I found the poem "All Shall Be Restored" to be very neutral in a sense. It spoke exactly of what the title says, everything returning to the way it was. This is not presented in a positive or negative tone, but instead in a matter of fact way. It speaks of death in relation to culture, in that it is simply what happens. No matter what we do, where we go, death will find us and return us to the earth. Everything shall return to where it came from, this idea is repeated and compounded upon within this poem. As far as culture relates to this, I feel we somewhat echo the idea, while also fighting it. We are not completely shocked at deaths in our lives, we know they are expected, regardless of age, it is an unavoidable fate. So we may mourn, we may remember, but we accept it as the order of life, as what is to come.
I say this not to be depressing or somber. While death is something that comes for us all, it is not something that must be feared, not for me. I fear dying, but not death itself. This is because of my religion, of my confidence it what I have to expect. Therefore this is not an idea I can expect to be shared by all, but it is one I hope reaches out to many. Regardless of religion, I feel we all can accept that the lives we are given are blessings, and it is up to us to make the best of them. We could let ourselves lead an abysmal life, always afraid of death, of the unavoidable future, or we could rejoice in our present times. As I said, I do not hold a fear of death, only of dying. That is not to say it is something I hope to hurry along, but I have come to terms with it, and I know for myself there is more to come, something better by far. With that in mind, I still choose to enjoy the life I have now. I know I am here for a reason, I have a purpose, so I choose to enjoy the process of learning all I can, finding that purpose, and fulfilling it as best I can. There is no greater joy in my mind, not in this life, than doing what we were meant to do.
What sadden's me about todays culture is the overall fear of death. How desperately so many people try to escape it, how they cling to the fragile lives we hold. People want so badly to live on, to live forever, that they will go to extremes to attempt this. I am not against fighting diseases or living healthy lives, to live as long as we can, I embrace that idea. What I do not like is when someone tries to go above and beyond. I am not against this, but it is not something I favor or support either, it is simply a personal choice. I just feel that we get too comfortable in this life on Earth, when really it is temporal. We know it to be temporary, and those of us with religion, we know more is to follow, and yet we cling to what we know, for fear of that we do not know.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Peace in The Middle East
The topic of the American presence in the Middle East is something I am actually very passionate about. I got to take a three week class at UCSD a couple years ago that covered Terrorism primarily, and the third week was spent entirely on this topic. Having actually spent the time digging into this, I now feel that it is so much more complicated than I or most people have ever expected. The possibility of a self elected government is something I personally hope for, and would support whole-heartedly.
If there were to be a fully organized, proper, and open election for a legitimate government, I feel that it is something that should be supported by the United States. There are many things that we can do for the Middle East and the countries involved, but we can in no way provide them with a government of any sort. That is something that must completely come from within. We can try to help and guide them in some small behind the scenes ways, but on the whole, it is not up to us. I feel that we do not even want to play a large part in supporting certain candidates for fear of influencing the results, positively or negatively. We could try to instill our own idea of a government, put in power the individuals we choose, but that would only make things harder for the countries involved. We might as well be considering them to be colonies if that is how we act, and that is a hole we do not want to dig for ourselves.
A government is something that must be discovered by the country itself. That is what the United States did, we decided that we did not like the government we were under, so we left and created our own. Obviously the Articles of Confederation are proof that it was not a hole in one, but a process. We had to create the government ourselves, based on what we decided on as a people group. The same process must happen in the Middle East. We cannot expect them to automatically accept whatever government and leaders we think is good for them. Instead we must allow them to do this for themselves, make the necessary mistakes, and build it for themselves.
The United States must step back and let things work out for themselves in the Middle East. I also know that we are hunting for terrorists, and working to keep our own country safe from said threats, that is a large part of our presence in these countries. That is fine, it is necessary. On the other hand, we cannot force our way into their newly growing political structure, just because we are America and we think we know best. There are already a suprisingly large number of players in the decision making processes, they do not need an obnoxious third party who thinks they know everything there is to know. The United States really needs to step back, keep ourselves and the civilians safe as best we can, and let them learn on the own, like a child really. There are some lessons that simply cannot be taught, only learned.
If there were to be a fully organized, proper, and open election for a legitimate government, I feel that it is something that should be supported by the United States. There are many things that we can do for the Middle East and the countries involved, but we can in no way provide them with a government of any sort. That is something that must completely come from within. We can try to help and guide them in some small behind the scenes ways, but on the whole, it is not up to us. I feel that we do not even want to play a large part in supporting certain candidates for fear of influencing the results, positively or negatively. We could try to instill our own idea of a government, put in power the individuals we choose, but that would only make things harder for the countries involved. We might as well be considering them to be colonies if that is how we act, and that is a hole we do not want to dig for ourselves.
A government is something that must be discovered by the country itself. That is what the United States did, we decided that we did not like the government we were under, so we left and created our own. Obviously the Articles of Confederation are proof that it was not a hole in one, but a process. We had to create the government ourselves, based on what we decided on as a people group. The same process must happen in the Middle East. We cannot expect them to automatically accept whatever government and leaders we think is good for them. Instead we must allow them to do this for themselves, make the necessary mistakes, and build it for themselves.
The United States must step back and let things work out for themselves in the Middle East. I also know that we are hunting for terrorists, and working to keep our own country safe from said threats, that is a large part of our presence in these countries. That is fine, it is necessary. On the other hand, we cannot force our way into their newly growing political structure, just because we are America and we think we know best. There are already a suprisingly large number of players in the decision making processes, they do not need an obnoxious third party who thinks they know everything there is to know. The United States really needs to step back, keep ourselves and the civilians safe as best we can, and let them learn on the own, like a child really. There are some lessons that simply cannot be taught, only learned.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Image of the Invisible
In many ways, the idea of invisibility is completely underestimated. Many times it is considered to simply not be seen, to be unable to be seen. To make the choice to be hidden, disguised, in a way that no one else can see you. The basic definition of it even is "impossible to see". And yet, there is so much more to it. For someone to be invisible, it is not always their choice, their desire. It can be forced upon them, that others ignore them so much that they forget the person is even there, even exists. We are all guilty of it too. Sometimes it is intentional, sometimes it is not. I know we've all been walking or driving and seen that person, and instead of even a smile, we simply lower our head, look away, and just pretend we did not even notice them.
Other times, we really don't. We get so caught up in ourselves, in our lives, and we completely forget to acknowledge that there is life outside our own bubble. This is something that I completely despise, because I was surrounded by it at my high school. The groups and clicks were formed early, and after that, it was a rare thing for a new person to be allowed in. Those who were not in that group simply did not matter, did not exist unless there was a reason, and once that was gone, they disappeared with it. I have always hated that about my high school, and then tonight as I was talking to someone who went to the school with me, I realized I was guilty of doing just that myself. As I was talking to her I realized that multiple times in my last year at the school I had the chance to talk to her, get to know her, and yet I didn't. I wimped out, and just figured someone else would talk to the new girl, I don't have to. She's probably fine on her own. Realizing now that I did that to someone else, I truly feel horrible and ashamed of myself. I've been there and I know what it is like to feel invisible, to the point that no one else sees me, and yet here I inflicted that on someone else? Disgusting.
I feel this is something that is really convicting to me, who are we not seeing? If someone being invisible means they're impossible to see, who made them that way? Did they inflict this on themselves, or is it something that they have just accepted, something that was forced on them? Either way, what can I do to change it? I want to see these people, to not let them feel ignored and forced out like we all have felt at one time or another. We can all understand that feeling of being overlooked and I know that I never want to be the cause of that again. Instead of ignoring people, I want to step and step out, reach out to them and be a reminder that there is such a thing as a stranger who cares. No one should ever have to feel invisible, not when we are all looking right at them...
Other times, we really don't. We get so caught up in ourselves, in our lives, and we completely forget to acknowledge that there is life outside our own bubble. This is something that I completely despise, because I was surrounded by it at my high school. The groups and clicks were formed early, and after that, it was a rare thing for a new person to be allowed in. Those who were not in that group simply did not matter, did not exist unless there was a reason, and once that was gone, they disappeared with it. I have always hated that about my high school, and then tonight as I was talking to someone who went to the school with me, I realized I was guilty of doing just that myself. As I was talking to her I realized that multiple times in my last year at the school I had the chance to talk to her, get to know her, and yet I didn't. I wimped out, and just figured someone else would talk to the new girl, I don't have to. She's probably fine on her own. Realizing now that I did that to someone else, I truly feel horrible and ashamed of myself. I've been there and I know what it is like to feel invisible, to the point that no one else sees me, and yet here I inflicted that on someone else? Disgusting.
I feel this is something that is really convicting to me, who are we not seeing? If someone being invisible means they're impossible to see, who made them that way? Did they inflict this on themselves, or is it something that they have just accepted, something that was forced on them? Either way, what can I do to change it? I want to see these people, to not let them feel ignored and forced out like we all have felt at one time or another. We can all understand that feeling of being overlooked and I know that I never want to be the cause of that again. Instead of ignoring people, I want to step and step out, reach out to them and be a reminder that there is such a thing as a stranger who cares. No one should ever have to feel invisible, not when we are all looking right at them...
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