Welcome to Flight of the Journals.  This blog was designed and created to post compositions for my English I class.  Theses posts include creative pieces, quick responses to written works, and open prompt pieces.  In addition, my blog includes multiple reflections on my own writings.

Under-Size Me: Experiencing the Truth

This weekend, I did not manage to find time for any reading.  I couldn’t read the newspaper, I couldn’t a book, and I couldn’t even read news online.  My inability to read anything this weekend was caused by the fact that I was forced to spend the past two days fasting for my confirmation class at church.  Now that I am done, I could go search for a news article or I could skim the confusing page I have read of The Odyssey, but I have something better to reflect upon.  I know that technically it is against the rules to write my reflection on something that I did not read, but this fast taught me more than a thousand pages could have, so here it goes.

This weekend, hunger opened my eyes to the ignorance of our society.  Everyone knows that hunger exists all around the world, and nearly everyone speaks about how terrible it is.  However, people rarely ever imagine what it would be like if they themselves did not have food or if they themselves found themselves hungry all the time.  I certainly hadn’t.  Experiencing firsthand the excruciating pangs of starvation and feeling the extreme fatigue that comes from a lack of hunger gave me a brand new sense of poverty.  In addition to the fast, we traveled to a facility that assists people who desperately need aid.  There, we assisted in the processing and organization of food, which humbled me further.  Despite the pain in my stomach, I would not have enjoyed eating much of that food, as we spent a lot of time processing potatoes that were so old they were growing sprouts all over the sides, and we had to sort the rotten ones from the good ones.

This experience caused me to feel guilty about myself.  All my life, I have been surrounded by food.  I realized that I had never experienced real hunger before.  Any time I had thought I had was probably just boredom or a craving for the taste of a delicious meal.  Desiring food for sustenance rather than pleasure is an entirely different concept.  People all over the world spend their days searching for food so that they can survive, while I search for food only to please my selfish taste buds.

My main point in this reflection centralizes about how much people complain.  People complain when everything is perfect. People who have much more than they could ever need and much more than they ever deserved complain.  Ironically, the people who actually have a right complain are the ones who do not. They simply accept their fate and hopefully try the make the best of it.  Over a billion people every night go to bed undernourished, but people in our society often complain when their gigantic meals do not taste good enough.  It is astonishing enough to think about, but to experience even a tiny small part of it as I did is much more unbelievable.



The Oxymoronic Themes: An Ambiguous Intention

While reading Genesis chapters 25-30, the deception practiced by many of the characters stunned me.  Prior to beginning to read the bible in my English class, I had believed that most of the major characters on God’s side were meant to serve as role models to the followers of the religion, but I can clearly see now that they must not.

The most significant example that struck me was Jacob’s behavior.  He first tricked his brother out of his birthright and his father’s blessing. Then he later uses a sly tactic to deceive Laban out of his best sheep.  Another instance of troublesome behavior occurs when the two sisters Leah and Rachel compete with each other to bear Jacob children.  Obviously, none of these people fit the traditional role-model persona, so I wonder what the writers’ purposes were in having them in the book that followers of Christianity and Judaism often base their lives on.  The only possible purpose these characters could serve would be to act as a contrast to God to show his superiority; however, the writers do not portray God in a morally perfect way either.

Speaking from a religious perspective now, I find it very strange how large of a difference exists between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  While the New Testament centers around a virtually morally perfect man, the Old Testament describes the flaws in humankind and, though not quite directly, God.  The Old Testament promotes vengeance and punishment, while the New Testament preaches of love and forgiveness.  How can people put those two messages side by side and call them one religion?

A Perplexing Lord: The Out of Date Book

Throughout all what I have read of Genesis in the bible, I have found myself completely unable to successfully interpret God’s motivation.  Religiously, I used to believe that God simply did everything he did for the human race because he cared deeply about us.  However, now that I am attempting to analyze the bible from a literature standpoint, most of his actions do not make sense to me.

When I imagine God only from what I have read in Genesis, forgetting about my religious beliefs, I do not depict him as the kind of person who would do this much for mankind without some kind of personal benefit.  The God I envision in Genesis acts in such an unpredictable way that he must possess a hidden and more complex desire.  I cannot understand why God would bring so many curses to humankind if his motivation were to help the human race.

Speaking from a religious perspective now, I realize that virtually all religions have filled in the ambiguity.  Most Christian churches will tell us that everything God did was for us.  However, this opinion contradicts the simple truth, which is that the bible does not clearly state God’s motivation.

Why do churches have to mislead us this way?  How can the bible be held in such reverence when pastors often preach about a nearly different God?  The bible was written in a time where God’s attitude must have made sense to people.  However, I think that the bible should reflect the modern world, and therefore the church should consider making modifications.

A Tale of Two Lies: The Messed Up System

Tonight, I unfortunately found myself burdened with too much homework to observe our president’s State of the Union Address.  However, I did manage to briefly glance through an article online, which stated, “Rather than fight ‘the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for decades,’ Obama called for a new political climate of ‘common sense’” (CNN).  This statement’s message reflects exactly how I have felt about politics for the last year or so.

I have found myself incredibly frustrated with the ongoing nonsensical arguments between both sides of the political spectrum.  I am continuously getting the impression that everyone just argues with each other for the sake of arguing, and that each party spends their time striving to get the other to fail.  Even though my personal views sway far to the left, I think that this concept can easily be applied to politicians of either party.  They lie to the nation about why they make their decisions.

Not only does our society include politicians who have not been focusing on the good of our nation, but we also have countless sources from the media that often do not hesitate to give us blatantly wrong information in order to promote their slanted agendas.  Examples of this from the right side include a high percentage of the reporters of Fox News, especially Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reiley.  Likewise, this also exists for people on the left, an example being Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

However in my own mind, the worst crime these people commit occurs when they attempt to claim that their programs possess no slant, which both Bill O’Reiley and Keith Olbermann do.  Although I rarely watch either of their shows, the few segments I have viewed contained reports that obviously do not even try to remain neutral.  I think that people like them either need to stop acting like that or at the very least admit their true intents.

The Dilemmas of Society: Questionable Reliability

On the sixth day of the creation of the Earth, after the animals have been created, God states, “‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.’”  This quotation deeply puzzled me because of the way in which it contradicts much of what can be found later in the bible.

Oftentimes, I hear people utilize the bible as a weapon in order to argue against certain groups of people, namely homosexuals.  The use an example later in the bible in which God condemns homosexuality in order to prove their point.  However, how can these quotations exist side-by-side, when one states that god created humans to be like him, but another denounces people who had no choice in their creation, but still exist in a way separate from God’s image.  It makes no sense.

One of the major problems in our society today comes from the fact that people focus too much on the specific details of the bible, rather than the whole.  The bible was written thousands of years ago by humans and for humans, NOT by God.  The political statements more often than not reflect the politics of the time rather than God’s actual message.  Also, after so many translations, the legitimacy of individual phrase can easily be questioned.  Therefore, a person could achieve a much better understanding of God and his message if they only focused on the big picture because when someone analyzes every individual sentence, they are bound to find contradictions between lines everywhere.

The Hole in Society: A Difference to Overcome

In The Golden Compass, when the daemon of Serafina Pekkala, the witch, swoops down from the sky to communicate with John Faa and Farder Coram, they discuss a number of things.  One of these discussions is on dust, and the parallel worlds that most people remain unaware of.  The daemon states, “We are as close as a heartbeat, yet we can never touch or see or hear these other worlds…” (Pullman 188).

This quotation not only contains a very obvious literal meaning, but it also conveys a subtler, deeper meaning.  Within the context of the novel, it directly relates to the broader theme of political differences.  The witch’s daemon’s observation possesses an allegorical meaning as well, referring to the tensions between gyptians and the higher educated class.  Both these groups exist side by side in society, however they both strive to avoid contact and interaction with each other.  The gap between worlds symbolizes the separation between cultures.  This example can also relate with the divide between muggles and wizards in Harry Potter.  These groups also live side by side in the world, like gyptians and scholars, but very rarely have significant relations with each other.

The basic idea that Pullman is trying to convey to readers is that people need to endeavor to reach out across their comfortable boundaries and set aside their differences in order to mingle with each other.  In our society, racial, political, economical, and many other differences often set people apart and prohibit them from being able to relate with one another, almost as if we existed in separate universes.  However, if people strive to communicate with each other and build a bridge between their cultures, they can live together harmoniously.

Proposition:  Various differences between classes, cultures, and groups in our society create a gap between people, which can only be mended by wholehearted efforts to interact.

Pirates of the Stormy Seas: A Daunting Opponent

As Al stared down out the repulsive sight below him, he managed to make out the slimy heads of at least a dozen disgusting creatures.  These hideous beings each had one huge, red eye and scaly skin covered in grime and muck from the sea.  They hurtled themselves again and again at the wooden side of the ship, never showing sign of fatigue or pain.  Al quickly realized that unless he managed to subdue them, they might be able to permanently damage the vessel within a few minutes.

His first reaction was to whip out his gun and fire bullets rapidly at the creatures.  At first, the gunfire startled the creatures, causing them to frantically swim around in fear.  Unfortunately, none of the bullets managed to find their mark.  The darkness surrounding him clouded his vision and he struggled to focus clearly on his targets.  Bullet after bullet splashed harmlessly into the shadowy water.

At the same time, the rest of the crew, alarmed at the sudden outburst of gunfire, came tearing from their cabin towards the source of the noise.  As the glanced over the side of the ship, the view that greeted them appalled them.  They, too, yanked out their own pistols and let off a cascade of bullets down towards the creatures, who simply continued banging away at the boat.  The shells accomplished nothing more than bouncing off the rock hard scales of the creatures.  The pirates instantly understood that this task would require much more power than bullets could provide.

As they stared gloomily down at the growing throng of sea creatures, their hope gradually diminished. However, the worst was yet to come.  Moments later, emerging from the depths of the ocean, a tremendous army of undead skeletons rose from the waters carried on the backs of the revolting creatures.  At the head of the charge rode the most menacing and foreboding skeleton of them all, and his glowing red eyes shone with determination and cold cruelty.

Being and Acting: An Imperative Difference

In Batman Begins, just after Bruce Wayne rescues Rachael Dawes and a frightened little child from the clutches of crazed and hallucinating citizens, Rachael asks him his identity.  He dramatically responds with “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me”, after which he swoops down to fight Ra’s Al Ghul.  This statement ties back to an earlier point within the movie where Rachael describes Bruce with the same words, but in a negative context.

IMDB: A plot summary of Batman Begins

Youtube: Video containing quote about 1 minute into video

This movie takes an interesting spin on a phrase that people use quite often.  People in our society often justify the actions of other people by arguing that even though a person has committed wrongful action(s), he/she is still a good person deep down.  This concept has also been used in literature many times, such as in the Percy Jackson series when Annabeth continuously defends Luke or in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Cho defends her friend even though she betrayed the DA.

However, unlike these examples, Batman Begins claims the opposite, arguing the irrelevancy of a person’s personality deep down compared to the importance of a person’s actions.  They argue that even if a person is caring, compassionate, and ethical, if they do not reflect this in their actions, it amounts to nothing.  In our society, too many people justify immoral decisions by telling themselves and/or others that they are still good underneath.  This kind of attitude leads to an unhealthy atmosphere in our community and causes much of the corruptness that we find in people around us.

Proposition: Although possessing a moral personality seems crucial to have, unless a person uses their qualities for positive purposes they have no significance.

Pirates of the Stormy Seas: An Unforeseen Attacker

As the ship navigated across the murky waters, the sky overhead grew darker, and visibility gradually dithered away.  The crew, exhausted from a burdensome day of labor, began preparing to call it a night.  Captain One-Ear began allocating out the shifts for that night.  He delegated Al, a stout and lazy pirate, responsibility of the helm for the first several hours of the night.  Eventually, the daylight dwindled away, and soon the whole crew besides Al fell fast asleep.

Al casually sauntered about on the deck of the vessel, occasionally checking his compass and adjusting the steering wheel as necessary.  All the while exhaustion tugged away at him.  The day’s activities had worn him down to the bone, and he desperately needed some rest.  After minutes passed, he slumped down onto the ground as his fatigue overcame him.  The torpid man lay still while the night grew darker and darker and darker.

Gradually, the ship began to sway back and forth. The water surrounding the ship grew more and more turbulent.  The sea seemed to have gained a tremendous amount of aggression all of a sudden.  Waves rose to incredible heights, their pinnacles reaching higher than the deck of the ship.  One wave came crashing down on a slumbering Al, startling him awake.  Astounded by the abrupt change in weather conditions, he swiftly jumped into action.  Al scrambled to the wheel as fast as his chubby legs could carry him, hoping to possibly steer out of the rising storm.

Suddenly, Al heard a loud thud, hastily followed by two more.  They sounded as though they came from the starboard side of the vessel.  Then, as if precipitated by the first three, a cascade of thuds filled the air.  Perplexed, Al peered over the side of the ship in an attempt to discern the source of the noise.  There, crashing over and over again into the ship as though trying to tear it to pieces, swam the largest and most deformed looking creatures that Al had ever seen.

To Be Continued