The Imgainary Invalid

I attended Southeastern's production of The Imaginary Invalid and watched the entire play.

The Imaginary invalid is the story of a man by the name of Argan, who pretty much spent most of his time trying to convince people that he was sick (hypochondriac). He was not the most pleasant individual to be around because it seemed like it was either his way or the highway. He had this sassy maid, named Toinette who had to put up with being called almost every name in the book by him. Argan also had a gold-digger (a woman only with him for his money) for a wife , Beline, who would be the sole heiress to his estate if he died.

Argan decides to arrange a marriage for his daughter, Angelique, to a doctor, Thomas Diafoirus, so that he may acquire all of his medical necessities at no charge. He was not aware, nor concerned, that the daughter had a love interest, Cleante, of her own and was in no way shape for or fashion interested in marrying another. When Angelique found out she was devastated, but her father (the loving man that he is **sarcasm**)told her that she would either marry or be confined to a convent. How can I describe Thomas? He was a rather interesting character. He seemed like the only way he became a doctor because he knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone else that would confer him as a doctor. She and Toinette devised a plan to trick her father into allowing her to marry who she wanted to marry.

In the end though Argan's brother, Beralde, and Toinette convince Argan to let Angelique marry Cleante, by letting Beline's and Angeliques's true feeling be known by Argan pretending he was dead) and later convincing him to become a doctor so he could treat himself.

Though this play had its hilarious parts, sadly enough - in some areas this is all too real. In alot of countries women are forced into marriages that they do not desire for the sake of the family. They stay in the marriages and bear children because due to customs, and culture, they are obligated to stay with their spouse whether they love them or not. With children borne of this loveless, they miss being raised on mutual love (love between the parents). They are raised on the initial principles of the relationship (which really had nothing to do with love at all).
Another reality is that there are relationships today, where a parent meets and marries someone new and they care more about the new spouse than the feelings of the children, whose opinion becomes null and void because mommy or daddy has a new husband or wife.

There are also situations today where people marry for money and money alone, no love or common interests. These types of unions rarely last because there is nothing really holding them together. Excessive money without clear vision in a relationship can be the root of all evil. This leads to people staying together because of the age old adage “It’s cheaper to keep her (him)”, even though is most cases extra martial relationships are present. You see it plastered across the news all the time.

There was also alot of manipulation in the parts of many in this play, even on the parts of those who were just trying to get the situation to come out for the better. All that manipulation had it played out in real life would have just continued to wreak havoc over their lives. It is always good to remember.. if it is begotten with lies you have to lie to keep it.

All in all it was a great production. This was my first time attending an SEU production and it will not be my last. They are truly gifted and talented to do what they are doing.

The Blogging Continues

Though our discussion on blogging was brief on Monday, I came away with a few nuggets of advice, in preparation for submitting my mid-term blog, as I am sure others did. Danielle, made the commented that used Microsoft Word to make sure her blogs was the accurate length and that her spelling was correct. Though I have been blogging for the last few weeks, I had not thought of using that tool in checking my spelling and making sure that my posts were of the desired link. So tonight as I put my blogs together, I actually took the time to do that and it was pretty neat...lol!
In doing so I found errors that I would not have otherwise noticed. Just being careless in that matter, made me recognize that I need to so that for all of my posts from here on out. That advice was very much needed. **Thanks Danielle*** :-)

Also during our group discussion the topic of engaging and inputting text references in the blog came up. And though it was a bit of a surprise to some, it is something that I have found myself doing automatically in most cases. I guess I just wanted people to understand what I was saying and why I was saying it. Just having that group discussion as a prelude to turning in our blog was beneficial because it prompted me to go back and check my own posts.

Just being able to talk to my peers, and getting insight from Professor Corrigan in class, helps me because in the beginning I was not a "blogger" or even one who thought about blogging. However over these last few weeks and with the quality of the pieces that we are reading and enacting I think I could see myself as LaFreda Thomas, blogger extraordinaire someday...lol! I look forward to the remainder of the semester and the opportunity to increase my overall quality of blogging.

Blogging

Working on the blogs this semester I can honestly say has been one of the most interesting and beneficial educational approaches that I have had the opportunity to experience. In the beginning I can honestly say that I did not know a lot about blogging (in general) but I have come to appreciate the power behind blogs. Your words, thoughts, and feeling towards a piece can speak more volumes that face-to-face interaction at times. Through this avenue I have been able to approach literature from a variety of different aspects.

As described in the How to's of blogging, because of this class I have been able to translate literature to another medium and get multiple interpretations (via classmates) on how they felt on a particular piece. Thus far we have experienced a lot of genres of literature which has really made me think beyond what I already thought I understood. I was used to just reading a poem and thinking that I understood the first time around but through blogging for the course, I find myself rereading the material in the midst of blogging just so I can portray my accurate thoughts and feeling .It is amazing sometimes, as I read classmate’s blogs, at the different interpretations that come up though we are all reading the same text. We have translated pieces into art, for example the Book of Joel, which made blogging about it all the more easier. Painting the pictures allowed me to be immersed in the text rather than my eyes just skimming over the top of the words.

I have also found myself on many occasions reflecting on my own personal life to create more meaningful blog posts. I was able to closely relate to a few pieces such as The Things They Carried because I myself am a military brat. I think that just being able to tap into all these different sources while blogging has been so refreshing.

As students, I believe that this blogging assignment has challenged us to think on deeper levels than we intended coming into this class and thought things may have seemed awkward to do it made the literature and blogging about the experience just that more interesting.

Wisdom - Tiger Flowers, Roselawn, and Lakeside Visit

Psalm 90:12 - So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Today I went to Tigers Flowers, Roselawn, and Lakeview Cemeteries. I pulled out my copy of Walt Whitman "When Lylacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and began to re-read. As I slowly strolled the picture of the poem began to come to life in my mind-

Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the orchards;
Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave,
Night and day journeys a coffin.


I could envision the processional that would be the final resting place and the somberness of the occasion. The uncontrollable mourning and sobbing of those who were laying a great leader to rest.

As I walked the winding paths my eyes surveyed the land, and bounced from headstone to headstone, as I read the inscriptions of those who had been gone as of late and those who had been gone long before I took my first breath. I read a paragraph from the poem I would lift my head and look around and read the tombstones. "Mother, Father, Resting in Jesus, I lived as I died..a Christian" were neatly engraved in the marble tombstone that adorned the graves. And as I took in my surroundings I heard the songs of the birds as they sung the melody of nature. It was reminiscent of the line "Sing on! sing on, you gray-brown bird!".

O what shall I hang on the chamber walls?
And what shall the pictures be that I hang on the walls,
To adorn the burial-house of him I love?

In passing a tomb, I paused momentarily and wondered what tokens of love were hanging or scattered abroad within to remind the loved ones of the love that remained for them here on Earth. Was it photos, artificial flowers, war medals, jewelry - what could it be.

Once I was done reading the poem I just strolled in silence, stopping at the tombstones that bore photos to look into the eyes of one the one who passed on. Wondering what life for them was like. Alot of instances I found spouses who were buried beside one another. In some occasions they died only a few years apart and in others decades and I wondered what life was like for them once their "love" passed away.

Needless to say I spent my 40 minutes at the cemetery - and I must say I was reluctant to even go because I felt uneasy. Nonetheless, I went and I am glad that I did. I was reminded of a statement that my Pastor made - the richest place on Earth is the cemetery because many people die without reaching their potential. As that thought echoed in me I asked the Lord to show me how to make the most of the time I have left so that when I die I will not be remembered just as a loving wife and mother. I want to be remembered as one who led the lost to Christ, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, prayed for the sick, and remembered the forgotten. So as I walked out of the cemetery my earnest prayer was "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

When reading this poem, at first it was hard for me to understand some of the first verses, but as I read on it became apparent that Walt Whitman was referring to the death of someone that he held dear. My favorite passage in the poem was:

Coffin that passes through lanes and streets,
Through day and night with the great cloud darkening the land,
With the pomp of the inloop’d flags with the cities draped in black,
With the show of the States themselves as of crape-veil’d women standing,
With processions long and winding and the flambeaus of the night,
With the countless torches lit, with the silent sea of faces and the unbared heads,
With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the sombre faces,
With dirges through the night, with the thousand voices rising strong and solemn,
With all the mournful voices of the dirges pour’d around the coffin,
The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organs—where amid these you journey,
With the tolling tolling bells’ perpetual clang,
Here, coffin that slowly passes,


When I read this passage it made me think of a soldier's burial or the burial of someone who is held in high regard. As I read this I was reminded of a newspaper article that I had read about a local solider whose body was returned home after he was killed in Afghanistan. I read the article and looked at the pictures - the somberness of the soldier's faces as they unloaded the flag draped coffin and the tears that fell from the eyes of his wife and parent. So when I read this part of the poem it made me think of what the atmosphere was like the day that Abe Lincoln was being buried. All the faces of those that he had inspired and all those who loved him dearly - frozen in a state of sadness, shock, and disbelief.

This could very well be said of the crucifixion of Jesus - watching as they made Him carry His own cross and then crucified him in front of the masses. What utter sadness and disbelief His followers and those who truly loved Him must have felt. But I am so glad He rose again.

Discussing this in my small group gave me some insight on passages that I had no clue how to decipher and it also gave me the opportunity to listen to how others viewed the poem and what it reminded them of. It is so refreshing to have other input outside of my own because helps you look at literature as a "whole" rather that just a "part".

The Traveling Onion

When you read "The Traveling Onion" one at first glance one may think that it is actually really about just an onion (because in the literal sense it talks about an onion), but when you start to read between the lines there is more going on than meets the eye. Nye comments:

And I would never scold the onion
for causing tears.
It is right that tears fall
for something small and forgotten.

It makes you want to know the story behind the story. What is it about the life of the person described, that has been forgotten. Everyday we pass people on campus or on the street not really knowing their story. They could all represent onions....you can assume how they are, where they come from, and what type of person you think they are, but it is not until sit down and get them to open up that you get the entire story. Nye also makes the statement:

How at meal, we sit to eat,
commenting on the texture of meat or herbal aroma
but never on the translucence of onion,
now limp, now divided,
or its traditionally honorable career:
For the sake of others,
disappear.

I could apply that story on a personal note to my own life - a few months ago I walked away from a career to pursue my call to ministry. At times I miss my job and my colleagues but for them the business day goes on. At one time I was integral part of their team and for a fleeting moment there was sadness because of my impending departure, but my contributions have become small and forgotten because I no longer hold that position. They would never know that it at times, in the beginning, it would hurt me to hear how business as usual progresses without me. Nonetheless this is the flow of life.

Joel

The Book of Joel is shows two sides to God. The side that renders judgment and the side that pours out immeasurable amounts of grace. In reading this text Israel had failed to obey the commandments of the Lord and He (being the Sovereign One) would have to punish that disobedience. I found it very interesting how the Scripture goes in depth of the destruction that the Lord will bring upon them as a result of that disobedience:

What the locust swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left
other locusts ^a]">[a] have eaten.

God, in His displeasure is telling them the magnitude in which He destroyed their lands. There is no food of the fields, water is scarce, and offerings have been cut off. The desolation of the land is unimaginable especially for God's chosen people. At the same token He creates a way of escape for the children of Israel (through repentance):

Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the LORD your God,
and cry out to the LORD.

In His wrath, He still has mercy for the children of Israel.Calling them to wail and cry out before the Lord for their land to petition for all to be restored. God knew the magnitude of the devastation - the lack of food would not have killed them, then invaders would have because it seems that God's hand would have been withdrawn from them.

God went to the one who He knew that they would listen to the prophet. This all reminds me of the world today. Many hear the devastation called by disobedience in the Bible and act as if nothing will really happen but then when the unexpected does, they run back to God. Even in our error is love for us so abounds that He welcomes us back with unlimited grace and mercy and restores that which was lost.

The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried was a very interesting story. It reminded me of the life that I grew up around. I am a military brat as they call us. Growing up in that environment one get used to life's ups and downs alot faster than the typical civilian. There are long deployments, months of field training, mobilizations...and the list goes on. Up until 2001 I was living near Ft. Stewart, GA - one of the most rapid deploying bases in the Southeastern United States. When the World Trade Centers were hit and the subsequent increase of troop presence in Afghanistan. My step-father had recently separated from the service but that did not make him immune from being "called up" (reinstated) if needed. I was mortified at the thought.

Being that environment allowed me to see mass amounts of troops being deployed overseas and hear stories of ones who did not return. In the Things They Carried O'Brien writes " They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing - these things were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight." This was very profound to me because it accurately portrays the mind set of most soldiers. When they get the call that they are heading for war, their minds begin to race about family (parents, wives, children) and for the single ones girlfriends or fiancees. People see soldiers and see the external courage that they portray when they are in uniform but emotionally sometimes they are a train wreck. In their mind are mental Polaroid snapshots of the ones that they love and are taking up arms to protect.

When preparing for war they have to prepare as if they are not coming home. Can you imagine? The tears of the family as they say what could possibly be the last goodbye?!? Or getting that phone call or seeing the chaplain standing on their door step. The things they carry emotionally not only affects them but all those connected to them. It becomes shared load - not just by the immediate family but an entire community.

There were more than a few instances in the story where it kept being reiterated that "Ted Lavender died" this is crucial because these are some of the things that they carry - memories of fallen friends and comrades. Soldiers see unimaginable things while in the midst of hostile situations - things we may never know.

This story really hit close to home for me and made me think of all the ones who sacrifice for our freedom.


FYI: Fort Stewart has a dedication memorial called Warrior's Walk - a Eastern Redbud is planted for every solider connected to that division dies and to date there are over 400. Here is the link: http://www.stewart.army.mil/warrWalk/default.asp

Reading A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis has really been more of a self-reflection that reading about someone who is grieving over a lost loved one. He touches so many points and makes so many parallels in the book I couldn't help but wonder and reflect on my own walk with Jesus.

There were more than a few instances in the text that I had to stop reading and really give deep thought to the words that were leaping from the page. 

In the last chapter C.S. Lewis made the statement - "If you're approaching Him not as the goal but as a road, not as the end but as a mean, you're not really approaching Him at all." This statement was so profound to me. How many times do we as Christian (in situations where it seems like the main line to Heaven is disconnected) approach the throne of grace as a means to and end and not as servants knowing that the ultimate answer lies in Him? Sometimes it is done so subconsciously that it is not even realized. We try to make God do what we want Him to do rather than surrendering or life to what "His Will" for us actually is. 

After all isn't that the message of Christ:

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (Matthew 8:34)

Notice the Scripture says "Follow me" not I will follow you.

If we are approaching God as a way and not "The Way" then of course there are going to be times of silence because our request will not line up with His will. So in essence you are not approaching God you are asking Him to approach you (by asking that He set aside His perfect will to give temporary gratification).

I never would have thought that this book would have made me think (spiritually as much as it has) because upon reading the title one would think that it would not challenge the way that I felt it has challenged me. Reading this book has been a pleasure for me and I could see myself immersing myself in another C.S. Lewis novel in the near future because I like the way it challenges the mind.