My Pursuit of Christ-likeness

February 8

2012-02-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Ashley, Andrew and Chad in class assignment

Figures of language

Members of the jury: the victim (who was innocent) was found a bloody, disfigured, form of a man with the defendant still standing, glaring angrily, holding the gun.

Members of the jury: the victim (who was innocent) was found a bloody, disfigured, form of a man.

progymnasmata commonplace Feb. 3, 2012

2012-02-03T07:26:00.000-08:00

(prologue)

We have laws in this country. We have laws in this world. We believe it is wrong to murder. We believe in a world where everyone is free. Because of these facts, let us consider the matter before us.

(contrary)

This country established certain rights that we hold virtually sacred in the first amendment: Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly and petitioning. I must stress here these rights. Citizens have a right to free speech. They have a right to make their voices known. They have a right to practice their religion—no matter how strange it may seem.

(exposition)

However, when a man’s religious choices willingly impede the right of another to safely practice his religion and when freedom of speech threatens the safety of others, we must act. This man uses his right to willingly destroy what we hold to be the God-given rights of others. When a man takes it upon himself to destroy rights of others, it is our job to protect them.

(comparison

One who blows himself up is one thing, but this man has masterminded the carrying out of many attacks—and stands without the intestinal fortitude to carry them out himself.

(intention)

Some terrorists are victims, stolen and/or threatened, broken down to carry out their dastardly deeds. Not with this man. Men like him are genocidal, but it is not about extermination as much as it is sending a message of fear. Making victims’ lives a living death.

(digression)

This man has a long and infamous history of terror. This was hardly his first act. He willing chose this life and has willingly continued in it.

(rejection of pity)

Take no pity. Pity can be a friend of justice when we see the victims—but it can also be the enemy of justice. Justice must come to this man. Think of the greater good that will come from the justice done to this man, which we are morally obligated by God and man to carry out.

(legality)

It is our constitutional obligation to protect our citizens. Senseless acts of violence must be stopped and punished.

(justice)

This man’s skewed sense of justice must be countered. We hold that our creator gave to every man the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

(advantage)

Think of the victims’ families who will gain closure through justice done to this man. Think of the countless millions in our cities who can ride to work on public transit feeling safer. Think of a world that is one man closer to achieving a more lasting peace.

(possibility)

Years of preparation went into the acts of terror this man oversaw. Justice, however, can be swift. You have the ability to make this country safer today. Please make the right decision.

Proverb

2012-02-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

Peace. It is one of the most valued things in the world today. Mahatma Ghandi, arguably the greatest peacemaker in the 20th century knew this. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," he said.

Explain: Revenge is the natural desire of man when he is wronged. But if everyone who is injured takes revenge, then everyone will wind up injured, because we all mess up.

Proof: Everyone will wrong someone in his life. It is practically unavoidable. We are all human. If it wasn't for forgiveness, we would destroy each other.

Examples: The classic examples of this go back to the ancient periods demonstrated in Roman culture and the epic of Beowulf. Blood feuds dictated that if you kill someone from my family, I will kill someone from yours. It goes on until there is no one else to kill.

You could also look at many murder motives. Someone kills their spouse because they cheated on them and then they go to jail. Revenge comes back to bite you.

In contrast, there was an elderly woman who was in the process of being robbed in the parking lot. She treated the young man with grace and talked to him about the Christian gospel. The man let her be.

Testimony: In the Pentateuch, an eye for an eye was not revenge as much as it was a just course of action in many judicial settings. Jesus took the Law and showed that following the letter of the law isn’t always the most desirable. “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who persecute you”

The apostle Paul also said so. By returning the evil with good, “you reap colas of fire on his head.”

In other words, as the Talmud says, “Live well. It is the greatest revenge.”

Epilogue: May the whole world look to forgiveness and lead by example—end revenge and perhaps change a few lives in the process.

Commonplace 4

2012-01-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

"So easy, a caveman could do it!"

A funny commonplace that *ahem* hurts cavemen. Geico are a bunch of bigots :P

More on this tomorrow

The slogan is in itself a commonplace, if you think of it that way. But I think of it more in a discriminatory way, if we let the commercial stand as truth for this post. Our culture has held beliefs about cavemen that they are stupid and neanderthals and not intelligent--so we make Geico so easy, an idiot could do it.

Well, apparently, cavemen still do exist and they are not happy about this untrue but unconditionally held cliche in our society. There isn't a real specific ideology as it is just a phrase we all are familiar with in America, and perhaps the West as a whole. Interesting.

1/25 #4 page 35

2012-01-24T20:34:00.000-08:00

The Concert Event

Brad Stevens was miffed. He was grounded on the night of the concert of his favorite band,

Maroon5. It was his parent’s date night, and they had dressed nicely and said they were going to

Olive Garden and coming home to discuss his further punishment.

Never once intending to stay home, Brad grabbed a ride with his friend, Dan as soon as his

parents’ car was safely around the bend.

Little did he know that his parents secretly had tickets to the concert themselves.

The arena was sold out. Three tiers of seats—15,000 screaming fans—wrapped around the stage

for the big, center-stage event. Brad and his parents were both sitting on the floor level, but on

opposite sides of the stage.

“This is awesome!” Brad told Dan.

Halfway through the concert, the band announced they would randomly select four fans to bring

onto the stage for the next song. Brad waited in anticipation.

“Row G, seats 5 and 6!” shouted Adam Levine, the lead vocalist.

“That’s our seats!” Brad yelled and ran in extreme joy to the stage.

While practically screaming on stage, he heard the next selection.

“Row Z, seats 8 and 9!”

Brad looked and saw two heads moving toward the stage. They…they kind of looked familiar. It

was his parents.

“This was supposed to be the most exciting moment of my life!” thought Brad, his evening

ruined. His parents weren’t too thrilled either. The four stood awkwardly on the stage

throughout the song, turning red as the stage lights and feeling as if the cheering crowd was

staring straight into their souls. When the song ended, they went their separate ways—but didn’t

return to their seats. Embarrassed, the once ecstatic fans left the concert early for home.

1/25. #1 page 32.

2012-01-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.literature.org/authors/aesop/fables/chapter-35.html

I'm changing the thirsty pigeon.
Fables - Translated by George Fyler TownsendAesop

The Thirsty Pigeon

A PIGEON, oppressed by excessive thirst, saw a goblet of water painted on a signboard. Not supposing it to be only a picture, she flew towards it with a loud whir and unwittingly dashed against the signboard, jarring herself terribly. Having broken her wings by the blow, she fell to the ground, and was caught by one of the bystanders. Zeal should not outrun discretion.

_____________________________________

MY FABLE:

The Fish Who Collected

There once was a fish who loved to collect shiny things. His pond was near a walkway where passers-by would throw in their spare change, so his collection of shiny things contained many a quarter and many a nickel--even a half-dollar or two. However, the once shiny coins would fade over time into ugly pieces of junk, fueling the fish's desire for more and more shiny things. One day, he saw a shiny...spinning...something...rushing through the water overhead near the pier. Desperate for a new shiny collectible, he rushed up and grabbed it with his mouth--it was too late.

Commonplace 3

2012-01-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Milton Friedman--greed. Easy search on youtube (I can't get on there at the moment).

The clip shows a classic example of conservative versus liberal arguments. Friedman--rather excellently, argues that free-market capitalism is the best way to go. The host is a more liberal person. One of the commonplaces he says is the negative notion about greed and business when it comes to capitalism. A statement within Friedman's ideology is a somewhat, in my opinion, also utopian idea that the markets will fix themselves as far as greed and taking advantage of others is concerned. It's a pretty cool conversation.

Jan. 23, Fable

2012-01-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

There once was an bee colony that was excited to return to foraging after the winter cold. First, they gathered lots and lots of pollen. They gathered too much pollen and did not have enough honey for the adults to eat. Many starved. They then went out and gathered all the nectar they could to make honey, but neglected gathering pollen. At that point, there was food for the adults, but not enough to feed the young—an important problem with colony health since adults only live 30 days. The colony swung back and forth between extremes, struggling mightily as they caused themselves undue stress. They colony survived the ensuing winter, but barely. They told all future colony children from then on to always be organized, plan ahead and pace themselves.