9/2/13
Poem. I was a bit nervous to share a poem with the class because I was not sure what theirs were going to be. Some were much better than others depending on how open the person was willing to be. My poem expressed my normal struggle with understanding the world and seeking truth.
9/4/13
Discussion of flow being a merging of action with awareness. This does not mean zoning out, you have your thoughts while your senses are fully engaged. The difference from hearing and listening is also very different. You can hear someone talking but your mind can be somewhere else and not listening. The same can happen with hiking god can be talking but you are not aways listening. Praying to god is also a form of discipline.
9/11/13
Subject vs person-The differences between a subject and person. Subjects do not have projects and goals. A stapler doesn't have a project but it was crafted for a purpose.
Music- shake off the village. Silence is "so loud". Sometimes one has to leave the place of comfort. Silence of outside world leaves room for thoughts and inward journey.
9/16/13
Hesychia- is a sweet repose. This normally comes after purgation, interior stillness.
Askesis- is a way to reach this hesychia. It is the practice of self discipline to liberate the spirit.
Liminaltiy- is the threshold. In between the material and the divine.
Mantra- a repetition of action that helps settle the mind and focus.
This reminded me of many things we talked about in class on the Camino but when I can refresh and reflect the meanings of these words has much more impact. Especially Askesiss and that discipline is not a bad thing but a helpful thing.
9/18/13
Sublime- something beyond words. Of another realm.
Autotelic- ends in themselves. Not viewing people as objects.
Release the bonds of matter. Need to strengthen from the inside out. The armor you wear is your ego.
Saint Paul refers to the fallen world as flesh.
One of my biggest questions has always been about the fall and why the world is the way it is. I like that St Paul calls it flesh because I believe there is a spiritual world working with a material world. They both can effect each other but the spiritual is the most important.
9/23/13
Mentioned flow again which is definitely a feeling I had on the camino and there are different terms for flow. "In camino" was the phrase we used where you began to shake off the village and become absorbed in the trail. Kenosis means purgation and self emptying. Although the camino was not comfortable I was much happier after my purgation from many things I took for granted back home.
9/25/13
We all have a life story. We are aware of our past but also have goals of how we want our story to develop. We are never fully in control of our story. Others stories can inspire us. When I was walking the camino many sights reminded me of lord of the rings which was my favorite movies when I was a kid.
In some of these moments when the I and divine connect in can be called The Call. The call comes unexpectedly and is a dialogue not monologue. Prayer often is exotelic in which you are asking for something. Contemplative appreciation is the opposite and is autotelic.
9/30/13
Sometimes there can be "static" that is just distracting noise that takes away from your thoughts. This is why place is so important. Lane speaks of the phenomenology of place in landscapes of the sacred. The four axioms of place are it chooses, it's not chosen, can be ordinary places, can be tred upon without entered, it can resurface anywhere. I definitely agree with Lanes points because some of my places were only sacred to me and sometimes I hear a song or see something that reminds me of them.
10/2/13
Continuation of place. Discussion of Topas, which is a measurable location, and chora which involves imagination and is a pregnant place. This means that it has life in it or it can give birth to a sacred experience. I think the cathedral in Santiago is a pregnant place because it is a destination for so many pilgrims every year. When you get there you begin to reflect and realize its over. Santiago triggered many emotions for me.
10/9/13
Looking at the Appalachian trail at real evidence of these concepts happening. There was an old Route 66 sign on sacred spot in Scottland. Route 66 was a old highway in America. People use symbols and idols to represent or honor something. You could see memorials on the camino and sometimes you could read about it, but other times you can only wonder it's meaning.
10/14/13
Seeing pictures from the app trail makes me miss the camino. Im sure it's hard for most people to understand the importance and sublime features of a trail without experiencing it. The app trail is definitely more intense but it looks like most of the same things apply. Talking about trail magic was refreshing and reminded me that there are considerate and awesome people out there.
10/16/13
C.S Lewis and other stories speak of giants and supernatural creatures. People would see giant rock falling down mountains and would say that it was from giants throwing them. As a kid and even now I have always love mystical stories and even if the stories are not "real" they bring about real emotions and thoughts. There is no proof that love or many other things are real but we know they are from our feelings.
11/4/13
Trail magic is something so unique about hiking. The generosity and compassion of people is demonstrated far more than in normal society. Hiking enables people to share a common goal and relate to each other. The lady who saw Kip sick and did not care if he could pay was moving. Helping him regain strength and acting how someone should when
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Shannon Rose: Choice 4
12/10/2013
[God, through Jesus] emptied himself, by taking the form of a tservant,2 ubeing born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human
form, he humbled himself by vbecoming obedient to the point of death, weven death on a cross.
Philippians 2:7-8
I would like to use this journal to
discuss my sole favorite term from this class: Kenosis. Humility is huge for a
Christian, yet so unnatural. Our world gives us a slew of things to put before
God. I know I have said this in a previous journal, but the sin of this place
that we live in twists and contorts everything that was created to be good into
things of selfish gain. Everything that we are because of the fall pulls us
toward selfish motivations in everything we do. Kenosis is the practice of the
opposite. It is an emptying out, making oneself into nothing. We discussed in
class how prayer as kenosis takes us outside of ourselves and into a level of
compassion for others. I would go even further and say that in allows us to
praise Jesus more effectively. For being a people that were originally made in
his image, it makes sense that we are called to a thing like kenosis. Christ
embodied the ultimate act of kenosis on the cross for us when He was crucified
so that we might know him and spend eternity with him in heaven.
Why is kenosis such a struggle for
me? It is not even vanity that hinders my ability to have a humble and
self-ridden attitude. I believe that it goes much deeper than that. My
unintentional hesitant nature toward kenosis stems from a control issue. And
recently, I have found that most people struggle with the exact same thing. It
is good to know that I am not the only one fighting with myself to try and give
up control, but what can we do to fix it? How can we move closer to true practice
of kenosis? I honestly have no idea what the answer to that question is. I have
tried preaching truth to myself over and over. Proverbs 19:21 says “many are
the plans in the mind of a man, but the purpose of the Lord will stand.” I
believe the truths with all my heart and there are times when I believe that I
have achieved kenosis and I adore those times, but I am not sure why I keep
going back to my controlling ways. It is like a roller coaster.. and I know it
will not be like a light switch and I will be perfectly humble and decentered
with the click of a button, but I desire that state so that I may be closer and
more intimate with the Lord. I await the day that whatever is hindering me of
the ability to achieve kenosis vanishes. Maybe it will not be until I am face
to face with my Creator; even then, I look forward to it.
Shannon Rose: Choice 3
Desire 12/10/2013
In this journal, I will be discussing the concept of desire
and the idea that it is not necessarily a bad thing. We will be looking at
desire from a companionship/relationship standpoint. So often, in Christian
circles, desire is negatively depicted. It is seen as such because it is
misunderstood; some believe that if one desires for something, they are not
practicing contentment. However, being content in the Lord does not mean you
cannot want-ever. In our case, desire could be a good thing-dare I say, maybe
it’s even God given. When the Lord created man, he said, and I quote, “it is
not good.” God saw that man was lonely on his own. Because man was made in
God’s image, man was designed for relationship from the start. You may be
reading this, not entirely sure what I mean, so I will clarify. The Creator of
all that is was never made per se, he
just is. He always was there, He is
there, and He will always be there. He
is simply there. God has always
existed in a trinity, which means He has three parts. He exists as the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those three parts of the Lord have always existed
as the ultimate trio, in perfect relationship within Himself. When someone is
talking about worshipping God, they are still only worshipping one god, but he is the Trinity. If you are still
confused, I encourage you to research the concept of the Trinity further, but
for time purposes, I am moving on. Ergo, God is a perfect relationship within
Himself and he created man in His image, meaning that man would crave a
relationship like that one. I would like to highlight the fact that the idea of
a man and a woman being committed companions is from before the fall. Therefore, the desire for a relationship is not of
the fallen nature of this world. That being said, sin twists and contorts
everything that the Lord has made good for man’s selfish gain, so there is a
distinction between the God-given desire for relationship and the twisted
desire for relationship. The latter usually consists of lustful motives and more
significantly consists of an intent of filling a God-sized hole with a
relationship due to insecurities and doubt.
Shannon Rose: Choice 2
The following is a snippet of a journal entry that I started writing on my own time. I completely rewrote it and added a few sources for the sake of this assignment. :)
The topic of the gift of tongues has been
debated since the very beginning of Pentecostalism. Through its strange
beginnings and subtle adaptations to the modern world, the denomination
continues to receive the harsh criticisms of other sects. The Pentecostal
church’s emphasis on speaking tongues has proven to be incredibly controversial
and has experienced much criticism and conviction. One conviction of the
present day existence of the gift of tongues stems from the specific mention of
the idea in select parts of the Bible. Some argue that God intended all
prophecy to be compiled for scripture-the Holy Bible- and once the scripture
was finished, there would be no need for prophecy henceforth.
According to the Bible, the gift of
tongues was a miracle of God. This term is not to be taken lightly; miracles
are a huge deal and they certainly don’t happen often. God strategically
performs amazing miracles to win the hearts of unbelievers. The miraculous
nature of tongues was emphasized mainly in the Biblical account of the
Pentecost. This was the event that marked the fiftieth day after Easter. On
this day, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and they spoke in
tongues. This account of the gift of tongues is clearly stated as a miraculous
account, for the Apostles were not speaking in tongues as an act of worship.
Instead, they were preaching in every language at once. “When they heard this
sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own
language being spoken…we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own
tongues!” (Acts 2:6-11). Some may argue that tongues in the form of worship is
a Biblical idea taken out of context; in the Bible, it is described as a
miraculous tool that God uses to communicate prophecy and preach to the masses
of unbelievers.
Shannon Rose: Images 2
12/5/2013
What qualifies a pilgrimage anyway? We discussed some of the
characteristics in class and here is what I picked up. The Christian embarking
on the pilgrimage experiences no rise in status; the journey is simply a jump
out of reality for a brief period of time, only to jump back into the same
place that they left before the trip. The conditions of the heart determine the
experience that the Christian endures throughout the journey. The pilgrim makes
a conscious choice when and how to engage in the spiritual journey. A
pilgrimage is taken on as an opportunity to experience an escape from the daily
grind by means of askeisis. Finally, the last qualification that we discussed
was that the Christian would experience a sense of special access to God.
I am full aware of the fact that I have never been on a
pilgrimage, per se. However, if there was a shorter version, less in depth and possibly
slightly less impactful, I believe that I have taken a short journey that may
have met some of the qualifications. My family took a day trip to a lake beach
in Maryland. It was probably the lamest beach that I had ever been to in my
life. Not only was the sand imported from somewhere and obviously unnatural, but
the entire area was fenced off by a moldy rope that limited beach-goers to
about a 40 ft x 70 ft section of beach AND water. I wanted out as soon as I
laid my eyes on it. There just so happened to be a few hiking trails nearby, so
I decided to embark on a short journey on one of the mid-level loops. At the
time, spiritually, I was doing a lot of introspection and contemplation, so I
thought this could be a good opportunity to clear my head of myself. As I
continued on the trail, the concerns of relationships and family struggles
melted away and I simply was. It was
the first time that I had simply existed with no pressing thoughts pounding at
the back of my head. I basked in the nothingness for the remainder of the hike.
I felt like a light hippie on the way back down the road to the beach; if
someone asked me to speak, my words would have certainly been a slur. I
returned to the dreary synthetic beach and it was the exact same as when I left
it.
Askeisis-
Shannon Rose: Images 1
12/5/2013
In class, we
discussed content from Images and Pilgrimages by Victor and Edith Turner. In this journal, I want
to reflect on my personal take on the three rites of passage in regards to
personal devotion time to God. For me, separation is the most difficult thing,
yet the most essential thing in sacred communication. I try doing devotions in
my room, but there are simply too many distractions. My roommates all love the
Lord and have the best intentions, but they hinder my ability to really hone in
on the Spirit and that dialogue that I am pursuing during devotional time. The
best place for me to escape that is convenient is the fifth floor of Warwick
River residence hall. It is not a legit floor, the stairs just keep going after
the fourth floor and then there is a little alcove an a door to the roof. I
don’t have a key to the door, so the alcove does nicely. The reason it serves
as such a great separation is that it is not a part of my everyday routine. I
am not used to participating in other activities while I am there. From a
psychological standpoint, my mind is less prone to wander here, because there
are no other activities that I cognitively link to this place. As for
liminality, I believe that I reach the liminal state when I submerge myself in
scripture. It is when I move from finding verses to reading an entire chapter
or book. This way, the Word of God is the only thing on my mind and I dive into
the story instead of floating on top, so my mind is less prone to wander. Another possibly liminal state for me would
be worship music. I tend to forget that there are people around me; I forget
that I care what I look like when I sing, and I close my eyes and feel the
presence of the One True King. The last rite of passage is aggregation. I have
not embarked on a pilgrimage (yet), but if I ever do, I am sure that there will
be a more intense sensation correlated with aggregation. As for my devotional
times, I feel recharged. I feel ready for what the world will throw at me and
confident in knowing that the God of the universe is on my team.
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