March 2012 Archives

Callings: George Herbert

By Amy Abrigo on March 31, 2012 6:18 PM | 1 Comment
George Herbert
DESCRIBE

          George Herbert (1593 to 1633), a poet and later a pastor, was born into the end of what church historians refer to as the Reformation period, and the beginning of the time of the Puritans. James I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, became King of England in 1603, and the King James Version of the Bible was completed in 1611. In 1615, Puritan Richard Baxter authors The Reformed Pastor and in 1616 Puritan John Owen is called the Calvin of England. In approximately 1619, five-point Calvinism is formed, and in 1620 Plymouth, Massachusetts is a Puritan founded colony. In 1624, George Herbert becomes a Member of Parliament. One year later Charles I, against Puritan religion, becomes King, and George Herbert leaves parliament to return to his interest in pastoral work.  

Can You Hear Him?
INTERPRET

          Not everyone is blessed with the reassurance of the audible voice of God in decisions made or callings followed. George Herbert was no different, and although he did feel that God had called him into his life as a pastor, it took him a while to understand this. As noticeable in his writing The Temple, or The Country Parson, Herbert does understand the duty of a pastor, in particular, the duty of a pastor in relation to the country parson. However, he displays his frustration with accepting this calling in his poem The Collar which can be related to by many people of all generations including those of today who feel unsure about their choice to go for a particular profession. Today, as Martin Luther suggests, many Christians feel that they can serve God in any occupation whether it be in the workplace as a just lawyer, or in the household as a righteous mother. But, even with this reassurance that Christians can serve God in anything that they do, people may still not know where God is specifically calling them. Who can tell them that they are making the right choice? George Herbert might say follow that voice inside calling, but he might also agree that it is not always easy to do so. 

God Is Calling
EVALUATE

          I hope to God that whatever I am called to do is something that can glorify God, utilize my skills, fulfill my passion, and be something I love to do. Who would ever want to do a job that they hated, even if it was just for a paycheck? I do not think God would call anyone to such a job for a lifetime career, but more as for a lesson. Yes, perhaps God works in mysterious ways in placing each of us in specific occupations (even if I hate the job for the time) because there is a lesson to be learned, or an indirect purpose for us to build relationships amongst those there, or an opportunity to share Christ, or who knows what else. It is frustrating to try and choose a vocation when trying to please God, but it is important to remember that no matter what one does on this Earth, if one is a Christian and confesses the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, then one is saved. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" There is no way for anyone to live up to God's expectations but through Christ. Yes, "faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26) but the works does not mean that one should put the pressure of living up to the perfection of Jesus Christ on their shoulders , for it is impossible. 

Do Not Worry
          I yearn for audible reassurance from God daily saying that I am on the right path, but no matter how much I want to be like God and know everything--like where I am going to be in five years, what I am going to be doing, if I am on the right path, if I am taking the right classes, if I am just wasting my time, if I am going for the right major--I have to realize that this is all a part of life, it is a part of being a human. Life is full of making wrong and right decisions, taking chances, messing up, succeeding, failing, falling in love, and getting my heart broken again and again, because life does not start at the end of graduation, or at the beginning of my internship, or at the end of my service-learning hours, or once I finally choose a major or once I get married or once I have children. Life has already begun, and life is now, was then, and will be tomorrow.  Besides how boring would it be to know everything?



Sources: 
-http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheStuarts/JamesI.aspx
-http://www.churchtimeline.com/1600.htm

Arcadia: Sex and Literature, Literature and Sex

By Amy Abrigo on March 28, 2012 10:57 AM | 1 Comment

Arcadia

DESCRIBE

          Last week, the Department of Theatre and Dance of Concordia University, St. Paul gave students a show they would not soon forget. The play was set in both 1809 and present day England around a single dining room table in "a very large country house in Derbyshire", and while time periods stayed separated at first, storylines, relationships, ideas, characters, props, and scenes began to intertwine leaving audiences mesmerized and on the edge of their seats. The plot, or the many plots, focuses on what actually happened in 1809 to a sir Ezra 

Arcadia (2)

Chater, what Hannah Jarvis and Bernard Nightingale think happened, and how this all affects today and the future of humankind as time dwindles down into nothing. The student director, Mina Souvannasoth, noted that the play would be "a rom-com for nerds", but the romance was unpredictable as the play centered on humor from the start with the first line being the question, "Septimus, what is carnal embrace?" spoken by a thirteen year old girl, Thomasina Coverly, to her twenty-two year old tutor, Septimus Hodge, who was well experienced in the act. The romance was yet to be unmistakably uncovered in the last scene where all theories and truths came to a conclusion, all was laid on the table, and all was left for the audience to interpret as they willed.


INTERPRET

          It seemed that there was not a single academic discipline that was left untouched within the play: accounting, art, science, math, history, literature, philosophy, religion, social and psychological sciences, Latin, music, archaeology, landscaping, culinary arts, informatics, rhetoric, and many more were at least touched upon. While other audience members laughed out of sheer politeness, well-rounded students of higher learning could appreciate the use of over-the-top humor filled with scholarly wit and charm. While the argument between characters centered on science and math talking about reiterated algorithms or Newtonian theories, the play caused audience members to recall religious beliefs using particular trigger props or phrases.

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          Although in the midst of discussing sexual congress, characters say "Good God!" and hosts of the house are referred to as Lord and Ladyship.  Perhaps it is far-fetched, but the usage of an apple within the play that is given to a female of the present time and bitten by a male in 1809 could symbolize the association of the fruit in the Christian creation story in Genesis 3 which leads to what some would refer to as the first sin and the fall of humankind causing their separation from God. The apple is bitten in the play by Septimus Hodge, the tutor, as he shares his knowledge with his student, and the fruit which 

Arcadia (4)

is bitten in the creation story comes from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Also, throughout the play the characters refer to activities taking place in the garden outside the house which could once again refer to the separation between humankind and God in the Fall when Adam and Eve were forced to leave the Garden of Eden according the Christian Bible. And, while it is not a symbol of Christianity or religion necessarily, the use of the tortoise throughout the show could represent longevity and the passage of time which is used to connect both present and 1809 scenes in the chaos of it all. The idea that the characters are discussing the Chaos theory of course could relate to the first creation story of Greek Mythology which states that "In the beginning there was only chaos." So, while the discussion is science based, again and again audience members are drawn to reflect on both religious and scientific aspects of life and death.

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EVALUATE

          Watching and evaluating Arcadia has truly helped me recognize how important every detail is in theater and in life; how one thing, that can seem so small, can mean so much for future historians, for the future of mankind, or for a deeper understanding of the play. It reminded me why I love history, and why I hate it. Sometimes everything (college, life, death, relationships, knowledge) seems trivial, but in the end whether or not life is chaos does not matter. What matters is life, and how it is lived. Not in the sense of rules or laws, but in relationships, with people, without people, in love, without love, full of adventure, full of hope, full of pride. The life of one person is only as meaningful as that person or

Arcadia (7)others say it to be, so I as an individual have the responsibility to make my life meaningful to me in all that I 

do and to remember to take time to live and just be. While it is great to get things done in school, work, or life in general, the process of it all is where life takes place.


 




Sources:

- http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/The_Creation/the_creation.html

- Pictures from Mina Souvannasoth


 

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