Under the Terebinth Tree

Briefly describe the Project and what student roles and responsibilities it will involve.

I'd like to explore and address the various ways in which we are both poor and rich, the physical, the spiritual, and the multifaceted aspects and numerous combinations which dwell in between and therein. My role would be that of scribe with the responsibility of writing.

I really didn't do much with my project this week.

Not a whole lot went on this week. I did some on and off thinking about it, but at the same time I'm trying to make sure I don't get anything to solid before I have some good time to sit and get in words. I also was at a church this weekend where the sermon was about being rich toward God.

we as Christians are not so much called to solve these horrible issues but rather to bandage the wounds they cause, for the horse of famine is not something men can conquer, yet we have a coming life where these horrible issues will be ended; the best help we can offer is by bringing the news and spirit of Jesus while also sharing our temporal things: food, beds, and clothing, yet those never must replace the hope and fear of the living God, or we only doubly impoverish those we try to make rich.

2. Interpretation. What did you learn from your project this week? About the project? About the issue? About yourself?

A lot, especially when rereading things I had written previously, analyzing them (and myself through them), and working with them to incorporate them into this project. When doing this I noticed two chief causes: excess or need; that is, I was either writing because my thoughts, even myself, could not be contained or because I was lacking something and writing for that purpose, but of course these two reasons are not always clear and may also come together hand in hand.

I've enjoyed exploring this topic with a bit of focus as well as incorporating elements from my past, but it can also be draining to look so closely at one area, so that contemplating poverty can actually beget it.

The presence of sin is a constant negative, but the mercy of God in Christ is an overwhelming positive.

It was really interesting to see the diaspora of my thoughts reconvene as a new thing after being scattered to various moments since the previous chapter. It was also useful to put together former experiences with more recent research.

There were a few moments when some of my re-scattered thoughts came back, and I worked around with them.

My fingers hit the keys like lightning for Chapter 7, and I wasn't always sure how much charge was needed or how much would be too much, so I'll wait to see if I want to keep its application concurrent with the final project.