever I re-read the section for tomorrow’s class, maybe I will give it a whirl.

Anyway, back to what I was saying about doing lectio divina with other literature. I think it is an interesting concept that he brought up. I’m sure he’s not the only that thought of it, of course. But I think maybe it would help me to understand some things that I would usually have trouble understanding. Like if there was a poem or something of that nature that I found particularly difficult to understand, maybe if I gave this a try, it would help me to understand it better.

Sonny's Blues

After finishing off this story, my first thought was that I did not like this story. I didn't like the way it made me feel. Recently, a friend of the family’s who also goes to my church, just lost his daughter. And just a couple of months ago, he lost his dad. My heart has been breaking for this man ever since I found out his daughter passed away last week. She was twenty-one years old and died accidentally. This has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but this story for some reason just made my heart so heavy.

I naturally have a sensitive heart. My major is social work. Lately, I feel like there is so much nastiness in the world that the good cannot shine through it. So, this story did nothing to cheer me up.  I just feel so bad for the guy in the story. I feel like he was sucked in to the drug scene, and there was no way for him to get out. It is so true that so many of them that get addicted can never get a release from that. It is just so sad to me. But not only was his drug habit affecting just him, but it affected his brother also. It’s so crazy how that works. There is nothing that we do that doesn’t affect others around us. You could tell in the story that his brother wanted to be able to help him, he just didn’t know how.

I didn’t fully understand the ending. Was he back on drugs or was he finding his way in playing music through other things? I feel like his life story was good enough to be able to play his music well enough. However, I just don’t have the mind of a musician, I guess? So, I don’t know.