Blue Like Jazz 4/fifteen

I am really enjoying Blue Like Jazz. Donald Miller reminds me a lot of Claiborne, however I believe he understands more about what his goals our in making this book. It's not so much that he is calling us out, but rather sucking us in with his ideas and understandings of God. One part which I really enjoyed was the Don Rabbit Cartoon. For one, I am a sucker for picture books. Also, I like the twist at the end that sometimes the things that you want most in life kills you. Miller goes on to talk about how in our world today it is easier to love darkness besides light. While writing my paper I came to the realization that our world does not want us to do good. However, we must rise against the mediocrities and start living accountable to God. 

Another part I enjoyed a lot was when Miller was speaking about Grace. As he talks about how he was once a fundamentalist Christian he admits that he was embarrassed This reminded me of Claiborne once again, however Miller once lived his life that way. I think that since he has the guts to admit that he was like that it brings the reader closer to him. It was hard to see if Claiborne ever admitted if he was truly wrong, he kinda was just boasting about what he was doing and saying join me now because that's the right thing to do. While Miller spoke about Grace he explained that he has always had a hard time accepting God's grace. He explains, if we accept God's grace and compassion that is enough to start following him. I think that is very true, it is one thing to understand that God loves his children, but to admit that you accept God's love and want to follow his path for your life is another. It is hard for me to figure out what is God's path and what is the path that I want, but through Grace and acceptance of faith I think God will let us know what he wants us to do and not. 

Project Update !!!!!

I have a ton of ideas for my project, but i am starting to work on these and hopefully pick a few ideas to touch on. The main thing i want to bring out of this project is to show everyone how the rich are just as bad as in Isaiah's time. The only difference is that they do not have any excuses. My project is most likely going to consist of a powerpoint which shows the difference between two counties which are about 10 miles apart. I am thinking about how exactly I'm going to format this powerpoint, but it's probably going to link with a collage or a poster of some sort. Also I was thinking that i could have pieces of my conversation with my father as well as video clips of Kensington and a video about Radnor. Just short little 3 or 5 minute exerts to show how different these two places are. Also i was thinking of having a "What would a Prophet do?" segment so i could connect it to what they would have to say about the whole thing. Overall my project is rolling on, slow and steady wins the race and over break I'm hoping to have my research all fully prepared so i can start on my powerpoint and collage. 

April 8th Post

For my blog I want to keep on talking about what we wrote about on the board on monday. The questions which we were trying to answer were extremely challenging and all debatable. After reading Neumark, more than any other author, I could feel her urgency in every word. I always thought the South Bronx was bad, but i have never heard stories so horrible. For example, when she talks how little the parents help their children. Angie, a friend of Neumark, would send Tiriq her son to church so she wouldn't be bothered. Tiriq was being abused by her parents and had to deal with a drug addict mother. However, people like Heidi let these children know that God cares about them. I think so many people just expect to live with injustice and nothing will change. Justice must be served to everyone, not just the people who our considered good, or to deny the people who are inconvenient for your own life. 

There are so many factors which bring these people down. I think that one important cause we were talking about was the environment around them. When I lived in a row home my back yard was just a driveway, and my front yard was barely enough to even lay on comfortably. For me to be outside as a kid I would have to go to the nearest park. the woman which we saw on that video had the right idea to make more parks and easier access to these places. Maybe these new parks could keep these kids out of trouble. It infuriates me to think that not only do people not come and help, they actually dump trash into their neighborhoods. That brings me to one of the most important causes of injustices, the government around these ghettos. It's so sad how the state only cares about the people with money. how does anyone expect to help anything when the people said to watch over you are treating your home like a toilet?

Finally, we asked what we can do. In my group we talked about how far away we are from New York. The only thing we can do easily is send to a charity. However, that only helps these people for a limited amount of time. We gotta teach these people to fish so they can teach their kids. I believe we can take what Neumark has done in the South Bronx and apply that anywhere. Injustice is around every corner, and so many people think no one cares. Therefore, it's our responsibility to love these people. Especially because we our now aware of all the horrid things going on in our country. Neumark not only helped, she loved and that is the most important part of reaching someone and potentially leading them in the right direction. 

Blog Post April Fools Dayy!!

The first thing I wanted to talk about was my first experience with Lecto Divina. I am not very good at sitting still for periods of time, but I really made an effort to try to meditate to come closer to the parable. The parable which I chose was the Good Samaritan. I have read this parable all my life, and I thought that since I was familiar with it maybe I would see it in a new way. I tried to picture myself as not an important role, but the innkeeper at the room where the Samaritan brought the beat up guy. While I was reading I pictured the scene while the Samaritan, someone who is considered a religious outcast walking in with a shambled, naked man all beat up. I think that it did help to meditate and I definitely looked at it in a more personal way. That caused me to realize that Jesus was breaking boundaries to prove his point no matter if it was considered holy or not. I found it easier to read the bible that way and looking forward to try again.

During the reading assigned I found a few parts which really stood out to me. When she was talking about how the city would just dump all the garbage into the poor areas that really made me mad. It seems like people in the Bronx just can't get a break. No matter how hard they try to help the next generation, there is nothing positive that is handed to them. Just because big companies would save money they had the right to dump it in someone's neighborhood? That is ridiculous and really pisses me off. Neumark proves that it's not like the city doesn't know that places are being trashed, but once the rats got in the way of the rich they made it a mission to get rid of them. She makes a great point how people are poisoned and acquire asthma in their poor conditioned houses and no one helps. I hate how if it doesn't bother the rich then it's not a problem. I am so impressed about Neumark's just constant commitment to helping. She reminds me so much of the profits in the bible, hitting the rich to get at the poor, and is a great example for all of us.

March 25thhh

I am really starting to enjoy Breathing Space and I am liking Neumark more and more. It is so crazy how many stories she has to tell. Every single story is so descriptive and is sooooo powerful. Like we talked about in class, Claiborne has a different way preach his message to people than she does. I'm not quite sure I would really want to meet him, but I would love to sit down and talk to Neumark. I am a strong believer in teaching a man to fish. Just like in Panama City, the only thing that "Repent You Whores" does is cause confrontation. How are you going save anyone when you look down on them? Neumark cares about every single person no matter who they are. She not only helps them she respects them so much. I really look up to that and can tell why she made such a strong impact, and I'm amazed on how well she writes about it. 

One story that really stood out to me was the one about the Lepers in the Bed. I can't believe that he was trying to become closer to God and started praying to a chair, and the people which should be taking care of him came in and shot him. That stopped my heart. Not only did that make me sad, it made me very mad. How could people think that they have the right to kill anyone. Also, they didn't even give him a chance to explain himself. People are so fast to just assume the worst in our country. Reading these intense stories really start to get me thinking about a lot. I have always imagined its hard in the Bronx, but I could never imagine these things she has heard. Not only has she heard these stories, she helped them and worked with them spreading the love of Jesus. I really like what she is doing and she is the type of christian which our society needs. Hopefully something can rub off on all of us. 

Project Propozzzellllll

My project has been changing in my head every day. Even though I would love to do a film, I don't think that I'm going to get enough people to make any valid conclusion. I was told to look at the world that is immediately around you. Try to think more about how the prophets act. My Dad is a social worker in Kensington, PA and he would be open to do a thorough interview. He has been working with the poor for over 20 years and he is currently getting his masters at Rutgers . Also, My High School in Radnor, PA is part of the Mainline. This is one of the richest counties in the country and is the polar opposite of the city of Philadelphia. I am hoping to research more about these two places. I always would ask to myself, how can this suburb be so obnoxiously rich while my Dad has had hundreds of clients who our addicts and criminals, all products of being born into such a horrid place? The steps that I am planning to take is to research Philadelphia and Radnor and talk about experiences I have had in both. Interviewing my Dad as well as explaining through scripture and our reading what the prophets would have to say about all this. I'm not quite sure how I am going to present it, but maybe a PowerPoint or a collage or like some like slideshow? But I'll figure that out soon hopefully. 

March 18th Blog

Unfortunately, not all the listening worked for me for some reason, but I got the NPR interview, Speaking of Faith, to work so i'll talk about that. While I was listening to these people talk about Heschel he seemed like a extremely noble man. I never knew that he marched along with Dr. King which is really cool. As I listened to Heschel's speaking about the prophets he explained that their actions are very much a live today. I believe that there are prophets everywhere such as Dorothy Day and Dr. King. They both devoted their entire lives to justice even while they were being persecuted. With Joshua Heschel they kept calling him a mystic. I looked this word up and this was a person who claims to attain or believes in the possibility of attaining insight as by direct communication with the divine. I would agree with calling him that. Heschel had more than a understanding of God, he was connected to him on a personal level. He has worked with every theologian as well as meeting the Pope. A great idea he taught was that you must be open to everyone in order to teach from them. I wish that I could live my life like that. To often I put peoples differences into to much of a problem, while they could teach me something that I have never thought about, such as talking to a person of Jewish faith. 

Another thing that surprised me was how similar Heschel and Dr. King were. They both grew up in different faiths, however their parents were both teachers and brought them up with a personal relationship with God. Heschel was an important piece in the Civil Rights movement, and stood up to speak for Justice. During his last interview recorded he talks about how important prayer is. Heschel says, "prayer may not save us, but prayer may make us worthy of being saved... a partnership of god and men." I believe that if we have such a partnership with God like King and Heschel did we would be able to understand the differences in everyone, because God is within everyone and Heschel definitely understood that, no matter if they were jew, christian, or athiest.